Women's Basketball 12/3/2011 8:09:00 PM

OCU crushes Southern Nazarene 94-65

Stars shoot 63.8 percent from field

Taylor Booze provided the Stars with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals Saturday.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University pounded Southern Nazarene 94-65 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena in the NAIA's most heated women's basketball rivalry.
Desiree Jeffries, a junior from Oklahoma City, stood front and center for the Stars with 20 points and 10 rebounds while hitting all 10 of her shots from the field. OCU, ranked third in NAIA Division I, improved to 6-0, 2-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Eleventh-ranked Southern Nazarene dropped to 5-3, 1-1 in the SAC. OCU sank 63.8 percent overall and shot 73.1 percent in the second half from the floor. The Stars hit 13 of their first 15 shots from the field.
“We're trying to send a message,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “Not this year. This is our year.
“Our kids are mature. We have six kids who are seniors. They understand playing one game at a time. They understand the rivalry with SNU.”
Four OCU players reached double figures in scoring. Lauren Gober, a junior from Newcastle, Okla., recorded 17 points while hitting 7 of 9 shots from the field for OCU. Taylor Booze, a senior from Duncanville, Texas, posted 15 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Tiffany Goldwire, a senior from Oklahoma City, contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists for the Stars.
“Desiree Jeffries was special today,” Edmisson said. “You can't play a perfect game, but she came close. She had one turnover. Taylor Booze did a terrific job defensively on Logan Martin. We harassed her into six turnovers. We held their big kids.
“Lauren Gober had some tremendous drives to the basket. Kayla MacKenzie was a spark off the bench. Cara Pugh gave us good minutes.”
Southern Nazarene managed 37 percent shooting from the field against OCU. Logan Martin finished with 16 points and five assists, while Sharmeda Johnson had 10 points for SNU.
“I'm really pleased with our kids' performance,” Edmisson said. “We're not a healthy bunch right now. I'm pleased with their gameday effort. I could do down the line.”
Southern Nazarene led once after Annie Kassongo scored the first points of the game on a jumper. OCU used an 8-0 run to seize the lead. Philicia Kelly's layup put the Stars ahead 18-9 with 15:18 showing in the first half.
Martin's trey cut OCU's lead to 37-28 at the 5:37 mark. Goldwire nailed a 3 to push the Stars' lead back into double digits at 40-28.
The Stars used nine unanswered points to increase their advantage to 56-35 with 17:05 left. Jeffries contributed two baskets during that stretch. Gober capped the run with a jumper.
OCU meets Mid-America Christian at 6 p.m. Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Boxscore

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