Senior Sendoff

2/24/2010 9:05:57 PM

Cristina Yarbrough

Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 24) -- A 21-4 run to end the first half put Central Oklahoma in cruise control and the Bronchos celebrated Senior Night with a 96-46 Lone Star Conference North Division blowout of East Central Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.

Four seniors played their final home game for UCO, which raced to a 45-19 halftime lead and continued to pull away throughout the second half in posting the fourth-largest margin of victory in school history with the 50-point rout.

The Bronchos tied a school record by reaching the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season in improving to 20-6 overall and 11-2 in the LSC North with their 10th win in 11 outings. UCO, which clinched a runner-up finish in the league with Southeastern Oklahoma's 65-63 loss to Texas Woman's Wednesday, ends the regular season at SOSU Saturday night.

"We were kind of sluggish to start, but then our defense really got us going and led to a lot of easy baskets," head coach Guy Hardaker said. "It was a great way for our seniors to go out at home and now we have to get ready for a tough game Saturday at Southeastern."

The Bronchos overcame 21 turnovers by shooting 53.6 percent (37-of-69) from the field, including a solid 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from 3-point range. UCO limited the Tigers to just 22.5-percent (16-of-71) shooting, pulled down a season-high 55 rebounds in winning the battle of the boards 55-34 and had five players score in double figures.

Senior Cristina Yarbrough ended her home career with a flourish, scoring a game-high 16 points while adding eight assists and five steals. UCO's other three seniors also had strong outings as Rose Anderson finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, Brianne Grisham with eight points and a career-high nine rebounds and Traci Murphree with seven points.

Ashley Beckley (14 points), Jill Bryan (10) and Jordan Stark (10) also scored in double figures for the Bronchos.

The game was close in the early going, with four lead changes and two ties in the opening five minutes. UCO went on top to stay at 14-12 on a Grisham layup and it was a nine-point advantage at 24-15 midway through the half when the Bronchos broke the game open.

Anderson's 3-pointer from the top of the key started the 21-4 spurt that ended the half, with Kasey Tweed, Stark and Murphree also hitting from long range down the stretch as the Bronchos pushed their lead to 26 (45-19) by intermission.

UCO then scored the first 12 points of the second half to open up a huge 57-19 bulge, getting treys from Anderson, Grisham and Yarbrough and a three-point play from Alyssa Fuxa. ECU got no closer than 32 after that and the Bronchos coasted in with their sixth straight home win.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories