Women's Basketball 3/6/2014 8:03:00 PM

OCU ousts Southwestern Christian 73-65

Stars face John Brown at 3 p.m. Friday in SAC Tournament semifinals

Cara Pugh reached 20 points for the third time this season.

Box Score
SHAWNEE, Okla. – Oklahoma City University knocked Southwestern Christian from the Sooner Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament with a 73-65 quarterfinal win Thursday at the Noble Complex.
Cara Pugh, a senior from Oklahoma City, topped the Stars, ranked fifth in NAIA Division I, with 21 points. OCU (22-3) takes on 20th-ranked John Brown (Ark.) at 3 p.m. in the semifinals.
Pugh connected on 7 of 13 shots from the field and nailed three 3-pointers to lead OCU's second unit. The Stars outscored Southwestern Christian 28-2 in bench points.
The Stars' Yvonte Neal, a junior from Spring Valley, Calif., posted 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, recorded her seventh double-double this season with 12 points, 14 rebounds and two assists, while Kayla MacKenzie, a senior from Peoria, Ariz., collected 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists for OCU.
"We played well enough to get the win, but tomorrow we need to play more disciplined and with a sense of urgency on defense," OCU coach Latricia Trammell said.
The Stars used a 15-0 run to erase a 21-15 deficit, holding Southwestern Christian without a bucket for 3:58. Coulibaly provided OCU with eight consecutive points, hitting a jumper to put her team in front 27-21 with 8:36 left in the first half. Neal's trey put OCU ahead 30-21.
In the second half, Southwestern Christian had another scoring drought, this time of four minutes. Meantime, the Stars went 7-for-8 from the foul line to push their advantage to 63-43 on Pugh's free throws with 9:50 to go.
Southwestern Christian whittled OCU's lead down to 69-62 on Adrianna White's jumper with 1:06 left. Coulibaly and Neal dropped in a pair of free throws each to keep Southwestern Christian at bay.

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament
WOMEN
At Noble Complex, Oklahoma Baptist University
Shawnee, Okla.
Wednesday's Results
First Round
Texas Wesleyan 80, Northwood 59
St. Gregory's 67, Southwestern Assemblies of God 66, OT
Southwestern Christian 98, Science & Arts of Oklahoma 90
Thursday's Results
Quarterfinals
Wayland Baptist 54, Texas Wesleyan 40
John Brown 72, Mid-America Christian 60
Oklahoma Baptist 92, St. Gregory's 65
Oklahoma City 73, Southwestern Christian 65
Friday's Games
Semifinals
Game 8: Oklahoma Baptist vs. Wayland Baptist, 1 p.m.
Game 9: John Brown vs. Oklahoma City, 3 p.m.
Saturday's Game
Championship
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m.

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