OC's Roz Hamilton scored a career-high 15 points in her return on Saturday against Mid-America Christian after missing nine games with a hand injury.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 28, 2012) – Roz Hamilton scored a career-high 15 points in her return from a hand injury, but Oklahoma Christian dropped its eighth straight game, falling 61-54 to Mid-America Christian on Saturday afternoon in the Eagles' Nest.
OC (7-14, 2-12 Sooner Athletic Conference) rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to take the lead, but couldn't hold it in the final five minutes against MACU (10-10, 4-10). The Lady Eagles committed a season-low 12 turnovers but shot just 23.7 percent (14 of 59) from the field.
Hamilton, who missed nine games after suffering the injury during a win over St. Thomas (Fla.) on Dec. 20, was the only OC player to reach double figures in scoring. She went 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and bested her previous career high of 14 points, set in the season opener on Nov. 5 against Texas Wesleyan. Hamilton also grabbed six rebounds.
"I thought Roz provided a much-needed spark, but in the end we couldn't overcome such a poor shooting output," OC coach Stephanie Findley said.
OC led 50-49 after Hamilton hit two free throws with 5:08 left, but the Lady Eagles managed only one basket and two free throws the rest of the way. Consecutive 3-pointers by Brittany Woodard and Erica Jones – just 34 seconds apart – put the Evangels up 55-50 with 4:14 left.
OC pulled within 57-54 on a basket by Katy O'Steen with 1:32 left, but MACU went 4-of-5 from the line in the final 32.5 seconds to seal the win.
Four players scored in double figures for MACU – Woodard had 14, while Parris Price scored 13, Erica Jones had 11 and Nicole Wittman added 10. Price also had eight rebounds and seven assists for MACU.
Logan McKee had eight points and nine rebounds for the Lady Eagles, who are on their longest losing streak since an 11-game slide at the end of the 2008-09 season.
OC will try to break the streak on Thursday, when the Lady Eagles host Wayland Baptist.
