Box Score AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 1, 2018) – Without two of its better inside players due to injury, St. Edward's (Texas) figured to be a bit vulnerable, and Oklahoma Christian women's basketball coach
Stephanie Findley devised a strategy to take advantage.
OC used a 2-3 zone defense and went with a bigger lineup for long stretches of the game, allowing the Lady Eagles to seize control in the second quarter and ride out a 63-50 win at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for OC against St. Edward's.
OC (6-14, 2-6 Heartland Conference) thus capped a five-game road swing the same way it started – with a 13-point win. The Lady Eagles' next four games will be at home, starting with a Saturday afternoon meeting with Rogers State.
"We decided to press and play a little faster to get more people involved and it worked," Findley said. "We had a lot of contributions from a lot of different players on both ends. I can't say enough about how hard this team plays. I'm really proud of them for continuing to work and improve!"
Addy Clift provided all the outside shooting OC would need against St. Edward's (10-11, 4-5), as the Heartland's leading scorer hit 5 of 8 3-point attempts while pouring in 25 points. Clift's final 3-pointer of the game, with 3:44 left in the third quarter, was the 200th of her career, tying the junior guard for fifth place on the Heartland's all-time list. She's only 35 away from moving into first in that category.
The Hilltoppers led 20-15 after the first quarter, but didn't record a basket in the second quarter until 27 seconds remained, allowing OC to build a double-digit lead. Clift's coast-to-coast layup at the 7:10 mark put OC up for good at 22-20 and the Lady Eagles led by as many as 12 before settling for a 35-26 halftime advantage.
St. Edward's shot just 28.1 percent (18 of 64) from the field and never could cut much into OC's lead after that. The Lady Eagles went up 49-34 on a jumper by
Carolyne Lawley with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
A 9-2 spurt, capped by a put-back basket by Isabel Hernandez, by the Hilltoppers pulled them within 51-43 with 8:47 left, but they didn't score again for nearly seven minutes.
OC salted away the win with a 12-0 run, during which
Katie Mayo scored six of her 12 points (to go with her four blocked shots). The Lady Eagles shot a healthy 49.1 percent (28 of 57) from the field and outrebounded St. Edward's 42-36.
Audrey Hayes added eight points and eight rebounds for OC, and Lawley also had eight points. Brooke Panfili was the only St. Edward's player to score in double figures, with 16 points.
Clift also increased her career scoring total to 1,148 points, moving her past Nichole Sanders (1991-95) and Roz Hamilton (2009-14) into 25th place on the OC all-time scoring list.
