TYLER, Texas (Jan. 16, 2020) – Kendall Blackburn made the most of her first career start on both ends of the basketball court on Thursday at Texas-Tyler.

The sophomore center from Edmond had 15 points, eight rebounds, six steals and six blocked shots – career highs in the latter three categories – and three other Oklahoma Christian players scored in double figures as the Lady Eagles built a 29-point lead and coasted to a 68-53 win at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center.

Junior forward Katie Mayo added a double-double (her third of the season) with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks for OC (5-9, 5-5 Lone Star Conference), which committed a season-low nine turnovers in the romp over their LSC divisional rival. Senior guard Megan Shelton contributed 13 points and a career-high six steals – three of those in a 36-second span in the second quarter that led to six points for OC.

OC also won the rebounding battle 44-43, including 20 offensive boards that allowed the Lady Eagles to take 19 more shots than Texas-Tyler, key as OC shot just 34.7 percent from the field.

Texas-Tyler (3-10, 1-8) shot just 34 percent from the field (18 of 53) and committed 19 turnovers. About the only bright spot for the Patriots was the fourth quarter, during which they outscored OC 16-4, as the Lady Eagles made just one of 20 shots in the quarter. Fortunately for OC, the Patriots never rallied closer than 14 points in the final minutes.

"I'm proud of the way we played and shot through three quarters to build a nice lead, but we totally lost our focus in the fourth quarter, so at least that gives me something to get on them about," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We showed improvement on the offensive boards and kept our turnovers in single digits and those are things we've been trying to work on.

"We didn't have (usual starting center) Carolyne Lawley tonight but Kendall played really well in her place. She got us going with some hot shooting, bocks and deflections in the first half."

Blackburn's six blocks were the most by an OC player in a single game since Charlotte Heron had six in a win over Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Feb. 16, 2008, and matched the third-highest single-game total this season by a LSC player. The six steals by her and Shelton tied for fourth on the LSC's individual single-game list for 2019-20. 

OC trailed for less than a minute the entire game, in the first quarter as it struggled to get untracked offensively. OC started the game by making just one of its first 12 shots, but used an 11-1 spurt to go up 21-9 on a basket by Blackburn 23 seconds into the second quarter.

Blackburn and Connor Atkinson each hit a 3-pointer during a 9-0 run that extended the lead to 32-15 and OC led 43-22 by halftime. The Lady Eagles gradually pulled away in the second half, with the lead peaking at 60-31 after a driving layup by Maddison Collyer with 2:45 left. Collyer finished with 11 points.

OC led 64-37 entering the fourth quarter and missed its first 17 shots. The Patriots scored 14 straight points and came within 64-51 on a 3-pointer by Beezy Birchette with 3:07 left, but Mayo scored on a put-back with 2:29 left and held Texas-Tyler without a basket the rest of the way.

Kylea Johnson was the only Texas-Tyler player to reach double figures, scoring 15 points.

OC's next game will be Saturday afternoon, when the Lady Eagles will visit undefeated Texas A&M-Commerce, which is ranked fourth nationally in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association poll and sixth in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.