Box Score
EDMOND (Feb. 17) -- Senior star Lizzie Brenner scored 26 of her career-high 33 points in the second half and No. 17-ranked Central Oklahoma led wire-to-wire in a 103-84 Lone Star Conference North Division thumping of Texas Woman's Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.
The Bronchos jumped to an early 8-0 lead and never trailed in the contest, turning back TWU at every turn with pressure defense and a high-octane attack that resulted in UCO's fourth 100-point game of the season.
Brenner had seven points in the first half while playing just eight minutes because of foul trouble, but ended up hitting 11-of-18 shots and 11-of-13 free throws in her 33-point outing that ranks as the third-best in school history. She added seven rebounds and two steals, but had plenty of help as the Bronchos improved to 20-4 -- their second straight 20-win season and just the fifth in school history -- and an LSC North-leading 10-1.
Mallory Markus finished with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds and Cristina Yarbrough had 12 points, nine assists and six steals, while Krista Beaty chipped in 12 points and five boards and Kasey Tweed 10 points. Rose Anderson added eight points, seven assists and six steals.
"That was a good win for us," UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. "We got off to a great start and then got into some foul trouble, but we had some girls come off the bench and do what we needed them to do. Our defense forced a lot of turnovers and we were able to get some easy buckets in transition."
The Bronchos scored 21 fast-break points and had 30 points off TWU turnovers en route to shooting 51.4 percent (37-of-72) from the field despite missing a dozen layups. UCO also shot 82.8 percent (24-of-29) from the line in the foul-plagued contest and forced the Pioneers into a season-high 26 turnovers, coming up with 17 steals.
Renee Renz scored 30 points for TWU, setting Hamilton Field House records for free throws made (18) and attempted (19) as the Pioneers hit 38-of-43 foul shots. The two teams combined for 49 fouls and 72 free throws.
The Bronchos forced three turnovers in the opening three minutes of the game to grab a quick 8-0 lead as four different players scored and it was already a 10-point cushion at 15-5 on a Beaty layup six minutes in.
UCO stayed comfortably in front and built the lead to 16 (37-21) on two Courtney Allen free throws with 6:07 left in the half and it was still a 14-point advantage at 47-33 at the 2:04 mark after a Tweed 3-pointer before the Pioneers scored the last five points of the half to pull within 47-38 at intermission.
The Bronchos opened the second half with a 9-2 run to regain a 16-point lead and continued to answer every challenge TWU made. It became a 20-point bulge at 86-66 on Allen's conventional three-point play with 6:59 remaining and peaked at 103-74 on Brenner's final basket at 2:33, with the Pioneers scoring the game's final 10 points to arrange the final margin.
UCO continues its LSC North schedule schedule Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest at Cameron.
