OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University cruised past Texas Wesleyan 62-50 Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Daniela Wallen, a junior from Caracas, Venezuela, paced the Stars with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Stars, ranked 13th in NAIA Division I women's basketball, improved to 5-3, 2-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
Wallen leads OCU in points (21.6), rebounds (10.7) and assists (3.6) per game to go along with five double-doubles.
Leah Cheney, a junior from Ault, Colo., hit a season-high four 3-pointers, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Catherine Kruschke, a senior from Dublin, Calif., added 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Oklahoma City hit 42.1 percent of their shots from the field, while the Lady Rams shot just 37.7 percent. The Stars sank 9 of 25 treys and kept the Lady Rams to just 2-for-9 from the 3-point territory.
Allison Frey, a sophomore from Mustang, Okla., notched four assists, three rebounds and shot 3-for-9 on 3s for nine points. Through eight games, Frey is 41.4 percent from the 3-point land.
"I thought Leah and Allison making 3s spread them out," said OCU head coach Bo Overton. "We followed the game plan. It was a good win. Leah gets better every day. We are getting better every week and we look forward to getting everybody on the floor."
The Stars went on a 6-0 run at the end of the first half to stretch the lead to 33-24. Cheney stroked a 3 at the 1:21 mark, while Wallen nailed a 3-pointer with 19 seconds on the clock.
Leila Jdily-Ezzad of Texas Wesleyan made a 3 with 20 seconds left of the third quarter to cut the Stars lead to 48-38.
Katelynn Threats of Texas Wesleyan brought the game to 50-42 with a bucket at the 8:45 mark of the fourth quarter, but that is as close as it got for the Rams.
In the next four minutes, OCU pulled away to an 18-point lead with a 10-0 run. OCU's surge featured two baskets from Wallen, a 3 by Frey, a layup by Kruschke and a free throw by Kruschke.
The Lady Rams never controlled the lead and trailed from the 9:35 mark of the first quarter. Onyesonam Nolisa led the Lady Rams with 17 points and added 10 rebounds. Threats had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Lady Rams and chipped in 13 points. Texas Wesleyan dropped to 3-6 on the season and 0-2 in SAC play.
The Stars' Amanda Ingram, a junior from Oklahoma City, grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds.
Oklahoma City outrebounded Texas Wesleyan 44-33. The Lady Rams made just 2 of 7 free throws, while the Stars converted 5-of-9 from the free-throw line.
OCU plays Lubbock Christian (Texas) in an exhibition 6 p.m. Thursday in Lubbock, Texas.