FORT WORTH, Texas – Oklahoma City University fell to Texas Wesleyan 96-75 on Thursday at the Sid Richardson Center.
OCU was ignited early on by
Annilia Dawn as she led with 16 points. The Stars (8-9, 5-7 Sooner Athletic Conference) lost in their first showdown with a ranked team this season. Texas Wesleyan, ranked 17th in NAIA women's basketball, extended its win streak to 17 games.
OCU and Texas Wesleyan went back and forth in the first half with Dawn and Kertisa Amos of the Lady Rams both owning 14 points. The score was tied 21-21 after the first. Dawn scored at the buzzer to get the score within two going into the half. The Stars shot a solid 55.6 percent from deep in the first half while Texas Wesleyan made just one out of seven attempts from deep. The third did not start out as the Stars had hoped as they got out to a quick 12-point deficit. They had a span of 5 straight turnovers and eight turnovers altogether in the period. The third ended with the Lady Rams leading 69-53.
Overall, Dawn, a senior psychology major from Amarillo, Texas, had 16 points and five assists. She made four 3's out of nine attempts. Her only downside on the game was the eight turnovers.
Elaine Witt had 14 points hitting all of her free throws and her one 3-pointer. Witt, a sophomore from Dale, Okla., is 62nd in the NAIA on assist to turnover ratio.
Cacie Gorman, a junior psychology major from Watonga, Okla., got a lot of good looks on backdoor passes in the paint for 10 points. She also had five rebounds and two blocks. The last double-digit scorer was
Ray Osborn off the bench with 12.
Ultimately the Stars had more 11 more turnovers, less rebounds, and almost half as many free throws as Texas Wesleyan did. The Lady Rams had 27 points off turnovers, which led to OCU's demise.
"Thats a tough loss", Seigenthaler said, but defensively we held them under some of its national ranked statistics. In the second half we struggled to score and contain penetration. This is a resilient squad and now we prepare for #19 USAO."
The Stars hope to bounce back against 19th-ranked Science & Arts on Sat. at 2 p.m. The game will be held at Oklahoma Christian University.
