Box Score GOODWELL, Okla. (Dec. 17, 2016) – For the second time in eight days, Oklahoma Christian positively responded when faced with road adversity on Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
A cold-shooting OC squad ran into a hot-shooting OPSU team that had all the momentum after tying the game with 6:20 left. But the Lady Eagles answered with a clutch 11-0 run and squeezed out a 79-69 win at Oscar Williams Fieldhouse in the Heartland Conference opener for both women's basketball teams.
OC (6-6, 1-0 Heartland) won its third straight game, a run that includes a win last Saturday at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Against OPSU, senior
McKenzie Stanford poured in a season-high 28 points, including six big ones in the game-deciding run. She also went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Another senior,
Sarah Parker, overcame a tough 4-of-14 shooting outing to drain a 3-pointer with 2:30 left that put OC up 74-63.
"I was getting a little nervous myself," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "These trips at the end of finals week, and coming up here, Panhandle always is ready to slip up on somebody and we shot just bad enough to keep them in the game and let them have a chance to slip up on us. But I'm really proud of the effort the girls gave those last few minutes … and being able to knock down some shots."
The Aggies came out smoking, shooting 75 percent from the field in the first quarter. OPSU led by as many as seven points in the quarter but OC closed the gap to 20-18 by quarter's end.
A pair of long-range 3-pointers in the second quarter by
Addy Clift helped OC build a 41-35 halftime advantage, but the Aggies wouldn't led the Lady Eagles pull away. OPSU (1-8, 0-1) pulled within 56-54 with a minute left in the third quarter on a basket by Tiara Roberson, after she bumped Stanford and knocked her to the floor.
A 3-pointer by Taylor Acosta with 6:20 left capped a 7-0 run for OPSU and pulled the Aggies even at 63-63. But OC held them scoreless for more than four minutes, allowing the Lady Eagles time to rebuild their advantage.
Kylee Hicks scored from underneath at the 5:29 mark to put OC back up 65-63. Stanford followed with a 14-foot jumper, then hit two free throws, then scored on a layup. Parker's 3-pointer capped the run and gave the Lady Eagles some breathing room.
"I challenged both (Stanford) and Sarah in the (timeout) huddle there earlier in the game and I think (Stanford) was feeling that right there at the end," Findley said. "I mentioned it again in that last timeout. We've just got to calm down and find our target, slow things down and go up strong and that's what they were trying to do those last few minutes."
Hayes, who scored 10 points, and Stanford each hit a pair of free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Panhandle State finished the game shooting 47.9 percent (23 of 48) while OC shot 40 percent (28 of 70). Key to the Lady Eagles' win was its ability to protect possession – OC had just nine turnovers, while the Aggies had 22.
Clift, who entered the game as the Heartland's leading scorer, finished with 17 points, while Parker had 13. Stanford's big outing allowed her to move past Angie Cook (1986-90) and Jan Ross (1982-86) into 16th place on OC's career scoring list. Stanford now has 1,367 career points.
Acosta had a double-double for the Aggies with 12 points and 10 assists. Denise Levine and Darby Price each scored 18 points to lead OPSU.
Next up for OC is a showdown on Monday at Newman (Kan.), which had won 10 straight games and risen to No. 5 in the South Central Region rankings before losing 66-48 at home to St. Edward's (Texas) on Saturday.
"We've just got to be ready," Findley said. "During finals week, you don't accomplish much because the girls are tired and not focused (on basketball). You don't practice for very long, then you have to turn around and play these two games. They're trap games for everybody, I think, and we'd like to go up there and make it a trap game for them."
Stephanie Findley discusses the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B24bf05xew&feature=youtu.be
