OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 26, 2019) – For three quarters, Oklahoma Christian held its own with mighty Lubbock Christian (Texas), particularly on the boards, and the scoreboard showed the fruits of OC's effort, as the Lady Eagles trailed by only three points.

But the Chaparrals turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter, outrebounding OC 16-5, allowing them to pull away for an 84-70 win in the Eagles' Nest on Saturday afternoon.

OC (10-9, 3-3 Heartland Conference) had a three-game winning streak snapped, while Lubbock Christian (16-4, 6-0) won its ninth straight game to remain atop the Heartland women's basketball standings.

Olivia Robertson led the Chaparrals with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, but it was the inside sister combo of Maddi Chitsey (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Bobbi Chitsey (nine points, 15 rebounds) that particularly gave OC fits. The Chitseys helped Lubbock Christian post a 50-35 rebounding edge.

Particularly in the late stages, those rebounds proved key for Lubbock Christian. The Lady Eagles held their own – and then some – against the South Central Region's No. 5-ranked team before surrendering six offensive boards in the fourth quarter. Those resulted in nine points for the Chaparrals, thwarting any hopes of an OC rally.

"I don't know what to say," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We let them get in our heads. We just didn't mentally function. We've got to be mentally tougher. We've got to find a way to score when we're not getting to the line."

"We played pretty well in the first half and then we just lost it. I don't know what happened, but whatever halftime speech I gave, I need to throw away, because we didn't come out ready in the second half."

Lubbock Christian held OC's Addy Clift, the leading scorer in NCAA Division II, to 16 points, 12 below her average. But early on, the Chaparrals focused so much energy on Clift that it opened up the floor for her teammates, and they took advantage. Clift had just four points at halftime, but OC was up 41-37 after leading by as many as six points. OC had only two turnovers in the first half.

OC still led 53-52 after a layup by Clift with 2:40 left in the third quarter. A three-point play by Robertson at the 2:15 mark gave Lubbock Christian the lead, but the Chaparrals were ahead only 59-56 heading into the fourth quarter. It was still a three-point game with 7:41 left, when a basket by Clift pulled OC within 64-61. She scored again at the 7:12 mark to make it 67-63, but those were the Lady Eagles' final points until 2:45 remained.

The Chaparrals scored 11 points in that stretch, including a 3-pointer and a layup by Caitlyn Cunyas, to build a 78-63 lead.

Katie Mayo led OC with 17 points, while guards Maddison Collyer (10 points, nine rebounds) and Megan Shelton (10 points, eight rebounds) each just missed recording a double-double. OC went 14 of 19 from the free-throw line, while Lubbock Christian made just 6 of 13 free throws and had 15 turnovers – more than twice as many as OC's seven.

Allie Schulte scored 15 points for Lubbock Christian, while Cunyas had 12.

OC's 70 points were the third-most scored this season against Lubbock Christian, which entered the game with a 54.6-point defensive average, 13th-best in Division II. OC entered the game ranked seventh in Division II in scoring offense.

OC will host Newman (Kan.) next Saturday at 1 p.m. in a quick rematch after the Lady Eagles won 85-81 at Newman on Thursday.

Highlights, courtesy of Eagle Media: https://youtu.be/sJbopppM360