OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 31, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian basketball coach Stephanie Findley figured there would be a few growing pains as the Lady Eagles began using a different offensive system entering their second-semester schedule, and sure enough, that was the case against Cameron on Friday.

Kate Bradley just missed a triple-double and two other OC players reached double figures in scoring, but the Lady Eagles also committed 23 turnovers and didn't score in the final 80 seconds, which proved just enough to allow Cameron to hold on for a 78-70 win in the Eagles' Nest in the Lone Star Conference opener for both teams.

Bradley, a freshman point guard from Bixby, had 11 points, a career-best 10 assists and eight rebounds for OC (0-9, 0-1) – the double-double was her first as a collegiate player – while Kendra Levings led the Lady Eagles with 12 points. Brooklin Bain scored 10 points and Kendall Blackburn just missed a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds for OC.

OC outrebounded Cameron (6-5, 1-0) by a 54-52 count, but the Aggies had 19 offensive boards, which allowed them to take 11 more shots than OC. Cameron – which made last season's NCAA Division II tournament – took 83 shots, including a whopping 45 from 3-point range, making 26 and 12, respectively. OC went 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) from 3-point range and 26 of 72 (36.1 percent) from the field.

"We've tried to totally change what we're doing on offense and play faster and get more 3-pointers and play more people," Findley said. "We pressed more tonight. We wanted to see if we could pick up the pace and get more shots and I thought we did a pretty good job. We just got careless with those long passes. That's something I think we're going to figure out. The more we do it, the better we'll get at it."

The Lady Eagles jumped to a 9-2 lead and led as late as the 3:04 mark of the second quarter, when Cameron's Maighan Hedge – who led the Aggies with 23 points – hit a 3-pointer to highlight a 7-0 spurt that put her team up 33-29.

Cameron led 40-35 at halftime, then hit a 3-pointer on four consecutive possessions early in the second half to extend its lead to 52-42 at the 7:02 mark of the third quarter. But OC never let the Aggies pull away. Cameron was up 62-52 late in the third quarter before Levings hit two 3-pointers during an 8-0 run. The latter one brought OC within 62-60 with 8:13 left, but with a chance to pull even or take the lead, the Lady Eagles missed three shots and committed a turnover.

OC was within 72-20 after Ashanti Day split a pair of free throws with 1:20 left, but Whitney Outon hit a 3-pointer for Cameron with 1:08 left. The Lady Eagles missed three shots and turned the ball over once in the final 68 seconds, while the Aggies went a combined 3 of 6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

One positive for the Lady Eagles is that all 11 players who saw action scored and all but one of them grabbed at least one rebound.

"We didn't make shots in the fourth quarter, basically, and still were hanging around close enough to have a shot at it," Findley said. "But the turnovers and the missed threes late, and then you've got to foul and they're making a free throw here or there. I felt good about the effort. The girls gave the effort. This is a new way to play … where we attack and find each other. I thought they did a good job, it being their first night to do that."

Stephanie Peterson scored 16 points for Cameron, while Outon had 13 and Katie King added 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

OC will host perennial LSC and NCAA Division II power West Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m.