OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 29, 2020) – Needing two results elsewhere to go their way and to beat the last-place team in the Lone Star Conference, Oklahoma Christian appeared to be in danger Saturday of not holding up its end of the bargain. The Lady Eagles let a 17-point lead to dwindle to three late in the third quarter and Texas-Tyler seemed to have momentum.

But then OC rolled off the next 19 points and the basketball game effectively was over, with the Lady Eagles pulling away for a 73-47 win on Senior Day in the Eagles' Nest.

That result – combined with Texas A&M International's win over Texas Woman's and a win by Angelo State (Texas) at Texas-Permian Basin – was enough to both lift the Lady Eagles into a tie for 12th place in the LSC standings with TAMIU and Texas Woman's and keep UTPB (which held the tiebreaker on OC) a game behind that trio. OC (8-18, 8-14 LSC) beat both TAMIU and Texas Woman's earlier this season, giving the Lady Eagles the tiebreaker for the final spot in the 12-team LSC tournament.

OC will visit fifth-seeded Eastern New Mexico (20-8, 14-8) at 6 p.m. Mountain/7 p.m. Central time on Tuesday for a first-round game, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Eastern New Mexico beat OC 80-69 in Portales, N.M., on Dec. 21 in the regular-season meeting.

"By the skin of our teeth, we got in with a little help from our friends," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We're glad to be there. We had to win today to make sure we were still a factor and the girls went out and knew that. We had a good start, we had a good fourth quarter, and kind of in between, we slowed down a little. Some of that could be attributed to the tough game we played Thursday (against No. 4-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce)."

OC never trailed Texas-Tyler (3-23, 1-21), which suited up only eight players and closed the season with 13 straight losses. The Lady Eagles jumped to a quick 10-0 lead and closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run to go ahead 27-10.

But OC cooled off, scoring only seven points on 3-of-19 shooting in the second quarter, and the Patriots closed to within 34-22 by halftime. OC led 40-28 with six minutes to go in the third quarter, but Texas-Tyler used a 15-6 run to pull within 46-43 on a basket by Beezy Birchette with 1:12 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots didn't score again for more than five minutes and the offensive spigot opened full throttle for OC. First Kendra Levings hit a 3-pointer, then Maddison Collyer. Soon, Katie Mayo added another and Tyra Peck another. Collyer capped the run with another 3-pointer with 6:55 left in the game to put OC up 65-43.

For good measure, senior Connor Atkinson hit another three midway through the fourth quarter and Mayo added a traditional three-point play with 4:19 left. The Patriots scored only four points in the fourth quarter, making only 1 of 15 shots.

"We didn't fold," Findley said. "It was kind of going bad there for a little while, where we couldn't score, but finally we got the lid off the basket and went to town. I was real pleased to see their resilience."

Mayo posted her sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Collyer had 12 points and five assists, Kendall Blackburn scored 12 points and senior Megan Shelton added 11 points and a season-high eight rebounds. OC committed only seven turnovers.

Birchette and Tyreesha Blaylock each scored 10 points to lead Texas-Tyler, while Lilli Stewart came off the bench to grab 11 rebounds.

The game was the final one in the Eagles' Nest for Shelton, Atkinson and Carolyne Lawley.

"They have meant a lot to our program the last few years," Findley said.

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