OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 23, 2019) – Texas A&M International came out rolling on Saturday afternoon, racing to an 8-0 lead in the first 96 seconds. Oklahoma Christian coach Stephanie Findley quickly used a timeout to try and calm down her players, reminding them they had a lot of basketball yet to play.

It worked. Less than 4½ minutes later, the Lady Eagles took the lead and they held it most of the rest of the way en route to an 80-68 win over TAMIU in the Eagles' Nest. It was OC's seventh straight win over the Dustdevils, who like OC moved from the Heartland Conference into the Lone Star Conference for the 2019-20 season.

OC (2-2, 2-0 LSC) leads its Lone Star division after consecutive wins against the league's south Texas members, TAMIU (3-3, 1-1) and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Lady Eagles overcame the Dustdevils' scrambling pressure defense with strong passing, recording assists on 29 of 32 field goals, which often were layups. OC shot a season-best 54.2 percent (32 of 59) from the field.

"They're running people at you all the time … trying to double-team the ball, so you've got to move the ball and you've got to make good passes and you've got to be ready to shoot when you're open," Findley said. "I thought we did a good job of keeping our heads, staying poised and making the plays."

Junior point guard Maddison Collyer recorded her third career double-double for OC with 13 points and 10 assists, while junior forward Katie Mayo – who didn't score her first point until 1.9 seconds remained in the first half – finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

"They made (Collyer) work hard and I knew they'd do that," Findley said. "I was worried about whether she would last, but she doesn't get tired. I'm really proud of her. Ten assists is awesome. She's giving the girls good passes and they're making the shots. It's good to see.

"Katie runs the floor so well. Once their press was getting tired, Maddie was beating it down the middle and Katie was down there to get the bounce pass and lay-in, or she was outrunning the big girl to the bucket and getting a layup on a long pass. That's something that plays to her strength and she was good in the second half."

Kendra Levings added a career-high 15 points and five assists for the Lady Eagles and her fellow sophomore, Kendall Blackburn, added 10 points in her second straight double-digit performance.

After TAMIU's initial burst, Blackburn led a quick 9-0 OC burst to put the Lady Eagles back ahead. The Dustdevils went back up 16-11 with 1:11 left in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Patrycja Jaworska, but Levings and Megan Shelton answered with 3-pointers to put the Lady Eagles up for good at 17-16 by quarter's end.

OC extended its lead to 36-24 by halftime. The Dustdevils pulled within 51-44 with 2:21 left in the third quarter on a basket by Gulten Rose Altunbulak, but Blackburn answered with a basket and Levings followed with a 3-pointer to rebuild OC's advantage to double digits.

TAMIU came no closer than eight points in the fourth quarter. OC's lead peaked at 66-50 with 6:50 left after another 3-pointer by Levings.

Josselin Geer led TAMIU with 19 points, while Nicole Heyn had 16 and Jaworska added 15. But the Dustdevils had 19 turnovers and shot just 35.5 percent (22 of 62) from the field.

OC will return to nonconference play for the next couple of weeks and will host Northwestern Oklahoma State – coached by former OC All-American Tasha (Turney) Diesselhorst – on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Stephanie Findley discusses the game: https://youtu.be/w6FTBA5V0ZM 

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/2x-94SdfAXk