Women's Basketball 1/18/2014 10:38:00 PM

Stars outlast Mid-America Christian 79-69

OCU earns seventh SAC victory

Ouleymatou Coulibaly provided 14 points and 10 rebounds against Mid-America Christian.

Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University topped Mid-America Christian 79-69 Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
The Stars, ranked No.3 in NAIA Division I women's basketball, outscored the Lady Evangels 36-18 in the paint and posted a 45-23 rebounding edge to pick up the 10-point victory and improve to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
"I loved how we rebounded the basketball," OCU coach Latricia Trammell said. "We outrebounded them 45-23, and I thought we got to the free-throw line well. I liked the effort today."
The Stars and Lady Evangels traded buckets and the lead early in the first half. OCU embarked on an 8-0 run and jumped out to a seven-point lead at the 9:53 mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Yvonte Neal and Autumn Lau fueled the run.
Mid-America Christian fought back and cut OCU's lead to two with 3:09 remaining in the first frame.
Cara Pugh hit a 3-pointer and Neal followed with four straight points for the Stars to help stake OCU to a 44-39 advantage at the break.
OCU scored 15 points off 11 turnovers and shot 46 percent from the floor in the first half.
Mid-America Christian's Ashlee Ferguson shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range in the half to help the Lady Evangels keep pace with the Stars.
Ouleymatou Coulibaly scored a bucket in the paint to start the second half. The Stars scored the first three baskets of the half and took a 51-39 lead with 17:18 left to play.
Ferguson buried a 3-pointer at the 13:21 mark and brought the Lady Evangels back to within three points of the lead.
Later in the half, Cheyenne Been scored in the paint and cut the OCU lead to 66-64 with 5:34 remaining.
OCU answered by going on an 11-0 run to take a commanding 77-64 lead with 1:45 left on the clock. Autumn Huffman capped the run by converting an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Neal made a pair of free throws with less than a minute to play and gave OCU the 79-69 victory.
Neal paced the Stars' attack with 23 points and six rebounds, and Kayla MacKenzie followed with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Coulibaly and Lau each posted a double-double for the Stars. Coulibaly scored 14 points and snagged 10 rebounds while Lau netted 13 points and snared 13 boards.
"We've been on a long stretch of what seems like six games in 12 days," Trammell said. "We have been turning the ball over a little more than we should, and I think fatigue has played into that. Now we get a little rest and get back in to our normal schedule."
The Stars will return to action against Texas Wesleyan at 6 p.m. Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena.

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