EL CAJON, Calif. – The OUAZ women's basketball team made program history with a 69-64 win at San Diego Christian on Saturday afternoon to record the first-ever Golden State Athletic Conference win for the team.
 
Things didn't start promising for OUAZ (7-5, 1-4 GSAC) as they trailed 22-12 with 1:01 to play in the first quarter after San Diego Christian (6-11, 0-5) completed a 10-0 run. The deficit reached 11 early in the second quarter before the Spirit mounted a 19-6 spurt to take their first lead of the game in the final minute of the half.
 
The teams would counter runs in the third and give the lead back-and-forth until the game was level at 53-53 with under a minute left in the quarter. Jorie Mayfield hit a 3-pointer on the final possession of the quarter and then Celeste Lira added another to start the fourth and the Spirit had a 6-point cushion the never relinquished.
 
The Hawks would get within one on three separate occasions in the final quarter, including 65-64 with 21 second left before Bailey Osmer converted a pair of free throws and then after getting a defensive stop, Lira hit two free throws to seal the victory.
 
Mayfield led the Spirit with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and the one triple. She also made all three trips at the foul line while adding 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
 
OUAZ ended the game shooting 34.9 percent from the field with eight makes from beyond the arc. The shot a school-record 94.4 percent at the foul line – 17 of 18 – to go with 22 points in the paint and 21 points from the 15 forced turnovers.
 
Alexis Smith added 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for the Spirit. Lira scored 12 points and joined Smith with a pair of 3-pointers.
 
San Diego Christian shot 40.7 percent and had a 42-38 advantage on the boards. Hannah Myers led the Hawks with 18 points.
 
With the first half of a four-game road swing complete, OUAZ will look to build from its first conference win when they return to action on Thursday at Hope International.