Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 30, 2015) – With her team off to a 1-5 start and struggling with its shooting, Oklahoma Christian women's basketball coach
Stephanie Findley went back to one of her former schemes – combine pressure defense with attacking the basket.
The goal is to never let up and wear opponents down with the intensity, and that's what happened Monday in the Eagles' Nest against St. Gregory's. As a bonus, OC broke the 20-year-old single-game program scoring record during the 123-76 rout of the Cavaliers.
OC (2-5) has used its pressure attack in spurts for several seasons, but hadn't played a full game using the scheme since early in the 2012-13 season. A game against St. Gregory's – a longtime OC foe back in the university's days in the NAIA and Sooner Athletic Conference – provided the perfect testing ground to see how the system would work with this OC squad.
It worked splendidly. The Lady Eagles' pressure led to 37 turnovers by St. Gregory's, and OC was able to get off 93 shots – averaging more than 2.3 attempts per minute – and shoot 30 free throws. OC's 46.2-percent shooting (43 of 93) was its best of the season, as was its 40 percent 3-point shooting (12 of 30).
Six Lady Eagles reached double figures in scoring, led by junior forward
McKenzie Stanford and freshman guard
Addy Clift, who had 22 points each. Clift also was OC's co-leader in rebounds with six, along with sophomore guard
Audrey Hayes, as the Lady Eagles won the rebounding battle 48-37.
Sydney Hill (14 points, five assists),
Sarah Parker (13 points, five rebounds),
Aisha Martin (11 points on 4-of-4 shooting and five rebounds) and
Hope Dawkins (10 points, four blocked shots) also scored in double figures for OC.
OC's previous single-game record was 122 points, set in a 93-point romp over Southwestern Adventist (Texas) on Nov. 13, 1995. The 123 points scored by the Lady Eagles against St. Gregory's was the third-highest total in Heartland Conference history and just three shy of the record of 126 set by Texas A&M International against Oklahoma Panhandle State in January 2012.
The Lady Eagles' 43 field goals tied for 10th in Heartland history, their 93 attempts tied for sixth and their 30 assists tied for sixth in the conference's single-game record book.
OC also posted the highest point total in NCAA Division II so far this season, surpassing the 122 points put up by Lander (S.C.) vs. Brewton-Parker (Ga.) on Nov. 24 and by Alaska-Anchorage vs. Dixie State (Utah) on Nov. 13.
OC never trailed against St. Gregory's (3-3), which counted the game as an exhibition contest. A 3-pointer by Hill snapped a 16-16 deadlock at the 4:11 mark of the fourth quarter and the Lady Eagles went on to record a 40-point quarter, their highest total in a period since the women's game began using quarters this season.
OC led 40-29 after the first quarter and closed the half on an 11-0 run to go up 75-46 at halftime. At that point, they'd already scored more than they had in all but one game so far this season.
The Lady Eagles pushed their lead to 43 points during the third quarter and reached triple figures on a basket by Dawkins with 50 seconds left in the period. OC last scored 100 or more points during the 2013-14 season opener against York (Neb.), a 108-60 win.
OC's lead Monday peaked at 48 points in the fourth quarter. A scoring drought of three minutes, 14 seconds late in the quarter seemed to doom the Lady Eagles' quest for the points record, but in the final two minutes,
Madison Maxwell hit a 3-pointer,
Jessica Foster followed with a 2-pointer and
Emma Gade hit a pair of baskets – the last with 28.9 seconds left – to put OC over the top.
Denisha Lundy scored 20 points to lead St. Gregory's, while Kylee Tatum had 17 and Ashleigh Sparks had 13.
OC will return to action on Thursday, visiting Texas Woman's of the Lone Star Conference. The Lady Eagles will host No. 3-ranked West Texas A&M on Saturday.
