SHAWNEE, Okla. ? Oklahoma City University made a comeback from 15 points down, but fell short in a 67-65 loss to Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday at the Noble Complex.
OCU?s Chelsea Ledbetter knocked in a trey to cut Oklahoma Baptist?s lead to 67-65 with 18.4 seconds left. Oklahoma Baptist?s Jayme Glover followed by missing two free throws, the second of which was rebounded by OCU?s Alexandra Kotta.
Ledbetter penetrated the lane but missed a layup with four seconds left. After the inbound, Nikki Wilson missed a long 3-point attempt as time ran out.
The Stars, ranked 19th in NAIA Division I women?s basketball, went to 21-6, 9-6 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Oklahoma Baptist is 14-10, 8-6.
Wilson, a 6-foot-2 junior from Chicago, paced OCU with 15 points.
OCU used a 14-0 run to get back into the game. Mikelle Brown put in a follow shot to cut the Stars? deficit to 53-52 with 5:30 left, completing the run. Oklahoma Baptist responded with four free throws.
With 35.2 seconds remaining, Wilson drained a 3-pointer to slice OCU?s deficit to 65-62. Viola Beybeyah cut OCU?s deficit to 61-59 on two free throws with 1:58 left.
Oklahoma Baptist built a 15-point advantage with 13 minutes left. Rachel Heins contributed timely 3-point shooting to help Oklahoma Baptist. Heins knocked in 4 of 5 3-pointers in the game. OCU had cut Oklahoma Baptist?s edge to 35-31 early in the second half.
OCU takes on 15th-ranked Oklahoma Christian at 6 p.m. Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena in the Backyard Brawl presented by Bank of America and The Oklahoman.