OCU Athletics
Rich Tortorelli, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
SAN ANTONIO – Oklahoma City University topped Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 93-85 on Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Gymnasium in the Our Lady of the Lake Halo Classic in a clash of teams ranked in the top six in NAIA women’s basketball.
Mallory Lockhart, a sophomore from Keller, Texas, powered the Stars with a career-high 25 points. Third-ranked Oklahoma City improved to 8-0, while sixth-ranked Our Lady of the Lake fell to 3-4.
Lockhart downed five 3-pointers and all eight of her free throws while swiping two steals in 40 minutes of play. NaShyla Hammons, a senior from Oklahoma City, provided the Stars with a season-best 17 points and 14 rebounds, 11 of the them on the offensive end. Hammons notched her first double-double of the season.
OCU’s Abby Selzer, a sophomore from Thomas, Okla., produced 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals while shooting 7-for-9 from the floor. Payton Taylor, a junior from Ada, Okla., had her first double-double of 2019-20 with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“This was a hard-fought win against a very good team,” OCU coach Bo Overton said. “We did a good job of hanging in the game when we were down early. We did a great job executing down the stretch.”
Oklahoma City came up with a fourth-period 10-2 run to secure the victory. Selzer sank a bucket at the 2:15 mark to move the Stars ahead 83-82. Lockhart connected on a pair of foul shots to give OCU its biggest advantage of the day 91-82 with 23 seconds showing.
The Stars erased a 40-27 second-quarter deficit. OCU reeled off a 12-2 surge capped by Lockhart’s free throws, which cut Our Lady of the Lake’s lead to 42-39 with 47 seconds left in the first half.
Lockhart buried a trey to put OCU on top 60-58 with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter.
OCU owned a 26-25 rebounding edge as the Stars hauled in a season-high 21 offensive boards.
The Stars face Wiley (Texas) at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Marshall, Texas.