Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 23, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian was scuffling somewhat against Rogers State on Saturday afternoon in the Eagles' Nest before one of the Lady Eagles' seniors gave her team a major shot of adrenaline.
Jasmine Hinton recorded a three-point play and a four-point play in the final 1:25 of the third quarter, swinging the momentum to OC, which pulled away for a 76-63 win over the Hillcats.
McKenzie Stanford scored 21 points,
Sarah Parker had 17 and
Sydney Hill added 16 with seven assists for OC (9-10, 6-3 Heartland Conference), which moved into a second-place tie with St. Mary's (Texas) and Texas A&M International in the league standings midway through the conference season. OC will visit St. Mary's on Thursday and TAMIU next Saturday.
"We had to gut it out a little bit," OC assistant coach
Larry Truesdell said. "The first half, we shot the ball horrible. We just looked dead. The energy wasn't there. We couldn't get a shot. But the third quarter, we came out and hit a couple of shots and outscored them by 11, which was huge."
As Truesdell noted, the Lady Eagles came out flat against pesky Rogers State (10-6, 5-4), a much-improved squad under second-year coach Bobby Cope, quickly falling behind 20-8.
A 15-0 run by OC righted the ship, with
Aisha Martin's 3-pointer about three minutes into the second quarter giving the Lady Eagles their first lead at 23-20. Rogers State took a 31-29 lead into halftime after a late 3-pointer by Kami Bunch.
Neither team gained much traction for most of the third quarter. Officials called a technical foul on OC head coach Stephanie Finley at the 3:03 mark and Bunch hit 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 40-40.
Then Hinton, who had scored only two points to that point, stole a Rogers State pass and steamed toward the basket for a layup. She made the basket at the 1:25 mark while being fouled by Heather Roberts, and officials also called a technical foul on Roberts after the play.
Hinton made her free throw and Parker hit the two technical free throws – part of a 9-for-9 effort at the line – and OC suddenly had its biggest lead at 45-40.
With OC leading 47-42 and holding for the final shot of the quarter, the basketball found its way to Hinton, who knocked down a 3-pointer while being fouled by Bunch with 1.8 seconds left. Hinton completed the Lady Eagles' first four-point play of the season to make it 51-42.
The Hillcats came no closer than five points the rest of the way, as OC posted its fifth straight win in the series between the two schools that were rivals in the Sooner Athletic Conference before moving together into NCAA Division II and the Heartland Conference.
"You don't see a lot of people getting a three-point play and a four-point play in the same game," Truesdell said. "Jaz really gave us a lift on defense. She got some steals and was in the passing lane a lot and really doing a good job defensively, keeping track of their girls."
After Natasha Kindred pulled the Hillcats within 66-61 with 1:36 left, OC went 8-of-8 at the free-throw line to seal the win, with Hill hitting four, Parker two and Stanford two.
OC shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field in the second half after going 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) in the first half. Just as important, the Lady Eagles held Rogers State without a 3-pointer in the second half, after the Hillcats went 5-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half.
OC, which entered the game leading Division II in made free throws, went 20-of-24 from the line, an 83.3-percent clip.
Rachel Block led the Hillcats with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but her teammates combined to go 16-of-56 from the field. Kindred added 14 points while Bunch had 10 for Rogers State.
Stanford raised her career point total to 1,031, moving her past Katy Clift (1,025 points from 2008-12) into 28th place on OC's all-time scoring list.
Larry Truesdell on the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Debzl01_Fzg&feature=youtu.be
