The Oakland City University women's basketball team hosted the Rams of Bluefield College with an automatic berth in the NCCAA National Tournament on the line. After scratching out a 24-23 halftime lead, the Oaks fell behind 38-33 at the end of three quarters. OCU cut the lead to three with one minute left to play, but were unable to get over the hump, losing 59-47.
Kiare Young led all scorers in the game, shooting 4-9 from the field, and 7-8 from the foul line, on her way to 15 points and seven rebounds. Senior Aricka Prentice added nine counters, while grabbing a game best 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Maddie Ubelhor added eight points, while Lexi Lashbrook chipped in with six.
Danae Cox paced the Rams, scoring 15 points on 4-11 shooting, while going 6-9 from the foul line. Trianna Crockett added a dozen counters, followed by 10 points off the bench from Courtney Kendrick. Cox also led the team in rebounds with seven, followed by six each from Kendrick and Kierra Bell-Linnear.
As a team, the Lady Oaks made 15-51 (29.4%) from the field, including 2-23 (8.7%) from three point range. The Rams also struggled, shooting 18-58 (31.0%) overall, and 3-16 (18.8%) from beyond the arc. OCU made 15-17 (88.2%) from the charity stripe, while Bluefield scored on 20-28 (71.4%) from the unguarded line.
OCU trailed in rebounding 40-38, including a deficit of 10-5 on the offensive glass. The Oaks had just five assists, while turning the ball over 17 times, while the Rams had eight assists and nine turnovers.
The Lady Oaks finished with a record of 14-8 on the season, including a home mark of 13-3.
