Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 31, 2015) – Oklahoma Christian appears to be finding its groove on defense and as a result, the Lady Eagles have put together a stretch of winning basketball.
On Saturday afternoon, for the fourth time in its last seven games, OC held an opponent to under 55 points. The Lady Eagles' latest victim was Texas A&M International, which fell by a 60-51 count in the Eagles' Nest.
With four wins in its last five games, OC (8-11, 5-6 Heartland Conference) has zoomed from near the bottom of the league standings into a three-way tie for fifth with TAMIU (9-10, 5-6) and Texas-Permian Basin. OC is just one game behind fourth-place St. Mary's (Texas), a team the Lady Eagles beat on Thursday.
"I'm really proud of our team defense and rebounding to pick up two great wins on our home floor," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "I thought our ball movement and ball security were better than they have been all year, too."
OC posted a whopping 55-41 rebounding edge, led by
Skyler Newberry, who matched her career high (set against TAMIU in a 20-point road loss on Jan. 3) with 11 boards.
Jasmine Hinton scored a career-high 14 points to go with seven rebounds, and three other Lady Eagles –
Kylee Hicks,
Aisha Martin and
Makenzie Brown – each had six boards.
Hinton and
McKenzie Stanford – who scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting – led the Eagles offensively, with Brown adding nine points.
"Jas was on her game offensively to help provide a 1-2 punch with McKenzie," Findley said.
The key stretch for the Lady Eagles was the first 11 minutes of the second half. OC led 34-26 at halftime but had surrendered 15 first-half points to TAMIU guard Jessica Prieto. OC focused its defense like a laser against Prieto coming out of the locker room and the Dustdevils didn't have an answer.
"Prieto did not get off 15 points for quite awhile," Findley said. "We were running at her with a double team and making her give it up and Skyler was getting every rebound."
With its primary offensive option limited, TAMIU scored just four points in the first 11 minutes of the half, while OC's lead steadily grew. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hinton, the latter with 9:28 left, put the Lady Eagles up 49-30 and they later extended their lead to as many as 21 points.
The Dustdevils, trailing by 20 with 3:39 left, made a late run but didn't cut OC's margin into single digits until the final basket of the game, a 3-pointer by Jessica Woo. That capped a 3-for-29 (10.3 percent) 3-point shooting day for TAMIU. The Dustdevils finished 15-of-62 (24.2 percent) from the field.
Prieto scored nine points in the final four minutes to lead the Dustdevils with 24 points (to go with nine rebounds), but she was the only TAMIU player to reach double figures.
OC will visit Heartland leader Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Thursday before a trip to Oklahoma Panhandle State next Saturday.
