OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 19, 2022) – If anyone doubted the resolve of the members of Oklahoma Christian's women's basketball team near the end of what's been a frustrating season, they needed to watch the Lady Eagles during a six-minute span in the second half on Saturday afternoon.

Down 15 points midway through the third quarter, OC roared back and took a four-point lead on one of the Lone Star Conference's top teams, Angelo State (Texas). But the Lady Eagles' late-game shooting woes returned down the stretch and Angelo State rallied for an 84-73 win in OC's home finale in the Eagles' Nest.

OC (2-20, 2-11 LSC) did a lot of things right. Second-year freshman Brooklin Bain recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds and freshman guards Ashanti Day (11 points) and Kate Bradley (15 points) combined to go 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Sophomore post player Emma Epperly played one of her best games of the season, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.

Ultimately, it was the ability of Angelo State (14-11, 11-3) to extend possessions that proved to be the difference. The Rambelles outrebounded OC 46-38, including 16 offensive boards. Angelo State posted a 16-3 edge in second-chance points. Two Angelo State players, Blakely Garber (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Payton Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) had double-double and Sawyer Lloyd (20 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) flirted with a triple-double.

"They fought back, they were stubborn about it and they weren't going to give in," OC coach Stephanie Findley said of her players. "I was really proud of them for doing that. They showed a lot of heart today. … They're doing a good job of hanging in there and playing tough the whole 40 minutes."

OC led 23-19 after one quarter and Angelo State was up 41-37 at halftime. The Rambelles extended their lead to 58-43 on a basket by Lloyd with 4:59 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Eagles responded with perhaps their best run of the season, a 22-3 spurt that ended with a 3-pointer by Day that gave them a 65-61 lead. The game was tied 69-69 after Bradley split a pair of free throws with 5:22 left, but OC didn't score again for nearly five minutes and Angelo State gradually rebuilt its lead to double digits in the final minutes.

"We just put together too many mistakes right at the end and let them stretch it back to 10 (points) and then you get where you have to foul," Findley said. "That's part of being inexperienced. Angelo is very long and athletic. We held our own with them the first half, but we ended up getting outrebounded and we were getting in foul trouble."

After the game, OC recognized the squad's only senior, center Kendall Blackburn, in a Senior Day ceremony. Foul trouble hampered Blackburn most of the game, but she still finished with five points and six rebounds and blocked a shot.

The Lady Eagles will close the season with a pair of road games, at Texas Woman's on Thursday and at Midwestern State (Texas) on Saturday.