Game Statistics
DENTON, Texas (Feb. 3) -- Savannah Hamilton's remarkable buzzer-beating 3-pointer forced overtime and Jordan Stark scored Central Oklahoma's final five points in the second extra session as the Bronchos pulled out an amazing 96-93 victory over Texas Woman's here Wednesday night.
Hamilton let loose with her game-tying trey as time expired and it hit nothing but net to tie the game at 78-all, with the Pioneers scoring with 3.3 seconds left in the first OT to send the game into another five-minute period.
The Bronchos finally prevailed in the second extra session on Stark's late scoring, but the win wasn't secure until TWU's Kayla Weaver missed two 3-point tries in the final three seconds.
It was the fifth straight win for UCO and the second consecutive three-point nail-biter in a Lone Star Conference North Division showdown. The Bronchos improved to 15-5 overall and 6-1 in the league, while TWU fell to 11-8 and 5-2.
“What a great game,” said UCO coach Guy Hardaker, whose team hosts the Pioneers Saturday at 2 p.m. “Savannah hit an unbelievable shot to give us another chance and we just gutted that one out. I'm so proud of our girls and how hard they played because they just refused to lose.”
The Bronchos trailed 92-91 midway through the second overtime, but Stark hit one of two free throws at 2:15 to tie and another at 2:05 to give UCO a 93-92 lead. TWU made one charity toss at 1:53 to arrange a 93-93 tie and the Pioneers didn't score again.
Stark rebounded a TWU miss and was fouled with 23.7 seconds left, making both foul shots to give the Bronchos a 95-93 lead. The Pioneers turned the ball over at 0:10 and Stark made one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining to make it 96-93 and UCO held on.
The Bronchos were plagued by foul trouble throughout the game, with senior point guard Cristina Yarbrough playing only 20 minutes -- three in the second half -- before fouling out. Rose Anderson was disqualified in the first OT and three other players ended the game with four fouls.
Beckley, who sat out most of the second half after taking a hard hit to the head late in the opening half, finished with a team-high 22 points while Stark ended with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. UCO also got 15 points and seven rebounds from Alyssa Fuxa, 13 points from Hamilton and 11 points, eight assists and four steals from Brianne Grisham, who played 44 minutes.
The Bronchos extended a six-point (43-37) halftime lead to an eight-point advantage at 50-42 three minutes into the second half on Anderson's three-point play and it was still a five-point game (55-50) when Beckley made one of two free throws at the 12:36 mark.
TUW answered with a 13-7 spurt to take a 63-62 lead and the Pioneers pushed that to 69-63 with 5:55 remaining before UCO rallied. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Anderson and Stark tied it at 69 at 4:28 and it was deadlocked again at 75 after a Fuxa layup with 1:21 to play.
TWU made one free throw at 1:02 and followed a UCO turnover with two more foul shots at 11.9 to take the 78-75 lead that appeared would hold up after Stark missed a 3-pointer, but the ball went out of bounds to the Bronchos at with .7 left.
Anderson inbounded to Hamilton, who drained the 28-foot rainbow as the final horn sounded.
The Bronchos trailed 82-81 in the first OT, but got a pair of layups from Beckley and two free throws apiece from Grisham and Stark in an 8-3 run that gave UCO an 89-85 lead with just 1:04 remaining.
But a turnover and two missed free throws enabled TWU to rally and the Pioneers forced the second extra session on Tiandrea Dixon's bucket with 3.3 seconds left.
UCO outscored the Pioneers 11-0 the last 3:27 of the half to turn a 37-32 deficit into a 43-37 lead at the break.
Beckley started the run with a tough layup in traffic, Fuxa followed a turnover with two free throws and Grisham made one of two foul shots after another TWU miscue to tie it 37-all with 2:26 remaining.
The Bronchos went ahead 30 seconds later on Fuxa's eight-foot baseline jumper and Traci Murphree had two layups in the final 45 seconds to up the lead to 43-37, the final one coming off a nifty Anderson pass with 2.2 seconds left.
UCO overcame an early 6-2 hole to take an 11-10 lead on a Grisham 3-pointer from the top of the key, but the Pioneers scored five straight points to go ahead 15-11 and led the rest of the half until the Bronchos' late surge.
