Late Surge Lifts Bronchos

1/12/2011 8:52:35 PM

Ashley Beckley

Box Score

WEATHERFORD, Okla. (Jan. 12) -- Britney Morgan nailed a long 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to break a 68-all tie and ignite a game-closing 8-0 run that lifted Central Oklahoma to a 76-68 triumph over Southwestern Oklahoma here Wednesday night.

The Bronchos made 5-of-6 free throws after Morgan's tie-breaking trey, with the freshman guard scoring five of her career-high 19 points down the stretch as the Bronchos prevailed in the Lone Star Conference North Division opener for both teams.

UCO won its eighth straight game over the Bulldogs in improving to 8-5 on the year while dropping SWOSU to 8-5. The Bronchos return home Saturday to host Cameron at 5 p.m.

“Britney hit a big-time shot for us and we got out of here with a great win,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. “We played really well at times and made some huge plays at the end.”

No play was bigger than Morgan's rainbow 3-pointer that put the Bronchos in front to stay, with the rookie hitting the wide-open shot from 22 feet after taking a pass from Tarrington Oakes.

Heather Davis got the ball right back for UCO when she stole the inbounds pass and Ashley Beckley was fouled with 36 seconds left. Beckley made both foul shots to up the lead to 73-68 and then rebounded an SWOSU miss.

Morgan canned two free throws after being fouled at 0:21 to make it 75-68 and Oakes hit one of two charity tosses with 10 seconds left after rebounding another SWOSU miss to arrange the final score.

Morgan was 7-of-14 from the field with three treys in her 19-point outing while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals and she was one of four players in double figures.

The Bronchos also got 16 points and nine rebounds from Beckley, 15 points and five boards from Alyssa Fuxa and 12 points and five assists from Courtney Allen.

UCO led 36-31 at halftime after bolting to an early 17-4 lead and built that back to a 10-point advantage at 47-37 on Beckley's short jumper with 16:23 left to play.

The Bulldogs scored seven straight points to get within 47-44 and it was close the rest of the way. SWOSU took its first lead of the game at 66-64 with 3:36 remaining and tied it 68-all with 1:50 to play to set the stage for Morgan's heroics.

The Bronchos sprinted to a 17-4 lead just 4:17 into the contest with a run-and-gun attack that feasted on SWOSU misses.

Beckley had six points in the early surge that saw UCO make 7-of-8 shots, including 3-pointers by Allen, Fuxa and Morgan. Morgan's trey from the corner ended the opening outburst at the 15:43 mark.

The Bronchos promptly turned the ball over on four straight possessions and missed six of their next seven shots as SWOSU crawled back into the contest, pulling within 25-20 with 6:27 left in the half.

Another dry spell during which UCO missed four shots and had three turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to get even at 26-all with 1:53 remaining, but the Bronchos responded with an 8-0 run.

Morgan keyed that spurt with a 3-pointer and a driving layup after a steal as UCO went ahead 34-26 at 1:39 and it was 36-28 before SWOSU hit a last-second 3-pointer to get within 36-31 at intermission.

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