SHAWNEE, Okla. ? Oklahoma City University survived with a 68-67 victory over Oklahoma Baptist when Dilenny Castillo missed a shot under the basket as time ran out on Saturday at Noble Complex.
The Stars, ranked third in NAIA Division I women?s basketball, has a 15-game winning streak and went to 20-2, 11-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. No. 24 OBU is 18-5, 6-5.
Mariam Sy, a 6-foot-4 senior from Mali, West Africa, led OCU with 26 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Castillo?s layup attempt ended a wild last three minutes.
?It was one of those games that takes your breath away,? OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. ?Through the course of the season, sometimes you have a game you shouldn?t have won. I learned more about our team in the last five minutes when things weren?t going well. This was a battle until the end.
?A big reason we struggled was the way OBU played. I?m really proud of the kids and the way they battled.?
With 47 seconds left, OCU?s Alexandra Kotta hit a pair of free throws to put the Stars up 68-66. Keely Tolin hit one of two free throws with 28.8 seconds left to cut OBU?s deficit to 68-67. Tolin missed the second free throw, Castillo rebounded, then OBU called timeout.
On the final possession, OBU?s Tabetha Eaton drove the lane, then dished to Castillo, who missed.
Kotta, a 5-foot-11 junior from Germantown, Md., scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Kotta had seven of OCU?s last eight points.
Kotta had a putback that sliced OCU?s deficit to 62-60 with 3:57 left. Kotta put OCU on top 63-62 with 3:14 remaining.
After Paty Silva scored on a free throw, Kotta hit a transition layup off Chelsea Ledbetter?s feed. The layup put OCU up 66-65 with 1:31 remaining.
Kotta led a Stars bench that outscored OBU?s 31-17. Mikelle Brown had 14 points, 12 in the first half.
?The first half, Mikelle carried us, but in the second, it was Alex,? Edmisson said. ?Haley (Workman) came in and gave us 13 minutes of great defense.?
OCU will play Northwestern at 6 p.m. Thursday in Alva, Okla.