Women's Basketball 11/15/2014 11:03:00 PM

Langston upends OCU 71-68

Stars trail by as many as 11 points

Ouleymatou Coulibaly tallied 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

Box Score
LANGSTON, Okla. – No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City University stumbled in its season opener 71-68 to Langston on Saturday at C. Felton Gayles Fieldhouse in a battle of top 25-ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams.
Lynette Holmes helped clinch the victory for 24th-ranked Langston by hitting free throws with eight seconds left in the game. Rateska Brown's potential game-tying 3-pointer misfired as time expired for Oklahoma City.
Langston moved to 4-0 under its new coach Cheryl Miller. OCU had ended Langston's season in the national tournament's first round in March.
"I have to give Langston credit," OCU coach Latricia Trammell said. "They fought, they battled and played with confidence. They shot 90 percent from the free-throw line, and we shot 40 percent. We outrebounded them, we beat them in the second half, but free throws, I believe, were the difference."
Langston hit 18 of 20 free throws, while OCU shot 4-for-10 from the foul line. Oklahoma City created a 42-34 rebounding advantage and sank 51.5 percent of its second-half field-goal attempts.
Markeisha Johnson provided the Stars the lead 66-65 on a jumper in transition with 1:34 to go. OCU erased Langston's 11-point advantage the Lady Lions built midway through the second period.
Holmes answered with a lay-in at the 1:01 mark to keep Langston ahead. Lulu Perry contributed a pair of free throws to Langston's cause with 15 seconds left. Janay Borum nailed a jumper to cut the Stars' deficit to 69-68 with eight seconds showing.
OCU reeled off a 17-6 run to forge a 60-60 tie. Neal's jumper knotted the score with 3:40 left.
"We have a lot to improve on," Trammell said. "We have to correct a lot of things before Friday."
Brown, a senior from Alvin, S.C., supplied OCU with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and four 3-pointers, while Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a senior from Mali, Bamako, West Africa, turned in 16 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Oklahoma City.
Johnson, a junior from Mansura, La., notched her first career double-double with the Stars by totaling 13 points, 12 rebounds and two steals, and Yvonte Neal, a senior from Spring Valley, Calif., had 12 points and four assists.
The defending national champion Stars take on 11th-ranked Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) at 6 p.m. Friday at Abe Lemons Arena.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Ouleymatou Coulibaly: C; 6' 2"; Senior

#23 Markeisha Johnson: F; 5' 8"; Junior

#22 Yvonte Neal: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#3 Rateska Brown: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#11 Janay Borum: G; 5' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#21 Ouleymatou Coulibaly
: 6' 2"; Senior
: C

#23 Markeisha Johnson
: 5' 8"; Junior
: F

#22 Yvonte Neal
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#3 Rateska Brown
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#11 Janay Borum
: 5' 2"; Senior
: G