Women's Basketball 3/17/2012 3:30:00 PM

OCU dispatches Azusa Pacific 78-61

Top-ranked Stars eliminate defending national champion in NAIA Tournament quarterfinals

Lauren Gober recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds while knocking in five 3-pointers, one shy of her career high, on Saturday.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City University ousted the defending NAIA Division I women's basketball champion Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 78-61 on Saturday at Frankfort Convention Center in the NAIA Tournament quarterfinals.
Lauren Gober, a junior from Newcastle, Okla., recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds to top OCU. The Stars (33-1) play next 5 p.m. Monday vs. Lubbock Christian (Texas) in the semifinals.
Gober fired in five 3-pointers to match her season high hit vs. Lubbock Christian on Jan. 12 and at Oklahoma Baptist on Feb. 2. Her career high of six 3s came against Avila (Mo.) and St. Gregory's last season.
Dietra Caldwell, a senior from Missouri City, Texas, posted 16 points, two rebounds and two assists for the Stars.
Nicollette Smith, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., chipped in 11 points and six rebounds, while Taylor Booze and Desiree Jeffries each tallied 10 points for OCU.
“We have great balance, that's the strength of our team,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “On any given night, any kid on this team could put up 20 points. We'll let you guard us how you want, then we'll figure that out and we'll let people go play.”
OCU cashed in 18 Azusa Pacific turnovers to score 18 points. Ninth-ranked Azusa Pacific (26-8) managed 32.8 percent shooting from the field.
Briana Hall and Amber Williams combined to score 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting from the floor. Hall and Williams entered the game averaging 35.5 points together for Azusa Pacific.
“I thought defensively we were great,” Edmisson said. “I mean, I thought we were really alert. We had a span there for a while where we lost some shooters, but I thought we did a great job on their two great players. They're all-Americans. We knew everything they did offensively runs through them. I thought Taylor Booze did a great job, and our post players did a great job. Obviously defense won that game for us.”
Gober notched her fifth trey to push OCU's advantage to 63-45 with 8:32 showing on the clock.
The Stars used a 13-3 second-half to push its lead to 51-33. Jeffries sparked the OCU spree with four points on a basket and two free throws.
Gober sank a 3 to provide the Stars a 47-32 margin at the 15:12 mark. Booze scored to cap the run and put OCU on top 51-33 with 13:33 remaining.
OCU built an early 16-2 advantage. Caldwell dropped in a 3-pointer to score the first points of the game, then Gober nailed back-to-back treys.
Smith had two buckets, and Philicia Kelly had a 3-point play during that stretch. Smith's putback capped the run and put the Stars up 14 points with 15:01 to go in the first.
Boxscore

Print Friendly Version