CLAREMORE, Okla. (Feb. 9, 2019) – When Oklahoma Christian needs to score points in bunches, coach Stephanie Findley often turns to the Lady Eagles' defensive press to force the issue and try and earn her team extra possessions. It worked like a charm Saturday afternoon.

Down 17 points at Rogers State with 12 minutes to play, OC steadily rallied, catching the Hillcats in the final minutes and winning 89-87 at the Claremore Expo Center after Addy Clift buried two free throws with 2.6 seconds left.

Clift scored 32 points, increasing her NCAA Division II-leading scoring average to 27.1 per game, as OC (11-11, 4-5 Heartland Conference) snapped a three-game losing streak and picked up its second road conference win of the season. The Lady Eagles moved past Rogers State (10-11, 3-5) into sixth place in the Heartland standings.

Katie Mayo added 20 points for OC, which didn't have a turnover in the fourth quarter while forcing four by Rogers State and outscoring the Hillcats 29-17 as a result.

"I'm proud of the fight we showed," Findley said. "The girls didn't quit and stayed focused. We moved the ball well in the second half and had only two turnovers for the half. Our press brought us back. The team really played hard and worked together on the press."

OC led 5-0 in the first minute of the game and 20-19 at the end of the first quarter, but Rogers State led by as many as nine points in the second quarter and was up 48-41 at halftime. When Darian Jackson hit two free throws with 2:13 left in the third quarter, the Hillcats had a seemingly comfortable 70-53 lead.

But OC outscored the Hillcats 7-0 to close the gap to 10 points by the end of the quarter, forcing two turnovers in that stretch. Rogers State continued to hang on, leading 84-78 after a layup by Azaria Floyd with 3:05 left, but that proved to be the Hillcats' last basket.

Mayo's layup with 2:59 left pulled OC within four points and nine seconds later, after a turnover, Megan Shelton hit two free throws to make it 84-82. Mayo hit another layup with 2:20 left to tie the game and Clift hit two free throws at the 2:05 mark to put the Lady Eagles ahead.

Alicia Brown split a pair of free throws for the Hillcats with 1:44 left and Floyd hit two with 53 seconds left, returning the lead to Rogers State at 87-86. Lilly Garner fouled Clift on a drive to the basket and Clift made 1 of 2 free throws with 46 seconds left to tie the game.

Rogers State went inside to Lauren Schuldt, who had 19 points, on its penultimate possession, but she missed a short layup attempt and Maddison Collyer rebounded for OC. The ball went to Clift, who again drove toward the basket, into a group of three Hillcat defenders. Schuldt was called for a foul on the play and Clift made the two free throws, making it 89-87.

The Hillcats called timeout and advanced the ball to the frontcourt, but Brown's NBA-range 3-point attempt at the buzzer was an airball.

Shelton scored 10 points for OC while Tyra Peck had nine, Collyer had nine points and seven assists and Carolyne Lawley added eight points. Floyd had 18 points and seven assists for Rogers State while Garner had 15 points and Brown had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

OC will make its annual trip to south Texas next week, visiting league rivals Texas A&M International on Thursday and St. Mary's (Texas) on Saturday.