Bronchos Advance To Sweet 16

3/12/2011 10:41:58 PM

Britney Morgan

Box Score

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (March 12) – Facing a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes to play against a team it had already lost to by double digits twice this season would be too big an obstacle to overcome for most teams.

Not for Ashley Beckley and her Central Oklahoma teammates.

Beckley scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the final 2:05 as the Bronchos stunned top-seeded and No. 11-ranked Northeastern State 68-60 here Saturday night in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.

UCO trailed 47-37 with 9:43 remaining and was down 54-47 with 5:03 left before ending the game on a devastating 21-6 run to rally past the host RiverHawks and move into Monday's finals.

The fifth-seeded Bronchos, who had lost by 15 and 18 points to NSU during the regular season, improved to 22-9 and will take on No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri at 7 p.m. Monday with a berth in the Elite Eight on the line.

It's the second Sweet 16 appearance in three years for UCO, which lost starting guard Courtney Allen in Friday's last-second first-round win over Washburn and had just eight players available against NSU.

"Our girls just refused to lose," head coach Guy Hardaker said. "They're a gutsy bunch and I'm really proud of how hard we played tonight. We pulled out a great win and we're excited about being in the finals."

UCO's chances looked dim when it trailed 54-47 at the 5:03 mark, but Richardson scored five straight points to get the Bronchos close and Alyssa Fuxa tied it at 56-all with 3:07 to play to ignite a game-deciding 12-0 run.

Beckley broke the deadlock with a layup at 2:05 and she went inside for another score at 1:11 to make it 60-56. The senior star and Heather Davis then made back-to-back steals that led to each making two free throws and UCO was up 64-56 with 40 seconds left.

Beckley ended the run when she was fouled after rebounding an NSU miss and made both foul shots to up the lead to 66-56 at 0:30.

The RiverHawks scored four quick points to get within 66-60 at 0:12 and forced another turnover, but Beckley pulled down another NSU miss and made two more free throws with 11 seconds remaining to cap off the dramatic upset.

Beckley was 7-of-14 from the field and 8-of-12 from the line in her 22-point outing while also finishing with a game-best 12 rebounds.

Richardson made 7-of-11 shots and all five free throw tries in adding 19 points and 10 boards, while Davis went 4-of-4 from the line in finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Britney Morgan chipped in seven points, five rebounds and five assists.

UCO led by as many as six (17-11) in the first half, but the RiverHawks came back to take a 27-25 lead by intermission and pushed the advantage to 10 at 47-37 with 9:43 left before the Bronchos started their comeback.

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