Box Score
EDMOND (Jan. 10) -- Angelo State made eight clutch free throws in the final minute to thwart a frantic Central Oklahoma rally and hand the No. 14-ranked Bronchos an 82-75 setback Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
UCO cut a 15-point second-half deficit to one on two occasions in the final minutes, but the Rambelles stayed in front with their clutch foul shooting and then finally sealed the Lone Star Conference crossover upset from the line.
It was the second loss in three games for the Bronchos, who committed a season-high 29 turnovers in falling to 10-3 on the season. ASU improved to 9-6 despite getting outrebounded 43-25.
"It was just an ugly game for us and we didn't deserve to win," UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. "We were careless with the ball the entire game and it cost us. I was proud of the way we battled to get back in the game, but we can't keep turning the ball over like that and expect to beat good teams."
All 10 players had at least one turnover for the Bronchos, who made 15 miscues in falling behind 44-36 at halftime before committing 14 more in the final 20 minutes.
Ashley Beckley led UCO with 17 points, while Lizzie Brenner had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Rose Anderson 12 points.
The Bronchos trailed by at at 67-52 with 9:47 remaining and was still down 12 (74-62) at the 3:37 mark before beginning a last-ditch comeback that almost paid off.
Beckley started an 11-0 run with a free throw and UCO got a layup from Kasey Tweed and a three-point play from Brenner in pulling within 74-68 with 2:40 left. The Bronchos cut it 74-70 at 1:45 with a Mallory Markus layup and followed an ASU miss with a Cristina Yarbrough 3-pointer that made it 74-73 with 1:15 to play.
Camille Perkins made two free throws at 1:05 to up ASU's lead to 76-73, but UCO got within one again on a fastbreak layup by Krista Beaty off a Yarbrough assist at 0:58. Perkins came back with two more foul shots at 0:48 and she followed a UCO turnover with two more charity tosses at 0:27 to up the Rambelles' lead to 80-75.
The Bronchos missed two 3-point attempts on their next possession and Paige Weishuhn ended the scoring with two more free throws at 0:06.
UCO jumped out to a 5-0 lead barely a minute into the game on an Anderson trey and two Beckley free throws, but ASU came back with a 12-2 run to seize a 12-7 lead and eventually extended it to eight (44-36) at intermission.
The Bronchos open LSC North Division play Wednesday, hosting Texas A&M-Commerce at 6 p.m.
