Basketball Women Fall at Mid-America

OKLAHOMA CITY – A pair of free throws with 43 seconds left and a poor shooting performance by the USAO women’s basketball team led to a disappointing loss Monday night at Mid-America Christian. The Drovers fell 60-57 to the Lady Evangels at Gaulke Activities Center.

With the three-point loss, USAO drops to 5-5 overall with one game left on the non-conference schedule. The Drovers have about three weeks off before traveling to Lindsborg, Kan., on New Year’s Eve for a 4 p.m. contest against Bethany College. USAO begins conference play at 6 p.m. Jan. 6 when the Drovers host Lubbock Christian, Texas.

On Monday, USAO held battled through poor 3-point shooting to lead by as many as nine points in the second half. But, Mid-America came back and cut the margin to a single point with 2:33 left. The Evangels took the lead with 2:04 left and the Drovers answered back to lead 57-56 at 1:49 left.

Mid-America’s Wendy McDonald hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to give the Evangels a 58-57 lead. USAO had three chances to win the game in the closing seconds, but was forced to foul with less than 15 seconds left. Jessica Coggin hit two three throws with 13 seconds left for the final 60-57 margin.

Two Drovers scored in double figures, led by senior Karole Roberts with 19 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Junior Katie Sterling finished with 17 points, two rebounds and two steals. Senior Christal Merriweather added eight points, four rebounds and a team-best six assists, and was held under 10 points for the first time this season.

Sophomore Nikki Yager came off the bench to score seven points and grab three rebounds for the Drovers. Junior Stephanie Russell added six points and seven rebounds to round out the scoring for USAO.

As a team, USAO hit 37 percent (23-of-63) from the field, 6 percent (1-of-17) from 3-point range and 67 percent (10-of-15) from the free throw line. The Drovers collected 40 rebounds, 10 assists, six steals and committed 14 turnovers.

McDonald led Mid-America with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Coggin was the only other Evangel in double figures with 14 points, four rebounds and a team-high four assists.