OKLAHOMA CITY -- The St. Gregory's University Cavaliers took the lead for good with 1:56 left and went on to a 72-68 win over the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels in Sooner Athletic Conference action (Feb. 7) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Lady Evangels had rallied from nine down in the second half when eight straight points from Shakayla Love gave the Lady Evangels a one-point lead of 59-58 with 7:34 left.
Following consecutive scores from Stacy Lee that put the Cavaliers on top 64-62, Alexia Kelley and Alliyah Spatafora each scored to give the Lady Evangels a two-point lead with 4:14 left.
But the next score was a go-ahead three from Lee at the 1:56 mark that put the Cavaliers in front to stay.
The next 2:18 was scoreless until Denisha Lundy connected from the perimeter for the Cavaliers to make it a 70-66 deficit with 19 seconds remaining.
Kelley scored to bring the Lady Evangels within two with 10 seconds left, but Courtney Leach hit two free throws on the other end to put it away.
After a slow start that saw the Lady Evangels fall behind 10-2 within the first four minutes of the contest, Lindsey Mann came in and quickly nailed two threes to finish a 12-2 burst that put MACU in front 14-12.
The Lady Evangels built the lead as high as 30-21 in the first half as three straight buckets from Ashlee Ferguson keyed a 10-2 spurt at the 5:18 mark of the opening half.
But the Cavaliers fought back behind 16 first-half points from Lundy, including three treys during the final 5:12 of the half and came within one with 1:13 left.
The Lady Evangels took a 38-35 lead at the break on a score from Alliyah Spatafora with 35 seconds left.
Kelley led the Lady Evangels (13-8, 6-6 SAC) with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field along with six rebounds. Love added 13 points, while Spatafora had nine points and a team-high six assists. Felicia Foster also had six boards for the Lady Evangels.
Lee and Lundy each scored 22 to pace the Cavaliers (3-18, 2-10 SAC), with Lee also dishing out a game-high seven assists. Leach had 10 points and a game-high eight boards and Kaylyn Dickerson also added 10 points.
The Lady Evangels will now hit the road for five of their last six games, starting next Thursday night (Feb. 12) at John Brown University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Siloam Springs, Ark.
