OKLAHOMA CITY – The OCU women’s basketball earned its 20th win of the season, overwhelming John Brown (Ark.) 75-54 on Monday at Abe Lemons Arena.
The victory marks a significant milestone in program history, as the Stars have now won 20 or more games in 13 consecutive seasons. The storied OCU program entered the season tied for the most wins in NAIA women’s basketball and second only to Connecticut in total wins since 2000-01.
The second-ranked Stars moved to 20-2, 15-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference after the victory over John Brown.
OCU was led by Lauren Gober, a sophomore from Newcastle, Okla. Gober went for 21 points and seven rebounds while collecting a game-high four steals.
“I was really impressed with Lauren,” OCU coach Rob Edmisson said. “I thought she bounced back after having a difficult game against Rogers State, and I thought she was really aggressive tonight. She played very hard, rebounded the ball and looked to score.”
Donica Cosby, a senior from Coldwater, Miss., contributed 15 points, three assists and three rebounds for the Stars. Desiree Jeffries, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, added 12 points and two rebounds in the win.
The second period went to the home team as the Stars used an 8-0 run to start the half. The run was punctuated by a 3-point basket by Gober assisted by Emily Davis to extend the lead to 43-23 with 17:34 to play. OCU closed the game with another 8-0 run near the conclusion of the action. The final run was capped by Cosby rolling in layup on the break off of a long Gober pass down the court.
The first half stayed close up to the 6:17 mark after John Brown’s Kortni Kendrick sank a pair of free throws to cut the Stars’ lead to 22-18. OCU ended the half on a 11-3 run to have a 33-21 advantage at the midpoint.
OCU forced the Golden Eagles into 26 turnovers that led to 26 points. The Stars also held a 37-27 rebounding edge and capitalized on the glass crashing with 13 second chance points.
“We’ve formatted it out so that every game is going to be important, and we’re going to play Thursday’s game like it’s a first round national tournament game,” Edmisson said. “Our kids aren’t in a position right now to take anybody lightly and just show up so that’s our big focus right now. We’re just trying to finish it out strong and try to hold on to our one game conference lead. We do not want to share.”
The Stars next play host to St. Gregory’s on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena.
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