Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 8, 2018) – Texas A&M International was unable to find a solution to stop Oklahoma Christian freshman forward Katie Mayo a month ago, and the Dustdevils had similar issues on Thursday night in the Eagles' Nest.

Mayo – who scored 28 points at TAMIU on Jan. 11 – had 22 points and nine rebounds and went 4 of 7 from 3-point range as the Lady Eagles pulled away in the second half for an 87-72 win.

OC (8-14, 4-6 Heartland Conference) is on a season-best three-game winning streak, which has moved the Lady Eagles into fifth place in the league standings heading into a showdown Saturday afternoon with fourth-place St. Mary's (Texas).

TAMIU (2-21, 0-9) hasn't beaten a NCAA Division II team all season and appears headed for the Heartland cellar. The Dustdevils were without head coach Jeff Caha for unknown reasons on Thursday.

OC coach Stephanie Findley said TAMIU concentrated so much on Addy Clift – the reigning Heartland player of the week – that the Dustdevils left themselves vulnerable in other areas.

"They were really focused on stopping Addy and that left Katie open for some threes, which she took advantage of," Findley said. "I thought our whole team rebounded really well, which helped us get some second- and third-chance opportunities. We got some really balanced scoring from all of our posts and that's something we need to keep building on."

The Lady Eagles posted a strong 52-40 edge in rebounding – grabbing a season-best 21 offensive boards – and three other inside players (besides Mayo) made significant impacts. Carolyne Lawley had 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, while Delyssa Miller had 11 points and Hannah Bentsen had five points and seven rebounds.

OC's guards also chipped in – after a slow start, Clift eventually finished with 12 points and three steals, and senior Audrey Hayes flirted with a triple-double with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Freshman point guard Maddison Collyer also had seven assists as the Lady Eagles finished with 24 assists on 30 made baskets.

OC trailed only in the opening three minutes, but led 22-20 by the end of the first quarter. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter but settled for a 39-33 halftime advantage after going scoreless for the final 2½ minutes.

Mayo opened the second half with a 3-pointer and soon the lead was back to double digits, where it stayed the rest of the game. OC's lead peaked at 22 points when a 3-pointer by Tyra Peck put the Lady Eagles up 77-55 with 5:47 left.

The Dustdevils' only player to reach double figures was Passionate Amukamara, who had 18 points. Tantashea Giger added eight points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for TAMIU. The Dustdevils made just two of their 12 free-throw attempts.