OKLAHOMA CITY – OCU toppled the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens 94-51 Thursday night at Abe Lemons Arena.
The Stars, ranked third in NAIA Division I women’s basketball, extended their record to 7-0, 2-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference with the win.
Taylor Booze, a junior from Duncanville, Texas, poured in 20 points, six assists, six steals three boards and a block for the Stars. Lauren Gober, a sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., put in 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Gober added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the game.
Starr Fairbanks chipped in 11 points and two blocks for OCU and Cara Pugh added 10 points in 10 minutes of play. Chasity Workman contributed a game-high eight rebounds to go with her seven points for the Stars.
Our guard play is just tremendous” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “When Lauren hits her first three I start calling plays for her every possession on the floor, and Taylor Booze, her energy tonight, her defensive presence on the point guard and just getting our press going and pushing the ball was great.”
OCU shot 53.2 percent from the field and held their opponent to 16-of-61 shooting on the night. The Stars’ margin of victory in their seven contests sits at 44.1 points, second in the NAIA.
“I thought early our kids came out with a tremendous amount of defensive intensity,” Edmisson said. “I thought they laid a foundation to let Wayland know it’s going to be a hard night and that’s what we want to do.”
OCU’s pressure to start the first half was evident from the first tip. The Stars forced steals in the first three consecutive possessions for Wayland Baptist. OCU grew the early lead to 11-0 before the Flying Queens found the scoreboard over four minutes into the game. The Stars forced 20 total steals on the night and got 35 points off of Wayland Baptist turnovers in the game.
Midway through the first period, OCU led 25-4 and Wayland Baptist was shooting 2-of-19 from the field. The Stars had a comfortable 32-point halftime lead which grew to the eventual 43-point victory for OCU.
“As a team, there are a lot of times when you can win games in the first five minutes of the first half if you kind of deflate someone’s ego a little bit,” Edmisson said. “I think it’s one of those times we’re trying to send messages.”
OCU next plays host to Lubbock Christian (Texas) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.
