Box Score CLAREMORE, Okla. (Jan. 22, 2015) – Up by 23 points with six minutes left at Rogers State on Thursday night, the biggest question was how big Oklahoma Christian's margin of victory would be in the Lady Eagles' first road win of the season.
By the end, the question was whether OC could hang on to beat the Hillcats. Thanks to 12-of-14 free-throw shooting by
Kaitlyn Morris,
Aisha Martin and
Jasmine Hinton in the final two minutes, the Lady Eagles did, winning 76-67 at the Claremore Expo Center.
OC (6-10, 3-5 Heartland Conference) has won three of its last four games after dropping its first four league contests. Rogers State (5-11, 3-5) had a three-game home winning streak snapped, but not before making it interesting at the end.
The Lady Eagles, playing without starting point guard
Sydney Hill (who was out due to illness), picked up strong offensive performances from three frontline players – forwards
McKenzie Stanford (25 points, nine rebounds) and
Skyler Newberry (11 points) and center
Jordan Gorham (nine points).
At the end, as Rogers State turned up the defensive heat, it was Morris and Martin making the plays. With OC clinging to a six-point lead with 25 seconds left, Martin came up with a huge block on a 3-point attempt by Rogers State's Heather Roberts, then corralled the loose ball and hit two game-sealing free throws moments later.
"We had some really good execution of our zone offense, but not so much with our press offense at the end," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "That's where you could tell we missed Syd in the lineup."
Findley was pleased not only with her team's offense, but with the defensive effort, keyed by
Kylee Hicks and
Jasmine Hinton. Hicks, making her second straight start, grabbed eight rebounds for the second straight game, while Hinton made life difficult for the Hillcats' top scorers, including Mikaila Newton, who scored 17 points but went 5-of-17 from the field and 0-of-7 from 3-point range.
"It was a great team victory," Findley said. "Everyone had a part."
OC trailed only once in the game. The Lady Eagles jumped to an 11-3 lead, fell behind 17-15 after Kami Bunch hit a 3-pointer with 6:30 left in the first half, then took the lead for good when Stanford answered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later.
That started a 15-2 run by the Lady Eagles, who led 30-21 at halftime. Rogers State pulled within 33-28 on a basket by Newton with 18 minutes left, but didn't score again for more than 6½ minutes. In the interim, OC scored 13 straight points to seize total control.
A basket by Gorham with 6:07 left pushed OC's lead to 61-38 and the Lady Eagles led 63-41 after another basket by Gorham with 5:32 left. That proved to be OC's final field goal.
Taking advantage of late OC turnovers, Rogers State scored the next 12 points and then pulled within single digits at 64-55 with 2:15 left. On three occasions, the Hillcats got within six, but each time, Morris and Martin answered with a pair of free throws.
Morris and Hinton each finished with nine points, while Martin scored five of her seven points in the final minute, helping OC overcome its 18 turnovers.
Kami Bunch scored 17 points for Rogers State and Amari Jones had 15, but no other Hillcats had more than four points. The Hillcats shot just 13.6 percent (3 of 22) from 3-point range.
The Lady Eagles now are 6-8 all-time against Rogers State, but have a three-game winning streak in the series.
OC will be back on the road Saturday afternoon, facing Arkansas-Fort Smith.
