PORTALES, N.M. (Dec. 21, 2019) – Down 18 points in the third quarter of its final basketball game of the first semester and facing a regionally ranked opponent on the road, Oklahoma Christian couldn't have been blamed for perhaps phoning it in the rest of the way.

But that's not the style of Maddison Collyer and the Lady Eagles, who instead rallied to cut the gap to four points by the quarter's end, challenging Eastern New Mexico to also raise its game. To its credit, the Greyhounds did, winning 80-69 at Greyhound Arena on Saturday afternoon.

While never wanting to lose, OC coach Stephanie Findley was proud of the fight her team showed against a foe ranked eighth in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association South Central Region rankings, especially coming off a lopsided loss Thursday at national No. 24-ranked West Texas A&M.

"It was a much better performance," Findley said. "We played harder. We were more focused. We played with more purpose in trying to attack their zone. The girls got the game plan down a little bit more. It takes a lot of energy to come back like that. You sometimes have a little lull in your own action and we kind of did, which allowed them to pull away a little bit from us in the fourth quarter.

"I feel OK about it after the way we looked at West Texas. I was afraid we could look that way again today and not be very confident after taking a loss like that, but they bounced back well. They played with confidence … against a very good team. I feel good about the way we competed, on the road, too."

Collyer, a junior point guard from Harrah, was the ringleader for OC (3-6, 3-2 Lone Star Conference), scoring 15 of her season-high 22 points in the final 12 minutes. She also drew a whopping 10 fouls, resulting in 12 free throws, of which she made 10.

"She was playing pretty determined there at the end," Findley said. "I thought she did a good job of making decisions. She took some of the jumpers, some floaters, she dished it off a few times and then she was getting fouled, too. She did a good job of attacking that zone."

Collyar fueled a 15-2 run to end the third quarter, hitting a 3-pointer and a layup before knocking down four free throws in the final 18.8 seconds, the latter two pulling OC within 54-50.

Eastern New Mexico (9-2, 3-2) extended its lead back to eight early in the fourth quarter, but baskets by Collyar and Kendall Blackburn – who scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting – again closed the gap to 58-54 with 6:18 left.

The Greyhounds answered with a 10-2 spurt to make it 68-56 with 3:56 left and went 10 of 15 from the free-throw line over the final 3:07 to hold off OC. Alivia Lewis, the Greyhounds' 6-foot-2 center, had 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Eastern New Mexico, while another 6-foot-2 post player, Kamirah Decker, added 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Greyhounds outrebounded OC 51-37, with 22 of those offensive rebounds. OC's tallest player, 6-foot-2 center Carolyne Lawley, posted her second career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the Lady Eagles mostly struggled against the Greyhounds taller, larger defenders.

The Greyhounds shot 41 free throws, making 29, while OC had 29 attempts from the line, making 19.

"They're just bigger than us and it looks like we're fouling when we try to contest anything," Findley said. "We just let them get too many second chances. They were just manhandling us in there, but we just have to be more physical and we've got to be stronger to keep them out of there. … I feel good about the fact that we hung in there. It's hard and it wears on you by the end of the game."

OC led early, going ahead 9-4 and 12-8, the latter on a 3-pointer by Blackburn with 5:37 left in the first quarter. But the Greyhounds scored the next nine points to take the lead and never gave it back. OC was within 28-27 after two free throws by Tyra Peck with 5:55 left in the first half before the Greyhounds scored the final 11 points of the half to go up 39-27.

Eastern New Mexico's biggest lead was at 47-29 after a 3-pointer by Zamorye Cox with 8:01 left in the third quarter. Cox scored 12 points for the Greyhounds, while Jasmine Williams had 11 points and six rebounds.

OC will take next week off before preparing for its second-semester schedule, which will begin on Jan. 2 at St. Edward's (Texas). The Lady Eagles' next home game will be Jan. 9 against Tarleton State (Texas).