CHICKASHA, Okla. – Oklahoma City University fell to USAO 76-62 Thursday night at the USAO Fieldhouse, giving up sole possession of first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings.
The loss dropped the Stars, ranked fourth in NAIA Division I women's basketball, to 18-4 on the year and 11-2 in the SAC. USAO won its fifth game in a row, improving to 19-3 overall and 11-2 in SAC play. The two teams split their two matchups this season and share the top spot in the conference rankings. Thursday was the first time USAO defeated OCU since the Drovers took a 54-46 result on Feb. 6, 1992 in Chickasha, Okla.
"We just got off to a bad start today," OCU head coach Bo Overton said. "We turned it over, missed some assignments defensively that got USAO going and feeling good. We got in foul trouble a little early, which kind of moved our rotations off and kind of got us out of sync. But we've got a lot of games still to play. We've got to learn from it, go to work tomorrow, and get ready to play Saturday."
USAO shot out to a 10-0 lead within the game's first four minutes, forcing the Stars into six early turnovers. Daniela Galindo scored OCU's first points of the game at the 4:52 mark, but the Drovers responded by closing the quarter on an 11-4 run and took a 15-point lead into the second quarter.
Oklahoma City continued to struggle in the second, unable to knock down open looks or slow down the Drovers on offense. The Stars headed into the break shooting 25.9 percent from the field and just 20.0 percent from deep, getting outscored by USAO 16-2 in the paint and gave away 12 turnovers that turned into 13 points.
Galindo, a senior from Shattuck, Okla., provided Oklahoma City with eight points and three steals in the first half. She finished with a team-high 21 points, eight rebounds and a season-high seven steals. Payton Taylor, a freshman from Ada, Okla., added 11 points and Alexis Hill, a senior from Byng, Okla., contributed 10 points and five boards.
OCU clawed its way back late in the third period, getting a jumper at the top of the key from Hill to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since the 2:21 mark in the second quarter. The Stars went on a 10-0 run stretching from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth, shrinking the Drovers' lead to 51-46 with 8:32 to go.
USAO bounced back and responded to the OCU run by holding the Stars without a field goal for nearly six minutes, enough to rebuild a double-digit lead and put the game away. The Drovers finished the game by outscoring the Oklahoma City 39-8 in the paint, 17-12 in points off turnovers and 9-6 in fast break points.
OCU's Taylor LaCour had eight points and nine rebounds and Michaela Kay added eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
Oklahoma City plays next at 1 p.m. Saturday against Mid-America Christian at Abe Lemons Arena.