BUTTE, Mont. ? Oklahoma City University's Necy DeVance scored a career-high 20 points, but OCU fell to Montana-Western 79-75 on Sunday in the Peg Sarsfield women?s basketball classic
Montana-Western?s Megan Schmitz hit a free throw to put Montana-Western up 74-73 in the final minute. OCU?s Paty Silva hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 73-73 with 1:31 left in the game.
Becky O?Neill of Montana-Western sank a free throw for the final margin with 3.1 seconds remaining.
DeVance, a senior from Longview, Texas, connected on nine of her 13 shots from the floor. Mariam Sy also had 20 points for OCU. Sy led the Stars with 10 rebounds.
The Stars, ranked seventh in NAIA Division I, fell to 5-2. Montana-Western is ranked 18th.
?She is tough to stop when she touches the ball,? Montana-Western coach Kevin Engellant said of Sy. ?We tried to limit her touches, but it?s hard to stop someone like that the whole game.?
OCU led 38-28 at halftime and as much as 33-18. O?Neill led Montana-Western with 21 points, 18 coming in the second half.
The Stars face Union (Tenn.) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Abe Lemons Arena.