Women's Basketball 1/14/2012 6:19:00 PM

Stars outlast Wayland Baptist 70-54

OCU rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat the Flying Queens

Taylor Booze scored 16 points off the bench against Wayland Baptist.

OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 1 Oklahoma City University women's basketball bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 70-54 victory over Wayland Baptist (Texas) Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Seniors Taylor Booze and Lauren Gober led the charge for the Stars. Gober posted her second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Booze had 16 points off the bench.
“I thought we looked a little more like ourselves in terms of pressing, running and creating tempo and that is what we have to do,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “I thought Taylor Booze played well off the bench tonight, and Lauren Gober had tremendous game, especially in the second half rebounding and shooting the ball.”
OCU ran out to an early 4-0 lead and forced Wayland Baptist to take a timeout at the 17:11 mark. The Flying Queens responded and tied the score at 4-4 with 12:34 to play in the half.
The Stars found themselves down 18-12 with 4:12 on the clock, but quickly drew even after back-to-back 3-pointers from Booze to make the score 18-18 at the 2:17 mark.
With less than a minute to play in the half, Gober hit from behind the 3-point line to give OCU a 23-20 lead at halftime.
“We held them to 20 points in the first half which is tremendous,” Edmisson said. “But we threw the ball away so much we didn't stretch the game, and offensively is where we struggled.”
Offense was at a premium for both teams in the first half. The Stars shot 30 percent from the floor and 33 percent from 3-point range while holding Wayland Baptist to 28 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep.
The OCU defense forced 15 first-half turnovers, but gave up 13 turnovers of their own.
Seniors Dietra Caldwell and Tiffany Goldwire sparked the Stars to a 10-0 run to open the second half and give OCU a 30-20 lead at the 17:45 mark.
Wayland Baptist countered with a pair of buckets from Maty Diallo to help pull the Flying Queens to within four with 15:35 to go.
Junior Desiree Jeffries hit a jumper to start a 14-3 run for the Stars. Booze contributed five points and Jeffries added four to help OCU take a 46-31 lead with 11:31 left on the clock.
Wayland Baptist cut the OCU lead to nine at the 8:37 mark, but that was as close as they would get. The Stars maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way and made free throws down the stretch to take the 70-54 victory.
“I thought we played better in second half in regards to valuing the basketball,” Edmisson said. “If you take care of the ball you get more possessions and a chance to score or get fouled and that is the key.”
The Stars shot 55 percent from the floor and 45 percent from behind the 3-point line in the second half to put the game out of reach. OCU scored 18 points off 25 Wayland Baptist turnovers on the game.
“Putting up 47 points in the second half is more like us,” Edmisson said. “If we can get back to doing that each half then we're back to where we were at the start of the season.”
Gober posted a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way for the Stars. Booze added 16 points off the bench, Caldwell chipped in with 11 points and five assists and Jeffries tallied seven assists, six points, six steals and five rebounds.
The Stars will return to action against Southern Nazarene at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.

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