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No. 1 Union beats OC in NAIA quarterfinals

No. 1 Union beats OC in NAIA quarterfinals

JACKSON, Tenn. (March 20, 2010) – Oklahoma Christian University’s Cinderella run through the NAIA Women’s Basketball Tournament ended in the national quarterfinals Saturday with an 83-55 loss to top-ranked defending national champion Union (Tenn.).

The Lady Eagles, who entered as the No. 7 seed in their quadrant of the 32-team tournament, advanced to the Elite Eight with upset wins over second-seeded Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) and third-seeded Westminster (Utah).

But the No. 1 Lady Bulldogs were too much to overcome in front of their hometown crowd in moving to 34-2 on the season. The Lady Eagles finished with a 21-13 record.

Oklahoma Christian had four leads early and trailed by just three when Union took off on a 9-0 run to make it 28-16.

After a Lindsay McCown basket, the Lady Bulldogs reeled off eight straight points to push the lead to 36-18, then scored another 10 straight points after a Roz Hamilton bucket to go up 46-20.

Union led 48-24 at halftime and the Lady Eagles drew no closer than 21 points in the second half.

“We just had too many lapses in that first half. You can’t do that against the No. 1 team in the nation. You have to be on your game every possession,” OC head coach Stephanie Findley said. “Hopefully, we’ll learn from that. If we can get back here next year, maybe we can make it a little bit further.”

The Elite Eight contest closed out the college careers of OC seniors Cressi Bryant, Lisa Chenoweth, Kailan DeCamp, Brittney Kennedy, Barrie Mitchell and Devin Sewell.

DeCamp, a former first-team All-American, scored 10 points in her final game. Chenoweth scored nine and Kennedy added seven points before fouling out midway through the second half.

McCown led Oklahoma Christian with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Hamilton, another promising freshman, scored seven points.

Union, which shot 53 percent overall and from three-point range, had four players score in double figures. Zeinab Chan and Jessica Graves had 16 points, Kaitlin Dudley scored 14 and Kayla Hudson added 11.

This was OC’s third quarterfinal appearance. The Lady Eagles previously advanced in 1986 and 2003, also under Findley. OC’s 2003 trip came via a 65-64 win over Union in the Sweet 16.

“In the middle of February when we were struggling a little bit, if you would have told me we’d be here playing Union for the chance to get to the Final Four, I would have thought you were a little bit funny,” Findley said. “But the girls fought through and persevered. They were able to get an at-large bid, get here and show what they can do.”

-OC-