OKLAHOMA CITY – Sarah Martin's career-high 20 points weren't enough as the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City University Stars secured their 18th straight win by defeating the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels 87-53 in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Tuesday evening (Feb. 5) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Down by 21 at the break, the Lady Evangels charged out of the gate by scoring the first nine points of the second half as Martin hit a pair of threes and Parris Price also connected from beyond the arc that cut the lead to 42-30 at the 18:19 mark of the second half.
The top-ranked Stars had a strong answer and scored the next 13 points during the next four minutes to pull out to a commanding 55-30 lead.
After two more treys from Martin brought the Lady Evangels (12-10, 3-8 SAC) to within 57-36, the Stars put it away with a 10-0 spurt that stretched the lead to 31.
The Lady Evangels were tough defensively in the early going, limiting the Stars to only 27 percent shooting for nearly the first seven minutes of the contest.
But the Stars were equal to the task on the defensive end and held the Lady Evangels scoreless for the first six minutes while scoring the first eight points of the game.
It was a nine-point game when Lauren Gober hit a three to start a 9-2 spurt that expanded the lead to 25-8 at the 8:37 mark of the opening half.
MACU clawed back to within 13 twice over the next four minutes, with the last being 31-18 on a score from Kelsie Dutton with 4:35 remaining.
The Stars then scored the next 10 points to take their biggest lead of the half at 41-18 and went on to a 42-21 edge at the half.
Martin nailed five threes overall, one shy of tying the single-game MACU NAIA record. Kourtni Williams kept her double-figure scoring streak alive with 11 points along with a team-high seven rebounds. Williams has scored in double-digits every game thus far this season. Price added 10 points, six boards and a team-best five assists.
Gober led four Stars in double-figures with 18 points, while Cara Pugh recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.
The Lady Evangels held their own defensively by limiting the Stars to only a 40.5 percent (32-of-79) shooting clip, but were hurt by shooting only 34.7 percent (17-of-49) themselves and committing 35 turnovers.
OCU (19-2, 11-0 SAC) held a slim 44-43 edge in rebounding, with a 22-15 edge on the offensive glass.
The Lady Evangels will continue their five-game homestand with a battle against another nationally-ranked opponent in No. 15-ranked Rogers State University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday evening (Feb. 7).
