Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 21, 2017) – Down by 20 points in the second half against the defending NCAA Division II champion, Oklahoma Christian didn't quit, but instead dug in and began the long climb back.

But time expired before the Lady Eagles made it all the way back and Lubbock Christian hung on for a 73-64 win on Saturday afternoon in the Eagles' Nest.

Senior McKenzie Stanford recorded her seventh double-double of the season – and fourth in the past five games – with 24 points and 11 rebounds for OC (9-11, 4-4 Heartland Conference), which fell to fifth place midway through the league season, three games behind co-leaders St. Edward's (Texas) and St. Mary's (Texas). Lubbock Christian (10-8, 5-2) is in fourth.

The Lady Eagles did a lot of things right against Lubbock Christian, committing only 10 turnovers, holding their own with the much taller Chaparrals on the boards (with LCU finishing with only a 41-40 advantage) and going 14 of 15 from the free-throw line. But OC shot only 29.9 percent (20 of 67) from the field, including a 4-of-19 effort in the fourth quarter as they rallied.

"They shot way better than we did and that's probably going to win you the game," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "I was pleased with our free-throw line effort. We needed to be more aggressive trying to get to the free-throw line, so we could score a little bit from there when we were struggling from the field. But it's just hard going in against those big girls.

"We played a decent game. We just are not hitting shots. It's the name of the game – put the ball in the basket. They did it and we didn't."

Lubbock Christian's starting frontline included 6-foot-4 Tess Bruffey and 6-foot-2 Allison Szabo and the Chaparrals brought 6-foot-1 Bobbi Chitsey off the bench. The 6-foot Stanford found open shots outside, however, and went 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

OC took its only lead at 18-16 on a jumper by Hannah Holasek about a minute into the second quarter. The Chaparrals answered with seven straight points to regain the advantage, but Stanford hit a pair of 3-points while scoring eight of the game's next 11 points. The latter tied the game at 26-26 with 5:44 left in the quarter.

But officials called Stanford for her second foul moments later and she went to the bench for the rest of the half. Lubbock Christian took advantage and built a 46-33 lead by halftime.

The Chaparrals stretched their lead to 63-43 after a spinning layup by Hannah Harbin with 5:43 left in the third quarter, but OC held Lubbock Christian to just 10 points the rest of the way, allowing the Lady Eagles to chip away.

Three-pointers by Addy Clift and Sarah Parker helped OC close the gap to 65-53 by the end of the quarter. Clift and Stanford each hit a 3-pointer in the final two minutes, with Stanford's bringing the Lady Eagles within 71-64 with 45 seconds left, but Olivia Robertson hit two free throws with 36.2 seconds left for Lubbock Christian. OC missed three shots in the final 30 seconds.

"I feel like we've learned to come back in games," Findley said. "We could have folded our tents when we got down 20, but we came back and got within seven, so I'm really proud of their fight and their ability to do that, but we've got to start finishing it off."

Stanford continued her march up both the OC and Heartland Conference career scoring lists, increasing her point total to 1,525. She passed Amy Bratcher (1,503 points from 1993-97) on the OC list and now is eighth, and she passed Jill Curry of Drury (Mo.) (1,523 points from 2000-04) on the Heartland list and now is sixth.

Clift added 12 points for OC while Parker added 11. Bailey Haist went 6 of 10 from 3-point range and led Lubbock Christian with 18 points, while Szabo had 15 and Bruffey finished with a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

OC will return to action on Thursday, hosting Newman (Kan.) as the second round of Heartland games begin.