OKLAHOMA CITY (January 10, 2013) –
Tess Bruffey (19 points) and
Bailey Haist (17 points) combined for 36 of Lubbock Christian University's 46 points off the bench and LCU rebounded from a 10-point second half deficit to defeat Oklahoma Christian University 69-64 Saturday at Eagles' Nest in Heartland Conference play.
LCU trailed 39-29 2:26 into the second half before mounting their comeback.
Blair Taylor nailed a three-pointer and followed with an air-ball that resulted in a perfect pass to
Kellyn Schneider, who put it up and in for a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 39-34 with 15:41 remaining. The Lady Chaps trailed 55-49 with 5:35 remaining and had another rally spearheaded by a Taylor three-pointer. She connected from long dis-tance to start an 8-0 run capped by a three-point play by Bruffey to give LCU a 57-55 lead for the 10th lead change of the game. LCU would never trail the rest of the way and received a big three-pointer by Haist with 1:48 remaining to turn a 61-60 lead into a 64-60 LCU lead.
The Lady Chaps, coming off one of their worst contests in recent memory Thursday, shuffled the starting line-up Saturday, with
Claire Bruffey,
Callie Sandusky and
Morgan Dean receiving their first career start. Taylor, with 11 points, was the only starter to produce double figures offensively. LCU trailed 32-26 at the half after shooting 34.5% (10/29) from the field in the half.
LCU held Oklahoma Christian to a 26.7% (8/30) shooting mark in the first half and a 33.3% (20/60) shoot-ing mark in the game. Oklahoma Christian did out-score LCU 17-5 in points off turnovers after forcing LCU into 22 turnovers.
Sydney Hill led all scorers with 21 points in the losing cause. McKenziie Stanford joined her with 13 points to aid the OC offense.
Tess Bruffey's 19 points and Haist's 17 points were each a career high. Schneider led all players with 10 rebounds and also had four of LCU's 10 blocks. Haist matched a career high with four three-pointers (third time this season).
The Lady Chaps improved to 9-5 overall and 3-1 with the win. The win ended LCU's first two-game losing streak since the 2011-2012 season. OC fell to 4-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play. The Lady Chaps have won 14 of the prior 17 meetings against the Lady Eagles. LCU returns home Thursday to host Rog-ers State in conference play at Rip Griffin Center.
