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Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles erased a 12-point deficit over the final ten minutes and rallied to defeat the Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, 92-85. The River States Conference matchup was held Friday afternoon.

In the opening period, the hosts would take a quick lead as the two clubs traded hoops. Alice Lloyd would keep a slim 23-20 lead after ten minutes. In the second stanza, the Lady Oaks heated up as they pumped in 27 points on the strength of 4-5 long rang shooting. Despite the fact that Lady Eagle senior guard Haley Hall and center Alex Clifton both scored 10 points in the first half, the Indiana club would lead 47-45 at intermission.

As the third period began, the visitors would shoot even better as they bagged 5-6 long bombs. Their 28-point outburst enabled them to blow out to big 75-63 cushion entering the final period. In the closing ten minutes, the Pippa Passes club rallied. In the first 4:12, they would unleash a 14-4 spurt. When senior guard Ali May swished a 25-foot trifecta to force an OCU timeout, her club only trailed 79-77, with 5:48 to play. On the ensuing play, Lady Eagle Kenzie Maynard made a big block. The loose ball was grabbed by the Lady Eagles and eventually found its way in the hands of Clifton. Her three-pointer swished to give her squad their first lead of the second half (80-79). After another defensive stick, the senior made the home crowd even more estatic as she promptly repeated her action with another bomb. Suddenly, ALC led 83-79.

To their credit, the Lady Oaks regrouped to pull ahead, 85-84, with just 2:32 remaining. Fortunately, ALC senior guard Hannah Kash answered on a drive to the hoop to give the Caney Creek girls a lead (86-85) they would not relinquish again. The blue and white squad would then ice the game from the charity stripe to sew up the important win.

For Alice Lloyd (7-5; 2-2 RSC), balance was the key. Clifton and Hall led the way with 22 points apiece. Clifton drained 5-7 three pointers and swatted 5 shots. Hall added 7 assists. May was right behind with 18 points including 3-9 bombs. Kash and sophomore forward Madison Thompson both had 9 points and 3 steals. Thompson also yanked down 11 boards and added 4 blocks of her own.

ALC finished shooting 45.2% (33-73) from the field and 31.9% (9-29) from long range. They connected on 73.9% (17-23) from the charity line while adding 42 rebounds, 23 assists, 11 steals, and 12 blocks.

OCU (3-5; 2-2 RSC) was paced by Emilee Hope with 20 points. Her squad finished shooting 42.9% (30-70) from the field and 58.8% (10-17) from behind the arc. From the foul line, they finished 15-22 for 68.2%. They also added 42 rebounds, 18 assists, and 5 steals.

The Lady Eagles return to action next Saturday in a road-conference tilt in Owensboro (KY) against Brescia University. Tipoff is set for 4:00 pm (EST).