AUSTIN, Texas – BAILEY HILL was perfect from the floor, going 6-6 from the field and 5-5 from three point range as the St. Edward's Women's Basketball team downed Oklahoma Christian University 93-73 Saturday afternoon. With the win, Head Coach J.J. Riehl moves within one win of her 100th career victory.
SEU maintained a slight lead throughout the first quarter and into the second. After a pair of free throws by Saffie Dufek following the media time out in the second quarter, the Hilltoppers had pushed their lead to 13, 40-27, shooting 70% from the floor and 67% from three point range.
St. Edward's took an eight point lead, 48-40, into the locker room at the break after cooling off just slightly in the final five minutes. SEU shot 65.2% from the field in the half and 57.1% from three point with six Hilltoppers scoring five points or more.
Oklahoma Christian opened the second half on a 12-4 run to tie the game 52-52 with just over six minutes to play in the third. The Hilltoppers battled to get back on top, going 7-8 from the free throw line to head into the fourth quarter with a one point advantage, 62-61.
Back to back threes to open the fourth put SEU up seven and kick-started a run that lasted the entire quarter, outscoring the Eagles 31-12 in the final frame to lead to the dominating win.
Hill led with 22 points and grabbed seven boards while LEXI CUNNINGHAM added 19 and MARYAM WILCHER 16. OCU's Addy Clift led all scorers with 35 points. ISABEL HERNANDEZ was just one point, one rebound and two assists away from a triple-double in an impressive, balanced performance.
St. Edward's improves to 9-7 on the season and 1-1 in Heartland Conference play. The Hilltoppers return to the road to face Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday, January 17 at 5:30 pm.
