Box Score LAREDO, Texas (Jan. 11, 2018) – Freshmen
Katie Mayo and
Maddison Collyer certainly aren't performing like first-year basketball players since the first semester ended for Oklahoma Christian.
Mayo poured in a career-high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting and Collyer posted a career scoring high for a second straight game with 23 points, leading the Lady Eagles to an 84-71 win at Texas A&M International on Thursday. It was OC's third straight win in a game away from home, after the Lady Eagles swept a pair of games in Washington state on Dec. 18-19.
In OC's six games since first-semester classes ended, Mayo, a 6-foot forward from Newcastle, and Collyer, a 5-foot-6 guard from Harrah, are averaging 18.2 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Both have scored 20 or more points in each of the Lady Eagles' last two games.
The win for OC (5-11, 1-3 Heartland Conference) was its first in league play this season after three straight home losses. The Lady Eagles took advantage of 24 turnovers by TAMIU (2-15, 0-3), 14 of which came on steals by OC.
Addy Clift led OC with four steals, while Collyer had three and five other Lady Eagles had at least one.
OC struggled from 3-point range, hitting just 2 of 22 attempts, but offset that with stellar free-throw shooting – 24 of 26 (92.3 percent). Collyer led the way, going 11 of 12 from the line, while Mayo and Clift each went 4 of 4.
"What a game from Mayo and Collyer again," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "They were aggressively attacking the basket and it paid off. Our free-throw shooting is coming around just in time. We were cold from the arc, but made up for it with free throws and turnovers. We did a good job rotating on defense to pick up several steals."
The Lady Eagles never trailed, but there were a couple of hairy moments. OC led 19-6 after the first quarter and 25-12 with 7:34 left in the second, but the Dustdevils ran off 13 straight points to tie the game at 25-25 on two free throws by LaShae Rolle at the 4:09 mark.
OC answered with a 15-3 run to close the half, keyed by six points from Mayo. A basket by
Audrey Hayes with 5:25 left in the third quarter put the Lady Eagles up 49-34 before the Dustdevils made another charge. TAMIU closed to within 61-55 on a three-point play by Tantashea Giger – part of a career-high 28-point outing for her – with 9:48 left in the game.
Again, Mayo and Collyer responded. Mayo hit a basket and two free throws and Collyer followed with a 16-foot jumper to rebuild OC's lead to 67-55 with 6:47 left. The duo ended up combining for 20 of the Lady Eagles' 23 fourth-quarter points.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Ashley Perez had TAMIU within nine points with 1:15 left, but two late buckets by Mayo sealed the win. Mayo also had six rebounds and blocked four TAMIU shots.
Perez finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for TAMIU, while Passionate Amukamara had 13 points. Despite an off shooting night, Clift still scored 16 points for OC and Hayes added 10.
It was the Lady Eagles' second straight win at TAMIU. OC will try to sweep its two south Texas games again this season when the Lady Eagles visit St. Mary's (Texas) in San Antonio on Saturday afternoon.
