ALVA, Okla. (Nov. 20, 2018) – Lather, rinse, repeat.

For the second time in three days, Oklahoma Christian saw a 16-point third-quarter lead whittled down to a one-possession game by the home team. Addy Clift proved to be the hero for OC on Sunday at Texas Woman's, and she played the same role Tuesday at Northwestern Oklahoma State.

The senior All-America guard scored 14 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Lady Eagles hang on for a 65-61 win over Northwestern at Percefull Fieldhouse.

"Any win is a good win when you're on the road and I'm just glad to get out of here by the skin of our teeth," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "We did do just enough at the end to hold them off, thank goodness, because we had let them back into it."

The inside duo of sophomore Katie Mayo (14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds) and freshman Kendall Blackburn (11 points) proved particularly effective for OC (4-2) against Northwestern (1-2), which is coached by former OC All-American Tasha Turney Diesselhorst.

With Mayo recording her third career double-double, the Lady Eagles posted a 50-38 rebounding advantage and limited Northwestern to nine offensive boards.

"Kendall has been playing well the last couple of games," Findley said. "We felt like that was a strength for us against their team. They don't have much size. … It was more difficult than you think to get the ball inside to take advantage of it, but I think our girls did a good job of rebounding and getting second opportunities and putting those back in."

OC led 46-30 after a three-point play by Blackburn with 2:42 left in the third quarter, but the Rangers scored 11 straight points – a run that included two 3-pointers by Jakeria Otey and another by Jade Jones – to close the gap to 47-41 by the end of the quarter.

Clift hit two 3-pointers and had a traditional three-point play to keep Northwestern at bay, with the latter giving OC a 59-50 lead with 4:47 left, but that proved to be the Lady Eagles' last basket.

Northwestern kept coming and closed within 59-57 with 2:07 left on two free throws by Kalea King. Clift answered with two free throws 17 seconds left before both teams traded turnovers, then missed shots. The Rangers missed another chance to cut into the lead when Presley Payahsape misfired and Clift rebounded, and Clift hit two more free throws with 53.2 seconds left to make it 63-57.

King converted a three-point play with 34 seconds left. The Rangers fouled Tyra Peck, who made 1 of 2 free throws with 14.1 seconds left to put OC up 64-60. Jones, who led Northwestern with 16 points, went 1 of 2 from the line at the other end with 4.1 seconds left and Clift sealed the win with two free throws with 1.7 seconds left.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, combining to go 4 of 31 from 3-point range and 16 of 59 from the field. The Lady Eagles led 25-17 at halftime.

"We knew they were not going to be that cold the whole game," Findley said. "They're a good 3-point shooting team and once those threes start falling, you can come back in a hurry. We hit a little drought and had some turnovers in that stretch. Once you let them back in it, you've got to fight for all your worth. I think Addy was really determined. … At the end, she was getting (the basketball) somehow and knocking down shots."

King had 14 points for the Rangers, who play in the Great American Conference after once being an OC rival in the NAIA's Sooner Athletic Conference.

Clift raised her career scoring total to 1,510 points, moving into ninth place on both the OC and Heartland Conference lists. She passed Amy Bratcher (1,503 points from 1993-97) on the OC list and Jennifer Knight of St. Edward's (Texas) – who had 1,500 points from 2002-06 – on the Heartland list.

OC will wrap up a seven-game road swing to open the season on Saturday, when they face GAC power Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford.

Stephanie Findley discusses the win: https://youtu.be/-7EviZexWXE