Box Score SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 9, 2017) – Guards
Kylee Hicks and
Addy Clift started the snowball rolling downhill early for Oklahoma Christian on Thursday at St. Mary's (Texas), and when their teammates joined in, it eventually turned into an avalanche for the Lady Eagles.
Led by a career-high 13 rebounds from Hicks, OC rolled up a whopping 61-34 edge on the boards over one of the Heartland Conference's best basketball teams and led for more than 39 minutes while earning a decisive 68-47 win over the Rattlers at Bill Greehey Arena.
Clift led four Lady Eagles in double figures with 17 points, hitting three 3-pointers in a 93-second span in the first quarter to help stake OC to a lead it never relinquished.
McKenzie Stanford, the Heartland's leading scorer, added 16 points and nine rebounds,
Sarah Parker scored 13 points with six rebounds and
Emma Gade recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
OC (12-12, 7-5 Heartland) won at St. Mary's (17-5, 9-3) for the second straight season, continually frustrating a team that entered the game ranked No. 7 in the South Central Region. The result moved OC within a game of fourth place in the league standings, while St. Mary's stayed in second but fell two games behind league-leading St. Edward's (Texas) with four games remaining.
It was OC's third win this season over a regionally ranked foe, as the Lady Eagles earlier had beaten Southwestern Oklahoma State and Newman (Kan.), the latter also on the road. OC has won four Heartland road games this season.
"We dominated on the boards," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "Kylee started it off by grabbing several and everyone else fed off of her energy and effort. Addy got us going on the offensive end with a couple of deep threes and everyone seemed to feed off of that, too. It was a great team effort on the defensive end. The girls all worked together and communicated well to defend the paint and rebound."
St. Mary's shot just 26.4 percent from the field, giving the Lady Eagles plenty of opportunity to rebound, and they took advantage, grabbing more defensive rebounds (44) than the Rattlers had total rebounds. OC's overall rebound total was its second-highest total of the season.
The Rattlers led only briefly, in the opening 65 seconds. Consecutive layups by
Audrey Hayes put OC up 6-3 before Clift's early 3-pointer spree made it 15-3.
St. Mary's gradually clawed back, pulling within 21-14 by the end of the first quarter and within 29-27 after a layup by LaBraile Fields with 2:28 left in the second quarter. But Hicks scored all five of her points in the final 2:04 of the quarter, staking OC to a 34-27 halftime lead.
Stanford had two baskets in an 8-2 run by OC to start the second half to make it 42-29, and after the Rattlers scored to cut the margin to 11, Parker and Stanford each hit a 3-pointer during a 10-0 OC spurt that put OC up 52-31 with 1:24 left in the third quarter. St. Mary's managed only three baskets and six points in the quarter.
The Lady Eagles never were seriously threatened in the fourth quarter and Findley was able to clear her bench in the final minutes.
Stanford continued climbing up both the Heartland and OC career scoring lists. She moved into fourth on the Heartland list with 1,602 points, passing former St. Mary's standout Morgan Pullins (1,599 points from 2011-15). On the OC list, Stanford now is seventh after passing Katie Fariss (1,596 points from 2003-07).
No St. Mary's player scored in double figures, as Ciaira Briseno led the Rattlers with eight points. Their leading scorer, Kiara Etheridge – who entered the game second in the Heartland in scoring behind Stanford – had seven points and seven rebounds.
OC will return to action Saturday afternoon, traveling to the Heartland's southernmost point to face Texas A&M International in Laredo, Texas. TAMIU nearly pulled off a huge upset Thursday but fell 34-31 at home to St. Edward's.
