Alva Review-Courier -

FORT SMITH, Ark. (Jan. 12, 2017) – Thanks to McKenzie Stanford, Emma Gade and Sarah Parker, Oklahoma Christian climbed out of a 21-point first-half hole and took the lead in the fourth quarter on Thursday at Arkansas-Fort Smith.

But the Lady Eagles couldn't sustain their considerable momentum in the final minutes and UAFS took advantage of an overwhelming edge at the free-throw line to beat OC 89-84 at the Stubblefield Center.

OC (8-10, 3-3 Heartland Conference) fell despite career-best nights from Stanford and Gade. Stanford, a senior forward from Perkins, had career highs in scoring (31) and rebounds (18) – the most by a Heartland player this season in both categories – and recorded her fifth double-double of the campaign. Her 13 field goals made and 24 attempted both also were season highs for a Heartland player.

Gade, a senior guard from Stillwater, also posted a new scoring high with 20 points, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Parker, a senior forward from Piedmont, just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and OC overcame an early rebounding deficit to win that battle 45-40.

But the numbers were impressive on the other side of the stat sheet, too. UAFS (9-7, 4-2) had five players score in double figures, led by 21 points from Olivia Hanson and 17 from Tayla Taylor. The Lions shot 52 percent from the field.

The Lions also went 30-of-45 at the free-throw line as 31 fouls were called on OC – the most against a Heartland team this season, resulting in three OC players fouling out. The 45 free throws by UAFS were the second-most attempted this season by a Heartland squad.

"I thought we played a really good second half," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We just need that for two halves. They shot the ball really well, but you're not going to beat too many teams when they go to the line 45 times, either.

"McKenzie had a great game and a great second half. She was determined to pull down those rebounds after I got on her at halftime a little bit about that. Emma had a career night scoring and shooting. We've got to keep them playing at that high a level, and Sarah – Sarah had a good game. We've just got to get other people back in the fold, joining in, making shots."

The Lions poured it on early, leading 30-17 at the end of the first quarter (despite 12 points from Stanford) and going up 50-29 on a layup by Maya Perry with 2:56 left in the first half. UAFS shot 60.7 percent from the field in the first half before cooling off after halftime.

OC cut the gap to 53-37 by halftime and continually pulled closer through the third quarter, which ended with UAFS up 70-63. The Lady Eagles opened the fourth quarter just as hot, starting on a 9-1 run to go ahead 72-71 on a 16-foot jumper by Stanford with 6:02 left.

But UAFS scored the next 10 points to rebuild its lead to 81-72 with 4:12 left. OC rallied again and, trailing 84-82, had a chance to tie, but layup attempts by Kylee Hicks and Parker, the latter with 1:35 left, didn't go in the basket. The Lions went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final 30.5 seconds to seal the win.

"I was pleased to see that we could come back and show that much heart," Findley said. "You're not going to get it all at once and that's how we were trying to take it – one play at a time – and we did. That shows a lot of heart and that's something that we're looking for right now. When you're in a slump, you've got to play with heart to try and get out of it."

Stanford's 31 points propelled her up a spot on both the OC and Heartland career scoring lists and raised her overall total to 1,489. She passed Tasha Turney (1,461 from 2002-06) to move into ninth on OC's chart and Tammy Acosta of Texas-Permian Basin (1,476 from 2008-12) to jump to eighth on the Heartland list.

Perry added 15 points for UAFS, while Sydney Franklin had 14 and Zhanesha Dickerson had 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

OC will continue on the Heartland road on Saturday, facing a game at Rogers State at 1 p.m.