UCO Routs Bearcats

1/21/2012 4:52:00 PM

Courtney Harper

Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. (Jan. 21) – A dominating inside attack paved the way for Central Oklahoma's 90-63 drubbing of McKendree here Saturday afternoon, but it didn't come without a price.

The injury-ravaged Bronchos suffered yet another setback late in the first half when sophomore point guard Britney Morgan went down with what is thought to be a torn ACL, which would make her the seventh player to be lost to injury. Morgan, who has started all 51 games of her UCO career, had six points and two assists before going out.

Guy Hardaker's team lost three players -- Courtney Allen (knee), Alyssa Fuxa (hip) and Tarrington Oakes (knee) – before the season even started and since then has seen Kasey Tweed (knee), Alex Richardson (back), Paiten Taylor (knee) and now Morgan suffer season-ending injuries.

“It's another punch in the gut,” Hardaker said of Morgan's injury. “I can't even begin to explain it, but it's heartbreaking for those players and our team. Every time we've lost somebody we've had to change how we do things and I've been really proud of the way we've continued to compete.

“We came out today and played well from the start. Losing Britney was certainly a shock and we just had to go on. Somebody else is going to have to step up and I know this team will continue to fight.”

Savannah Hamilton and Courtney Harper keyed Saturday's rout, combining to make 19-of-25 shots and score 46 points as the Bronchos won their second straight road game in improving to 12-7.

Hamilton was 10-of-12 from the field with three 3-pointers and 2-of-2 from the line in a 25-point outing while adding 10 rebounds and five assists. Harper made 9-of-13 shots with one trey and was 2-of-3 from the charity stripe in finishing with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

UCO also got 15 points and five assists from Heather Davis.

The Bronchos shot a sizzling 68.3 percent from inside the 3-point line, hitting 28-of-41 two-point attempts while making 9-of-27 long-range tries (33.3 percent). UCO committed just 12 turnovers, including only three in the first half.

Harper gave the Bronchos a lead it would never relinquish with a layup just 13 seconds into the game and UCO was up 11-4 after four minutes following a pair of Hamilton free throws.

McKendree was within four at 26-22 at the 6:18 mark, but the Bronchos broke the game open by ending the half with a 21-7 run to seize a commanding 47-29 lead at the break. Morgan scored six points during that spurt before suffering her injury.

UCO opened the second half with consecutive buckets by Davis and Hamilton to push the lead to 22 (51-39) and the Bearcats never got closer than 20 the rest of the way.

The Bronchos finish up a brutal nine-game road-swing next Wednesday at Arkansas-Fort Smith and then plays five of their last six games at home, starting with a Jan. 28 contest against Northeastern State.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories