OKLAHOMA CITY – Five Stars scored in double figures and Oklahoma City University rolled to a 94-79 overtime victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
Payton Taylor, a sophomore from Ada, Okla., led the charge for OCU with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Oklahoma City, ranked 12th in NAIA Division I women's basketball, improved to 16-2 overall and 9-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference while SAGU dropped to 12-7 on the year and 6-5 in SAC play.
Oklahoma City outscored Southwestern Assemblies of God 15-0 in overtime. In the final four seconds of regulation, Michaela Kay and Lexi Rich each buried 3-pointers to move the game into an extra session.
"I thought the way Taylor played early really got us settled down and got us going early to get us to halftime," head coach Bo Overton. "Payton's ceiling is really high. She just keeps getting better every week, she is getting stronger, getting more aggressive going to the basket and that strength that she is picking up is really helping. She has always been a natural player on the floor that knows how to play and things like that. She is just a real important piece to our puzzle and she played great today."
Joining Taylor with double digits in the scoring column were Kay, NaShyla Hammons, Taylor LaCour and Abby Selzer. Selzer, a freshman from Thomas, Okla., collected her fifth double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and an assist. LaCour, a senior from Georgetown, Texas, delivered the Stars with 15 points, two rebounds, and two blocked shots. Kay, a senior from Spokane, Wash. provided OCU with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal. Hammons, a junior from Oklahoma City, added 11 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, while Taylor added three assists, two steals and a block.
The Stars defense notched 10 blocked shots on Saturday collecting 10 or more blocks for the third time this season. Taylor Sylvester, a junior from Chickasha, Okla., led the team with four blocks, to go with seven rebounds and five points. Brennyn Seagler, a junior from Gruver, Texas, swatted two blocks, pulled down seven rebounds, with seven points and two steals. While LaCour added two blocks.
SAGU scored the most points against OCU since Our Lady of the Lake scored 89 on Nov. 17, 2018 beating the Stars 89-81. Rich led all scorers with 39 points shooting 8-for-16 from beyond the arc, including the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. The last time OCU allowed someone to score 30 points was Kasey Saldana of OLLU on Nov. 17, 2018, who had 33 points.
"I don't know if everybody knows," Overton said. "but Lexi Rich is a pretty good player. I think SAGU did a great job of spacing and getting the ball to her in the right spots and she made a lot of plays."
SAGU outscored the Stars 26-22 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to four at halftime, but Oklahoma City caught fire on offensive end to begin the second half and stretched its lead back to 11 points off two free throws from LaCour. SAGU outscored OCU 22-13 in the final 8:10 of the third quarter to cut the Stars lead to 63-61 going into the fourth.
OCU led by as many as 15 points when Taylor drained back to back free throws to give the Stars a 94-79 lead with 0:19 left in OT. Oklahoma City outscored SAGU 34-10 with points off the bench and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.
OCU return to action at 6 p.m. on Thursday against Central Christian at Abe Lemons Arena.