OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City University women's basketball team overcame a three-point halftime deficit to defeat Lubbock Christian (Texas) 73-61 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
The third-ranked Stars (8-0, 3-0) were led to victory by Donica Cosby's double-double, her first of the season. Cosby, a senior from Coldwater, Miss., had 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the contest. Cosby was 3-of-6 from the 3-point line for OCU.
Taylor Booze, a junior from Duncanville, Texas, added 17 points, four assists and a steal for the Stars. Lauren Gober, a sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., chipped in 11 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals to keep OCU undefeated.
No. 20-ranked Lubbock Christian fell to 4-5, 2-2.
“Obviously Lubbock Christian is a good team,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “They're rated 20th in the country, and there's a reason for that. You've got to play through nights where you don't shoot well and you struggle, and that's what we had to do tonight. What you've got to find out in games like this is are the kids still tough enough to find a way to win.”
After a lackluster first-half performance that saw the scoreboard read 28-25 in favor of the Lady Chaparrals, OCU started the second half with gusto. The Stars went on a 13-2 run in the first 6:08 of the second period to take control of the lead and flip the score in favor of the home team.
“It's a prime example of how much harder the game is when you don't make baskets,” Edmisson said. “Our first half – that was our all-time shooting low of the year, 28 percent.
“When you don't shoot it well, that affects your defensive ability, and I thought that really affected us in the first half. I thought we came out the first four minutes of the second half and set a tone defensively and carried that throughout the half. “
Lubbock Christian hung in and cut the OCU lead to 42-39 after a layup from Lady Chaparral Haley Burton with 11:14 to play. Back-to-back 3-point baskets by Cosby stretched the Stars lead, but Lubbock Christian continued to give the Stars a scare.
The Lady Chaparrals cut the margin to five points with 6:09 remaining in the game, but that was the closest that Lubbock Christian could muster. The OCU offense continued to shine in the latter part of the second half, and the Stars made six of their last eight shot attempts to close the game.
Lubbock Christian held OCU to 28.1 percent shooting in the first half and a season-low 40.7 percent shooting for the game. The Lady Chaparrals led by as many as eight points with 5:10 remaining in the first half before the tide turned in favor of OCU. Lubbock Christian was led by Brittany Hampton, who had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Chaparrals.
“It's one of those games we really need in the sense that we had to grind it out, we had to find a way, we had to go make some big shots,” Edmisson said. “That's exactly what we did.”
OCU will travel to Mid-America Christian for a 6 p.m. tipoff on Thursday at the Gaulke Activity Center.
