OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 15, 2014) – The present and the future of Oklahoma Christian women's basketball was on full display on Saturday afternoon against Arkansas-Fort Smith in the Eagles' Nest.
Senior forward Roz Hamilton, playing in what could be her final home game – more on that later – scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while freshman center McKenzie Stanford added 14 points and six boards to lead the Lady Eagles to a 74-53 win.
In winning its third straight game, OC (14-10, 10-7 Heartland Conference) moved into a tie for fifth place in the league standings with St. Mary's (Texas), a half-game behind fourth-place Newman (Kan.). OC is not eligible for the conference tournament, which includes the top four non-provisional teams in the Heartland.
The Lady Eagles are 10-1 at home this season – losing only to league-leading Lubbock Christian (Texas) – and might have another home game left. A conference game against St. Edward's (Texas) on Dec. 8 was postponed due to icy road conditions and hasn't yet been rescheduled. OC remains hopeful the game will be played.
OC went ahead and celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, with Hamilton joining five other seniors – Krista Stevens, Talor Ward, Andee Wayne, Mica Havens and Carli Covalt – in taking a final bow in front of their fans.
"I'm so proud of all the seniors," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "They all contributed and gave great effort."
Arkansas-Fort Smith (7-16, 7-10) had its slim chances of qualifying for the conference tournament dashed by the loss, but the Lions started quickly Saturday. They jumped to an 8-0 lead as Maddy Backus, then Candice Followwell, each hit a 3-pointer during the game's first 92 seconds.
Ward put OC on the board with a free throw, then Hamilton hit a 3-pointer to start a 14-0 run that put OC ahead. Arkansas-Fort Smith pulled even at 14-14 and pulled ahead later a couple of times, the last time at 21-20 with 6:07 left in the first half on a jumper by Blandine N'Goran.
Kaitlyn Morris' 3-pointer just seconds later started a 16-2 run by the Lady Eagles to close the first half. They led 37-23 at halftime and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way, pushing their advantage to as many as 25 points.
OC, which leads the conference in rebounding margin, posted a whopping 56-35 edge over the Lions. Of the 16 Lady Eagles who played, 14 grabbed at least one rebound, and all but one of those had at least two boards.
"Andee and Roz did a great job controlling the boards and shutting down (UAFS leading scorer) Justyne Huber," Findley said. "She gave us fits over at UAFS. And Stanford and (Jordan) Gorham provided points and rebounds off the bench."
With her 14 points, Hamilton increased her career scoring total to 1,056 points, moving her past Rachelle Poe (1987-1991) into 25th place on OC's all-time scoring chart.
Stevens added 10 points and five rebounds for OC. Ward, making her second start of the season, had eight points and four rebounds.
Followwell led Arkansas-Fort Smith with 13 points, while Justyne Huber added 10. The Lions struggled at the free-throw line, hitting 8-of-17 (47.1 percent), compared to 27-of-36 for OC (75 percent).
OC will have a 12-day wait before its next game, on Feb. 27 at Newman (Kan.).
