BETHANY, Okla. – Oklahoma City University pulled out an improbable 79-69 overtime victory against cross-town rival Southern Nazarene on Monday at the Sawyer Center.
The Stars, ranked seventh in NAIA Division I women’s basketball, rallied from eight points down with 51 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. Donica Cosby capped the run for OCU on a running layup with 3.9 seconds remaining to tie the game 64-64.
OCU opened the overtime period on an 11-2 run and never looked back. OCU won its 13th consecutive game to improve to 19-3, 14-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Southern Nazarene dropped to 15-9, 9-7 in the SAC.
Cosby, junior from Coldwater, Miss., led OCU with 21 points, four assists and two steals. Cosby had 17 of her 21 points in the second half and overtime.
Starr Fairbanks, a junior from Cincinnati, notched 13 points and six rebounds. Laura Duncan, Holly Hardin and Lauren Gober each netted 10 points.
Cosby started a 9-1 run to end the second half with three free throws after being fouled behind the 3-point line with 43 seconds remaining. After a Southern Nazarene free throw, Cosby scored a quick layup on the other end with 27 seconds left to make the score 64-60. The Stars forced Marsha Durr into a turnover, and Gober connected on a layup to cut SNU’s lead to 64-62 with 16 seconds to play. Logan Martin of SNU missed both of her free throw attempts, setting up the game-tying basket by Cosby.
Southern Nazarene broke a 52-52 tie with an 11-3 run over the stretch of three minutes, 11 seconds to push out to a 63-55 lead. Southern Nazarene shot 54.2 percent in the second half.
OCU struggled shooting the ball early in the first half and fell behind 18-11 with 8:41 remaining. The Stars answered with a 14-4 run to take a 25-22 lead on a jumper from Lameka Oakes with 2:38 left in the first half. Duncan hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to give OCU a 28-27 lead at halftime.
The Stars will host Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday at 6 p.m. inside Abe Lemons Arena.
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