Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 8, 2016) – With Oklahoma Christian nursing a three-point lead in the final seconds of the third quarter against Southwestern Oklahoma State, OC freshman guard Megan Shelton had the basketball and heard the OC bench counting down – "Five! Four! Three!"

Shelton lowered her shoulder and drove into the lane, banking in a basket at the buzzer. The biggest shot of her career to date gave the Lady Eagles much momentum, which they rode with a dominating fourth-quarter performance en route to a 94-77 win on Thursday night in the Eagles' Nest.

It was a desperately needed win for OC (4-6), especially coming off an upset loss at archrival Southern Nazarene two nights earlier. It also was a quality win, as Southwestern (5-3) entered the game ranked ninth in NCAA Division II's rugged Central Region. It was OC's first win over Southwestern since 2005.

"We did need this one," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We needed to be able to tell ourselves that we could get over the hump against a good team. … This was a big, good-shooting team that runs their stuff well and they play good defense. It was just really something we needed as a confidence boost.

"Megan played a really good game. We've been trying to work her into the point guard spot a little bit … so she's had to learn some stuff in the last couple of weeks. She's been overloaded a little bit but she came out tonight ready to play and she did a good job. That shot really was a spark for us."

The stat sheet was filled with big numbers for OC. McKenzie Stanford poured in 25 points, while Addy Clift had 21 (going 4-of-7 from 3-point range) and Sarah Parker had 17 points and nine rebounds. But the Lady Eagles' bench players also fared well, as Shelton had 12 points, Hannah Holasek grabbed five big defensive rebounds to go with three steals and point guard Shae Scheffler had zero turnovers in 12 minutes.

In fact, OC had a season-low 10 turnovers as a team, while Southwestern had 18, and that proved to be a big difference between the teams.

"That's something that we did well tonight," Findley said. "We took care of the ball. Only 10 turnovers as a team – that's a big improvement for us, to be patient and find the good shot. I think we did that in the second half."

The Bulldogs led for much of the first half and held a 44-39 halftime advantage due to 56.7 percent shooting to that point. But Southwestern cooled off considerably in the second half, shooting just 35.3 percent, including 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from 3-point range.

Conversely, OC shot a respectable 48.4 percent after halftime and 43.5 percent for the game. The Lady Eagles also shot 47.8 percent (11 of 23) from 3-point range, beating Southwestern at its own game.

OC started the second half on a 9-2 spurt and went up 48-46 on a 3-pointer by Audrey Hayes at the 7:30 mark. Southwestern battled back to take a 57-54 lead on Hayden Priddy's basket with 2:50 left in the quarter and it was tied 60-60 before Parker hit a 3-pointer with a minute left.

Then came Shelton's buzzer beater, and the floodgates opened for the Lady Eagles. By the time the run was done, OC had outscored Southwestern 26-7 over a seven-minute stretch and led 86-67 after a free throw by Stanford with 4:18 left.

Southwestern tried to rally using a full-court press, but the Lady Eagles routinely broke it to maintain their sizable lead. OC went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final 2:47 and 23-of-29 for the game (79.3 percent). The Lady Eagles improved their Heartland Conference-leading team free-throw percentage to 76.4 percent in the process.

Priddy led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Hailey Tucker had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Savannah Gray added 14 points and Whitney Dunn had 13 for Southwestern.

OC will complete a busy week on Saturday, traveling to Alva for a 6 p.m. game at Northwestern Oklahoma State, which is coached by former OC All-American Tasha (Turney) Diesselhorst.

"It will be fun," Findley said. "Tasha does a great job. She's a great coach. She's going to be a great coach. I'm so happy for her to have that opportunity. It's really exciting to be able to go and play against her."

Stephanie Findley discusses the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsV6pVtwgRs&feature=youtu.be

Game highlights (courtesy of Eagle Media): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ71kcsNYZc&feature=youtu.be