OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University flexed its inside muscle on the way to a 98-74 defeat of Central Oklahoma on Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena.

The Stars outscored Central Oklahoma 62-26 in points in the paint. OCU, ranked eighth in NAIA Division I women's basketball, went to 2-0. Central Oklahoma is ranked 12th in NCAA Division II.

Holly Hardin, a senior from Chickasha, Okla., led four OCU double-digit scorers with 23 points to go with eight rebounds. Hardin dropped in 11 of 14 shots from the floor.

Starr Fairbanks added 20 points off the bench, while Donica Cosby chipped in 17 points, seven assists and three steals for the Stars. Chontaye Walter had 10 points, eight assists and three steals.

“That's exciting to make only one 3-pointer and score 95 points,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “Our emphasis was to get the ball to our posts. Once Holly and Starr got going, our point guards did a good job feeding them the ball. We probably didn't get Holly enough touches.”

OCU also outrebounded Central Oklahoma 41-34 and held a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points.

“When we made the final four, our focus was to get big kids,” Edmisson said. “We felt we didn't have enough size. We've brought in Starr and Lauren Gober, and we especially believe that Gober will be a special player. If you're a post player, and you're guarding our kids, it's hard. We're going to catch you tired and get layups.”

OCU scored 39 points off 31 Central Oklahoma turnovers. The Stars had 13 steals. Cosby, a junior from Coldwater, Miss., gave OCU its largest lead at 95-65 on a steal and layup with 1:42 remaining.

“We're a deflection team,” Edmisson said. “We chart those, and while we had 13 steals, we ended up with 37 deflections. Saturday, we had four steals and eight deflections.”

The Stars allowed a 23-point lead to evaporate Saturday against Langston.

“This team has a lot of room to improve, and they grew quite a bit from Saturday to today,” Edmisson said. “Our team did some things better. When we were up 22, we started shooting quickly, and we wondered if it would be Langston all over again.”

OCU took early command by reeling off an 11-0 run to build a 12-3 lead, during which time Fairbanks had five points. The Stars eventually grew its lead to 18-7, OCU's largest lead of the first half. Cosby had a bucket to put OCU up 18-7.

The Stars face Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Thursday in College Station, Texas in an exhibition.
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