BETHANY, Okla. ? Oklahoma City University?s Mariam Sy had 29 points to lead the Stars to a 76-49 victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday at the Sawyer Center.
Sy, a 6-foot-4 senior from Mali, West Africa, also had 10 rebounds. Alexandra Kotta added 13 points and eight rebounds for OCU.
The Stars, ranked third in NAIA Division I women?s basketball, now have a 25-2 record, 16-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. SNU fell to 8-18, 4-12.
OCU led only 31-27 at halftime. The Stars outscored SNU 45-22 in the second half. SNU played a variety of defenses to disrupt OCU.
?SNU did a good job of changing their defenses,? OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. ?Our young point guards didn?t do a good job of countering that. It kept us out of our flow. They never let us get a run. In the second half I told them, ?I don?t care what defense they?re in, attack it.? ?
OCU outrebounded SNU 35-33, but the Stars? advantage was 23-17 in the second half.
?I don?t think we did a good job competing on the glass,? Edmisson said. ?In the second half, we came out with a different intensity. We got some 3-on-1s and 2-on-1s and got some easy baskets.?
Sy almost matched the 30 points she scored on SNU for her high in points last season. Sy?s career high is 34 against Houston Baptist this season.
OCU led 39-29 early in the second half, but the Stars went on an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to 47-29 on Kotta?s layup. Fabiana Araujo stole the ball, hit an outlet pass to Paty Silva, who fed Kotta underneath the basket.
Kotta hit back-to-back 3s with nearly five minutes left, the second from NBA 3-point range. The treys gave OCU a 65-42 lead.
Kay McConnell hit a layup that gave OCU its largest lead of the game at 75-45 with 1:24 remaining.
?It helps us when we have kids like Kotta hit shots,? Edmisson said. ?She?s been in a bit of a shooting slump, so I was excited to see her get that. We?re at our best when she gets 20 and everyone else gets more points.?
OCU plays its final home game of the season against Oklahoma Baptist at 6 p.m. Thursday in Abe Lemons Arena. It will be Spaghetti Warehouse and Westlake Hardware Senior Night.