The OCU women’s basketball team will play for the NAIA Division I women’s basketball championship title tonight. There will be a watch party at 5:30 p.m. in the student lounge of the Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
The Stars will play tonight at the Frankfort Convention Center in Frankfort, Ky., against the winner of the Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) – Wiley (Texas) semifinal.
This will be the 10th time OCU has reached the national championship game. OCU captured national crowns in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012 and finished national runner-up in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
OCU got past John Brown (Ark.) 67-65 in the semifinals Monday.
OCU’s last three wins have come by three points, three points and now, two points.
“That’s something with John Brown,” Oklahoma City coach Latricia Trammell said. “You can’t take them for granted. I called several timeouts in the second half just to remind our ladies that this was not over and that they were a good comeback team, which obviously you saw. I’m proud of our girls’ effort. They deserve it, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s championship game.”
Autumn Huffman buried a long jumper to give OCU a 67-59 advantage with 4:24 remaining. Then Kortni Barenburg scored on back-to-back buckets, the second of which cut the Stars’ lead down to 67-63 with 3:34 left. Shipley connected on two free throws to make it 67-65 at the 2:22 mark.
In the final 2:05, Oklahoma City went 0-for-3 from the field and missed a foul shot, while John Brown missed two shots from the floor and turned the ball over once. Kayla MacKenzie knocked the ball away, and Neal grabbed the theft with 57 seconds to go. Neal missed a shot that the Golden Eagles’ Abbie Warren rebounded with 31 seconds left.
John Brown called timeout with 21 seconds left. Shipley drove to the basket, but failed to add to her game-high 23 points on the final shot attempt.
“I thought they’d go inside, and they ended up giving it back to Shipley, which I knew would happen to either drive or look for that 3. She had an open look, but that doesn’t define who she is. She’s a great basketball player, and we just got lucky,” said Trammell.
The Stars built a 43-23 rebounding advantage, scoring 22 second-chance points while grabbing 20 offensive rebounds. OCU held John Brown to 6-of-20 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. The 16th-rated Golden Eagles entered the game leading the NAIA in 3-pointers made and finished with 337 total for a 9.36 per-game average.
Huffman, a senior from Midwest City, Okla., led four Stars in double-figure scoring. Huffman posted 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while MacKenzie, a senior from Peoria, Ariz., piled up 13 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals for OCU.
Huffman, a senior from Midwest City, Okla., led four Stars in double-figure scoring. Huffman posted 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while MacKenzie, a senior from Peoria, Ariz., piled up 13 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals for OCU.
Coulibaly, a junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, supplied the Stars her team-high ninth double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Neal, a junior from Spring Valley, Calif., had 12 points, six rebounds and four steals.
John Brown completed its season 28-8 with a program-record victory total and its first trip to the Fab Four.
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