Bronchos Post-erize SOSU

1/22/2011 8:06:48 PM

Britney Morgan

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 22) -- Ashley Beckley spearheaded a dominating inside attack that carried streaking Central Oklahoma to an 83-66 Lone Star Conference North Division beat-down of Southeastern Oklahoma Saturday night at Hamilton Field House.

Beckley, Kylie Mayes and Alex Richardson combined for 53 points as the Bronchos constantly found success pounding the ball down low, especially in the final 20 minutes. That trio scored 35 second-half points while making 12-of-18 shots and 11-of-16 free throws and UCO ended up with a 38-14 scoring edge in the paint.

Beckley had perhaps the best overall game of her stellar four-year career, pouring in 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field -- after missing five of her first six shots -- and a 12-of-15 effort from the line. She added a career-high nine assists, nine rebounds and five steals, which tied her career best.

Mayes hit her last four shots of the game and scored 12 of her 14 points in the final half and Richardson had nine of her 13 points after halftime. The Bronchos also got 15 points from Britney Morgan.

It was the fifth straight win for UCO, which improved to 11-5 on the year and 4-0 in the North Division. The Savage Storm dropped to 11-5 and 1-3.

"Our post players did a great job and made a lot of shots in the second half," coach Guy Hardaker said. "We did a good job defensively in creating some turnovers and forcing them into some bad shots and beat a really good team."

UCO trailed 34-31 at halftime, but outscored the Savage Storm 52-32 in the final 20 minutes to win going away. The Bronchos shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field in the second half while limiting SOSU to 25.0 percent shooting (6-of-24).

Mayes and Beckley keyed the game-decided run that put UCO in control, combining for 18 points in a 22-5 spurt that turned a 51-49 deficit with 10:30 left to play into a big 71-56 lead five minutes later.

Beckley started things with a layup that tied the game and she came up with a steal seconds later that led to two Mayes free throws that put the Bronchos in front to stay. Beckley's three-point play pushed the lead to 56-51 and back-to-back layups by Mayes had UCO on top 60-52 with 8:51 remaining.

SOSU was still within six at 62-56 when the Bronchos reeled off nine unanswered points to finish the five-minute flurry that was capped when Beckley found Heather Davis open in the corner for a wide-open 3-pointer that made it 71-56 at the 5:02 mark.

The lead peaked at 20 (77-57) at 3:24 on a Morgan trey and the Bronchos were home free.

UCO got off to a slow start, missing its first five shots from the field in falling behind 8-2 and the Savage Storm led by as many as nine (18-9) before the Bronchos stormed back with a 12-2 run to take a 21-20 lead on a Morgan 3-pointer.

It was close the rest of the half before SOSU moved in front 34-31 at intermission.

The Bronchos resume North Division play Wednesday at Texas Woman's.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories