Inside Attack Carries UCO Past Tigers

2/19/2011 4:11:29 PM

Ashley Beckley

Box Score

ADA, Okla. (Feb. 19) – Central Oklahoma used an overwhelming advantage in the post to counter East Central's outside attack and claim an 83-72 Lone Star Conference North Division victory here Saturday afternoon.

Nineteen of UCO's 29 made shots were layups – including 13 in the second half -- as the Bronchos shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field while also outrebounding the Tigers 47-32. ECU, meanwhile, connected on 11-of-33 shots from outside the 3-point arc.

UCO, the highest-scoring team in the league with a 75.8 average, eclipsed the 80-point barrier for the 10th time in winning its third straight and improving to 16-7 on the year. The Bronchos also moved into a tie for the LSC North lead at 9-2, thanks to Northeastern State's 56-46 loss to Texas Woman's.

Those two teams square off Monday in Edmond, with tip-off set for 6 p.m.

“We did a good job of getting the ball to our post players and also got some easy buckets in transition,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. “East Central is a dangerous team with their ability to shoot the three, but I thought we did a pretty decent job on them and we got out of here with a good win.”

Senior star Ashley Beckley once again led the Bronchos, hitting 10-of-15 shots and all eight free throw tries in finishing with 28 points while adding 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Courtney Allen had another stellar performance with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, making four 3-pointers. UCO also got 15 points from Britney Morgan, who played all 40 minutes, and Alex Richardson added 10 points, six boards and two blocked shots.

ECU used a late run to get within 38-37 at halftime and it was tied 44-all three minutes into the second half. Allen answered with a trey from the wing that put the Bronchos on top to stay, with a Morgan 3-pointer and four straight Beckley points pushing the lead to 54-46.

The cushion grew to 12 (61-49) with 12:22 left to play on Alyssa Fuxa's fast-break layup, but the Tigers stayed within striking range and then hit three straight long-range shots to pull within 72-67 at the 4:33 mark.

UCO put the game away with a 7-0 spurt, getting another 3-pointer from Allen and back-to-back layups from Richardson and Beckley to make it 79-67 with 2:45 remaining and the Bronchos coasted in from there.

The Tigers used two early 3-pointers and a three-point play to grab an 11-7 lead four minutes into the contest, but UCO responded with 11 unanswered points to move ahead 18-11. Allen scored five points in an 11-second span and Beckley added four to key that surge.

It was close again at 23-20 when the Bronchos went on a 9-0 run to take its largest first-half lead at 32-20 with 6:40 remaining. Beckley had five points in that spurt and Morgan ended it when she stole an inbounds pass and made the layup.

UCO's lead was still in double digits at 36-25 when Morgan made a pair of foul shots at the 4:25 mark before ECU went on a 12-2 run to pull within 38-37 at intermission. The Bronchos missed four free throws and had five turnovers during that stretch and ECU's Casi Rawls drained a 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a one-point game.

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