Lady Eagles' basketball out-hustled in loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith

Makenzie Brown scored 12 for the Lady Eagles at Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday, Jan. 24. — Makenzie Brown scores 12 points for the Lady Eagles at Arkansas-Fort Smith on Jan. 24. *Photo by Roxi Gonzalez*

The Oklahoma Christian University women’s basketball team ended their win-streak on Saturday against the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith as the Lions out-rebounded the Lady Eagles by more than 20.

Oklahoma Christian recorded its 11th loss of the season, a 70-43 routing.

According to Women’s Basketball Head Coach Stephanie Findley, Oklahoma Christian struggled in nearly every area of performance against Arkansas-Fort Smith.

“Pretty much everything was weak for us today,” Findley said. “It is weird how a team can play so good on Thursday and so bad on Saturday. That kind of inconsistency is a sign of immaturity.”

Oklahoma Christian made only half of their free throws and shot just 22 percent from the field in the first half, improving slightly to 28 percent in the second half.

Though the Lady Eagles did not perform their best, according to junior Jasmine Hinton, Mackenzie Brown and Sydney Hill both showed strong performances.

“They were not flustered by the bad calls we were getting,” Hinton said. “They made shots and kept playing hard.”

Brown recorded 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and Hill, who has been out due to the flu, had 12 points in only 18 minutes of playing time.

McKenzie Stanford scored four points for Oklahoma Christian while Jordan Gorham, Aisha Martin, and Daisha Gonzaque all contributed three points.

Hinton put the Lady Eagles ahead for the first time with a layup at 10:55 left in the first half. Brown then made two free throws, giving the Lady Eagles a three-point lead.

The lead proved to be short-lived as Arkansas-Forth Smith answered with two 3-pointers, staying on top of Oklahoma Christian for the rest of the game. At halftime, Arkansas-Forth Smith led 32-17.

According to Coach Findley, after their first half, the players felt very discouraged.

“Nothing we did was going right,” Findley said. “It was a very physical game and we were not adjusting well.”

According to Hinton, the loss will not hinder the Lady Eagles from focusing on the rest of the season.

“Our goal this year is to keep fighting every game, even when we are facing adversity,“ Hinton said.

Oklahoma Christian will host St. Mary’s on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.