Lady Eagle basketball says ‘Aloha’ on Thanksgiving

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

The Oklahoma Christian University women’s basketball team has traversed two major bodies of water for games in the past two weeks.

The Lady Eagles hopped across the Red River to do battle with St. Mary’s University and Texas A&M International University on Nov. 21 and 23, respectively. However, the much more formidable Pacific Ocean guided the squad as they traveled to compete in the Oahu Classic over Thanksgiving break.

Freshman McKenzie Stanford offered insight into the team’s mindset entering conference play.

“We couldn’t be more excited about heading into conference,” Stanford said. “We have our goal not only to make it to nationals but to win. We know if we follow the game plan every game, we will be successful.”

The aforementioned face off with St. Mary’s on the 21st began with a challenging first half for the Lady Eagles, as senior Krista Stevens described.

“St. Mary’s is a very good team, they won the conference tournament last year and always have been one of the best teams in the conference,” Stevens said. “We came out a little stagnant, which gave them the opportunity to jump out on a good lead against us. With a team like St. Mary’s we can’t have many turnovers, and we have to shoot the ball well too.”

Finding themselves down 19 points early in the contest, the Lady Eagles could never seem to muster a comeback and they fell in the Heartland Conference opener 65-56.

The Rattlers, who reached the NCAA Division II tournament last season, held the Lady Eagles to a season-worst 26 percent from the field.

Senior Roz Hamilton registered 11 points and 15 boards for the Lady Eagles, but she represented the lone double-digit scorer as junior Logan McKee and Stanford trailed behind with nine points.

Two days later the Lady Eagles would make the trek to Laredo, Texas to square off against the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International.

Once again finding themselves behind the eightball, the Lady Eagles pieced together a comeback from being down 12 to take the lead.

McKee turned in a three-point play with just over a minute left in regulation to push the Lady Eagles ahead by three, 65-62.

Dustdevil Samantha Chacon then added one of two free throws after a Lady Eagle foul with just under a minute to play, but Hamilton, who was then fouled and given the possibility to extend the lead, missed a pair with less than 30 seconds remaining.

As fate would have it, Chacon put together a three-point play with only 15 seconds remaining in the game to award Texas A&M International the slim 66-65 decision.

Sophomore Sydney Hill came up short of her career mark with 28 points to lead the Lady Eagles in scoring. Hamilton posted her second straight above-average performance, adding 21 points and eight rebounds.

Upon their return from Texas, the Lady Eagles had just enough time to recuperate and pack for their Thanksgiving break trip to Hawaii, competing in Honolulu’s Oahu Classic.

On Nov. 28 the Lady Eagles opened up against Hawaii Pacific University but fell victim yet again to a late three-point effort by the opponent, dropping their Thanksgiving Day bout 71-68.

In a series of events all too familiar to the Lady Eagles, they mounted a comeback and rallied from a 10-point deficit to grab the lead only to see it fall before them with less than 30 ticks remaining on the clock.

Stanford, who led the team with 16 points, cited the Lady Eagles’ 20 turnovers as their Achilles heel.

“We fought hard until the end,” Stanford said. “If we had less turnovers I believe that the outcome of the game would have been different.”

The Lady Eagles shot themselves in the foot with 20 turnovers, but Hamilton once again posted an impressive night, finishing with a double-double – albeit while struggling from the field.

The three-point loss to the Sea Warriors marked the Lady Eagles’ fourth consecutive loss – a trend that the Lady Eagles sought to put an end to the following day against Chaminade University.

Stevens took the team under her wing on Nov. 29, posting her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“I actually didn’t know I even had a double-double until one of my coaches told me,” Stevens said. “I was just happy we won after having a four-game losing streak.”

The Lady Eagles grabbed a school record with 72 rebounds on their way to a demanding 95-59 victory over the Silverswords.

Stevens led scoring for the Lady Eagles with 13, Stanford followed with 11 and McKee and sophomore Aisha Martin each added 10.

Also with 10 points was freshman Jordan Gorham, logging the first significant minutes of her career.

In nine minutes Gorham posted 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in helping the Lady Eagles end with a bang on their Hawaiian excursion.

“The victory gave the team confidence and made the trip in Hawaii even better,” Stevens said. “It was a good team win too because everyone played and 17 out of 18 players scored.”

Stevens offered her thoughts as a senior leader for her team as they approach the heart of conference competition.

“We are trying to take one game at a time,” Stevens said. “We really have to focus on winning games at home because we know road games will always be hard, but the home games are must-wins in order to stay at the top of conference. If we focus on playing team basketball and creating stops on defense we will be very successful in the conference.

The Lady Eagles have returned from their streak on the road and are set to welcome conference foe McMurry University tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Eagles’ Nest.