Box Score EDMOND, Okla. (Nov. 18, 2014) – A lot of numbers on the stat sheet looked positive for Oklahoma Christian on Tuesday night at Central Oklahoma. The Lady Eagles outrebounded UCO and had three players reach double figures in scoring.
But two numbers weren't so great. OC committed 21 turnovers and shot just 25 percent (5 of 20) from 3-point range. The Bronchos, meanwhile, went 9 of 22 (40.9 percent) from behind the arc, which proved to be the difference in their 78-67 win over their cross-Edmond rivals at Hamilton Field House.
Six of the Bronchos' 3-pointers came after halftime, allowing UCO (2-1) to turn a five-point lead at intermission into a double-digit advantage that OC (1-1) wasn't able to overcome.
"I thought we did a great job of defending the paint, but we let too many 3-point shooters get loose in the second half," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. I'm proud of the girls for rebounding tough, but they shot the ball better than we did tonight."
Findley had high praise for the backcourt tandem of
Logan McKee and
Sydney Hill. McKee, a senior from Cordell, had one of her finest games at OC, going 4-of-9 from 3-point range and scoring 16 points to go with six rebounds. Hill, a junior from Edmond, scored 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added five rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore forward
McKenzie Stanford of Perkins added 15 points for OC.
The game remained close throughout the first half. OC led on three occasions, but the Lady Eagles were constantly short-circuited by turnovers – 14 during the half, which Findley called "our undoing."
OC's final lead came at 10-9, less than five minutes into the game, on a layup by Hill. UCO led by as many as nine points but the Lady Eagles closed the gap to three before Jordan Ward hit a jumper in the final seconds to send the Bronchos into halftime up 35-30.
OC pulled within 39-37 on a 3-pointer by McKee with 16:39 left, and within 41-39 on a basket by Stanford a minute later. But Haley Weathers followed with a 3-pointer for UCO, and after another basket by Stanford, Julia Mason's 3-pointer gave the Bronchos a six-point lead with 14:36 left.
Mason, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit another 3-pointer with 11:58 left to extend UCO's advantage to 54-43. The Lady Eagles came no closer than six points after that.
Weathers scored 16 points for UCO while McKenzie Solberg added 10 as the Bronchos won the first meeting between the programs since the 2006-07 season. OC still leads the series against UCO 20-12.
The Lady Eagles have two more games this week, both at home against NAIA foes. OC will host Texas Wesleyan on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and USAO on Saturday at 1 p.m.
