OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 27, 2021) – Saturday afternoon's basketball game against St. Mary's (Texas) was a do-or-die proposition for Oklahoma Christian – win, and qualify for the Lone Star Conference tournament, or lose, and sit at home rueing a lost opportunity.

Led by a stubborn senior who didn't want her career to end, the Lady Eagles eased ahead just before halftime, built a sizable lead in the third quarter and then held on for dear life while beating St. Mary's 64-53 in the regular-season finale on Senior Day in the Eagles' Nest.

That senior, point guard Maddison Collyer Ingraham, scored a team-high 17 points to go with six assists and four steals for OC (7-7, 7-6 LSC), which earned the No. 7 seed in the LSC tournament with the win. The Lady Eagles will face No. 2 seed (and No. 11-ranked) Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

"Let's go play," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We think when we're focused and working together, that we're pretty good. Let's go do what we can do and let's keep the season going. We will play with all of our hearts and we will play hard. We just want to keep this season going."

St. Mary's (6-8, 6-8) outrebounded OC 44-27 and held the Lady Eagles without a field goal over the final nine minutes of the game. Still, OC managed to gain a split of its two-game set with the Rattlers, which it needed to secure a berth in the slimmed-down LSC tournament that has eight teams this season instead of the usual 12.  

"We had a good third quarter, where we kind of got the lead built up," Findley said. "But our defense was solid all day long. They are so much longer than we are, I thought we'd get outrebounded again. It was a lot of heart on the defensive end. We stayed smart and communicated better today."

The Rattlers started quickly, jumping to a 13-6 lead in the first quarter, but they eventually just missed too many shots. St. Mary's made just 26 percent (13 of 50) of its shots, including 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) from 3-point range and committed 24 turnovers, compared to 12 for OC.

OC overcame that early deficit thanks to 3-pointers by Kendra Levings, Tyra Peck and Erica James that pulled the Lady Eagles within 17-15 by the end of the first quarter. The Lady Eagles took the lead for good on a driving layup by Ingraham with 47 seconds left in the second quarter and two free throws by Levings moments later gave OC a 30-26 halftime lead.

Freshman Brooklin Bain scored eight of her 14 points in the third quarter as OC continued to extend its lead and Emma Epperly's basket with 9:10 left gave the Lady Eagles a 56-38 lead. That proved to be OC's only field goal of the quarter, and as the Lady Eagles went nearly five minutes without scoring, St. Mary's rallied.

Audrey Wandji capped a 15-2 run by the Rattlers with two free throws with 2:19 left that pulled St. Mary's within 58-53. That ended up being the Rattlers' last gasp, though, as they didn't score again. Collyer and Bain combined to go 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:57 to seal the win for OC.

"When we needed a bucket, when we got stuck there for so long … I was trying to run plays through (Ingraham) and see if she could get to the rim and get to the line and she did that a couple of times," Findley said. "She's just put this team on her back the last few weeks and has really stepped up her game. She has worked so hard to make herself a better player."

Bain posted her seventh double-double of the season – and her second in as many days – with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Levings hit 3 of 4 3-point attempts and scored 13 points.

The Rattlers' 6-foot-3 post player, Hannah Wilson – who had given OC fits on Friday and hit the buzzer-beating shot to give her team the win that day – still was productive, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but didn't do the damage to OC's hopes she'd done before. Briley Perkins scored 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range and Wandji added 12 points and seven rebounds.

St. Mary's did squeeze into the LSC tournament as the No. 8 seed but will have to travel to national No. 1-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas), which has won 88 straight home games, a NCAA Division II record.

Stephanie Findley discusses the win: https://youtu.be/3Ic3C0PWYwY