Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 10, 2015) – The Oklahoma Christian Lady Eagles had Lubbock Christian (Texas) right where they wanted them – until they didn't.
OC led most of the way on Saturday afternoon, but Lubbock Christian seized the momentum with an 8-0 run and got a huge late 3-pointer from Bailey Haist to beat the Lady Eagles 69-64 at the Eagles' Nest.
Sydney Hill scored a season-high 21 points for OC (4-10, 1-5 Heartland Conference), which was seeking its first win over Lubbock Christian (9-5, 3-1) since February 2011. The Chaparrals had won 25 straight conference games – including all 20 last season in their Heartland women's basketball debut – before falling at Newman (Kan.) on Thursday.
For a long time Saturday, it looked like that Lubbock Christian might be headed home to west Texas with a two-game league losing streak. OC led by as many as 10 points and still held a six-point lead with 5:43 left before the Chaparrals' final push.
"I felt good the whole game," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "We were playing with a lot of energy and playing well. We just had some scoring droughts there at the end and some brain mishaps, where we're throwing the ball around the floor to their team instead of ours, and it just slips away from you."
Hill, who entered the game 3-of-29 from 3-point range this season, hit her first three shots from behind the arc and finished 4-of-7 from long range against Lubbock Christian.
That outside shooting proved important, as OC found the going tough inside against the Chaparrals' ace shot blockers, Kellyn Schneider and Tess Bruffey. Schneider had five blocks and Bruffey finished with four. They helped limit OC to 33.3-percent shooting (20 of 60).
OC went on a 12-3 run near the end of the first half – fueled by eight points from Hill – and led 32-26 at halftime. When
McKenzie Stanford scored on a put-back with 17:34 left, the Lady Eagles pushed their advantage to 39-29.
Lubbock Christian cut the margin to 48-47 on Bruffey's three-point play with 8 minutes left, but a 7-2 spurt by OC put the Lady Eagles up 55-49 with 5:43 left.
Blair Taylor started Lubbock Christian's 8-0 run with a 3-pointer. Bruffey followed with two free throws and then a three-point play with 3:31 left, giving the Chaparrals a 59-57 lead – their first since the 6-minute mark of the first half.
OC tied the game twice after that, at 57-57 and 59-59. Down 61-59, Hill went 1-of-2 from the line before Haist's 3-pointer with 1:26 left made it 64-60.
A basket by Stanford with 36.1 seconds left pulled OC within 67-64. Stanford fouled Bruffey with 7.8 seconds left and Bruffey missed both free throws, but the rebound on the second miss bounced out to Haist, who sealed the win for Lubbock Christian with two free throws with 6.1 seconds left.
"They know what they're doing and they're going to capitalize," Findley said. "With those big girls in there, anytime you get them on the offensive boards, you're probably going to foul them or they're going to get a bucket out of it. A couple of those things happened at the end.
"You've really got to play all the way through the game and pay attention to the little things all the way to the end. We didn't do that today."
Bruffey scored 19 points and Haist added 17 for Lubbock Christian, while Schneider had 10 rebounds. Stanford had 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and four assists for OC.
Lubbock Christian shot 37.5 percent from the field (21 of 56) and committed 22 turnovers, but the Lady Chaparrals hit 10 3-pointers (in 27 attempts) compared to 4 (in 16 attempts) for OC.
OC will return to action on Thursday, when the Lady Eagles host conference rival Newman (Kan.).
