Lady Eagles push aside conference rival in overtime

After suffering a loss to St. Mary’s University on Jan. 2, the Oklahoma Christian University women’s basketball team carried its momentum from last week’s back-to-back wins forward to defeat the Lady Rattlers 75-63 in an overtime duel.

“We’ve never won at St. Mary’s before so it was such a great feeling to finally get that win,” senior Sydney Hill said. “Even though we struggled with turnovers, we just fought back and kept going.”

McKenzie Stanford recorded a double-double against St. Mary’s, ending the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Sarah Parker supplied 14 points while Hill added 11. Parker and Hannah Holasek also grabbed eight rebounds apiece for the Lady Eagles.

Although the score was tied seven times during the course of the conference matchup, the Lady Eagles carried the lead one-minute shy of the original 40-minute game and claimed a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter. A St. Mary’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the game, however, tied the score at 56 and forced the teams into overtime.

The Lady Rattlers tied the game twice during the five-minute overtime, but Jasmine Hinton’s layup and Hill’s 3-pointer helped the Lady Eagles keep the lead until the buzzer sounded.

“Staying tough and being focused were both big keys in this game,” Hill said. “I think that playing together and never giving up were also some of our biggest successes.”

Going into the game, the Lady Eagles sat in a three-way tie with St. Mary’s and Texas A&M International University for second place in the Heartland Conference. With their win over the Lady Rattlers, the Lady Eagles now share the spot with solely TAMIU. Both hold a 7-3 conference record.

“I think with this win we have a lot of momentum in our favor,” Hill said. “We’re playing really well together right now and I think we have all the confidence to come out on Saturday and get another win.”

The Lady Eagles will look to break the tie as they travel to Texas A&M International to face the Dustdevils on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Statistics provided by the Oklahoma Christian University Sports Information office.