Oklahoma City wins NAIA women’s title

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Yvonte Neal scored 36 points, including the winning field goal and two clinching free throws in the final 20 seconds, and Oklahoma City University beat Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 80-76 on Tuesday night for its seventh NAIA championship.

Tournament MVP Kayla MacKenzie added 21 points for Oklahoma City, which advanced to the final by defeating John Brown University 67-65 on Monday night. She went 5 for 9 from three-point range.

The Stars (27-4) led 61-47 midway through the second half before Freed-Hardeman (36-2) rallied to take a 70-69 lead with two minutes remaining. Neal had a three-point play with 1:39 left and hit the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds to go.

Brittany Montgomery and Taleeah Cross scored 21 points each for Freed-Hardeman, which made its first title-game appearance. Hayley Newby had 14 points and eight rebounds, but her potential tying shot in the final 10 seconds was off.

Neal went on to clinch the victory for OCU at the free-throw line.

Sports, Pages 23 on 03/26/2014

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