OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 17, 2022) – The shots fell at a rapid-enough clip for three quarters for Oklahoma Christian on Thursday against Texas-Permian Basin, but in the fourth quarter, it seemed there was a giant lid on the Eagles' basket.

UTPB took advantage, outscoring the Lady Eagles 18-4 over the final 10 minutes to take away a 75-61 win over OC in the Eagles' Nest. The loss ended OC's two-game winning streak.

It was easy to pinpoint the difference between the basketball teams – 3-point shooting. Texas-Permian Basin (7-18, 3-10 Lone Star Conference) hit 10 of 23 shots from behind the arc, while OC (2-19, 2-10) went 4 of 27.

OC forced UTPB into 24 turnovers, but the Falcons made up for it by shooting 54 percent (27 of 50) from the field, while the Lady Eagles shot 33.9 percent (19 of 56). In the fourth quarter, OC made only 1 of 13 shots, allowing UTPB to pull away.

Three OC players scored in double figures. Second-year freshman forward Brooklin Bain had 21 points and six rebounds, freshman guard Ashanti Day had 15 points, five steals and five rebounds and junior center Kendall Blackburn added 12 points.

"Everything is hard," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "Our young kids have been coming around. The teamwork has been better and it was just awesome on the road this past weekend. To their credit, they have not quit, but it's been very hard on everybody. But we can still finish on a positive note."

OC trailed 41-37 at halftime, but started the second half on a 9-2 run and went ahead 46-43 on two free throws by Bain with 6:50 left in the third quarter. The Falcons answered with a run of their own and led 57-50 with 2:52 left in the quarter, but OC pulled even at 57-57 by the end of the quarter.

Rory Carter, who led UTPB with 18 points, hit two 3-pointers in the first 64 seconds of the fourth quarter and OC never caught up. Day hit two free throws with 8:35 left, but OC didn't score again until Blackburn's put-back with 2:53 left cut the deficit to 69-61. The Lady Eagles came no closer the rest of the way.

Morgan Helgesen scored 15 points and Alexus Wykoff added 10 for UTPB. Inside, post player Ogechi Nwodo contributed eight points, 14 rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals.

"We just couldn't find holes in that defense and when we did, we couldn't knock down the shot," Findley said. "I thought we got some decent looks, but we just didn't make them in the fourth quarter. We forced a lot of turnovers, but we didn't rebound well enough and we didn't shoot well enough."

OC's home finale will be Saturday at 2 p.m. against Angelo State (Texas), after which Blackburn will be honored during the Senior Day ceremony. The Lady Eagles will close the season on the road next week at Texas Woman's and Midwestern State (Texas).