Lady Eagles win in low-scoring matchup

Sarah Parker’s shooting proved to be key for the Oklahoma Christian University women’s basketball team, as the Lady Eagles concluded their four-game home series with a 65-62 win over Newman University.

Parker went 9-16 from the field, 2-4 from the 3-point line and added five rebounds for the Lady Eagles. Other offensive threats included Addy Clift with 11 points and Jasmine Hinton with 10. Daisha Gonzaque led Oklahoma Christian’s rebounding game, grabbing eight boards as Oklahoma Christian outrebounded the Jets 45-38.

“I thought we did a good job of rebounding, both on the offensive and defensive sides,” Hinton said.

With senior Sydney Hill injured, some of the Lady Eagle’s younger players saw time on the court. The Oklahoma Christian bench contributed 19 points to the effort, more than doubling the Newman bench’s eight points.

“Sydney hurt her shoulder in practice, and that gave people who hadn’t seen the floor a lot of playing time,” Hinton said. “We needed those bench points and we got them. They all did a great job.”

Freshman Shae Scheffler’s back-to-back 3-pointers in the beginning of the fourth quarter put the Lady Eagles up by three, but fouls kept the Jets on the free-throw line and in the game.

Audrey Hayes forced a jump ball with 50 seconds left in the game, as Newman claimed a one-point lead. A layup opportunity allowed Parker to get to the line with five seconds on the clock. Her two makes, along with two by Kylee Hicks helped the Lady Eagles put the game away.

With this win, Oklahoma Christian is 12-12 overall and 9-5 in conference play. The Lady Eagles will be back on the road for their two games next week.

“We need to jump out on both of those teams,” Hinton said. “In this game, we let them hang around too long. When we played Rogers State and Arkansas Fort-Smith the first time, we let them come back and stay in the ball game. We can’t do that this time. We need to play hard and not let up.”

The Lady Eagles will travel to Rogers State University to take on the Hillcats Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

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