Box Score
ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University's women's basketball team got into a good old fashioned defensive battle with visiting Oklahoma Christian University on Thursday evening, but came out on the short end of a 54-43 decision at Kimbrell Arena. The Heartland Conference setback left the War Hawks at 2-16 overall (2-10 in the HC), while the Lady Eagles improved to 11-7 on the year and 7-4 in league play.

The two teams see-sawed, back and forth the entire first half. The initial 20-minute segment featured six ties and six lead changes, with neither team able to create any separation. A three-pointer by Tory Salazar at the 11:32 mark gave McM its largest advantage of the half, 13-10. OC lead by as much as six points (26-20), before settling on a 27-24 cushion heading into the halftime locker room.

McMurry's Ana Dominguez buried a short jumper to open the second half, cutting the margin to a single point. But the Lady Eagles would respond with six unanswered points to pull away and not permit the hosts to get any closer the rest of the way.

Oklahoma Christian had a dominating advantage with its inside game, outscoring McMurry in the paint, 26-6. OC was also up on second-chance points, 16-5, and were out-rebounded 57-47.

One of the reasons for the disparity underneath was the OC's ability to shutdown McM standout senior Keshia Collins on offense. Collins was held to just five points in the game, well below her team-leading average of 17.1 points per game entering the evening.

Collins was able to help her team in other ways, however. Collins had a team-high nine rebounds – seven on the defensive glass – and five blocked shots. She also had two steals and three assists.

Salazar led McMurry with 10 points on a 4-of-9 shooting night from the floor. Sophomore guard Sierra Maykus chipped in eight points and Dominguez added six. Dominguez also had two blocks and four boards.

Junior guard Katlyn Tarbet made her second-consecutive start and tallied six points, as well. Adijatu Disu and Tineka Lawson each had four points to round out McMurry's scoring.