University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

Bronchos Calm Storm For Fourth Straight Win

11/20/2012 9:55:00 PM

Britney Morgan

Box Score

BETHANY, Okla. (Nov. 20) – Chelsi Dennis and Britney Morgan combined for 14 points in a 20-3 first-half run that propelled Central Oklahoma from a slim deficit to a big lead and the Bronchos went on to throttle Southern Nazarene 86-69 Tuesday night at the Sawyer Center.

UCO (4-1) committed a season-low 12 turnovers and won its fourth straight game after taking control behind its first-half surge.

Dennis scored eight of her 10 points and Morgan six of her team-high 15 during a nearly seven-minute stretch as the Bronchos went from trailing 19-17 to leading 37-22.

The lead grew to 18 (44-26) by intermission and UCO was up by as many as 30 in the second half before coasting in to prevail in the first meeting between the two teams since Jan. 20, 1987.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but we finally and then we had a good stretch the last 10 minutes of the half,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. “It was a little sloppy at the end, but we played really well and beat a good team tonight.”

Ten players scored in a balanced attack that saw the Bronchos get 34 points from their bench, with Morgan's 15 points leading five double figure scorers.

Savannah Hamilton hit four 3-pointers in a 14-point outing and Jill Bryan had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds while Dennis and McKenzie Solberg each had 10 off the bench.

The Bronchos trailed by as many as six early in the contest, but turned the game around when Whitney Dunn hit a layup at the 9:11 mark to pull UCO even at 19-all.

A Solberg jumper put the Bronchos on top for good and the lead continued to grow as Morgan and Dennis took over, with Dennis' 3-pointer at 2:38 capping the big run that made it 37-22.

Hamilton's trey with 16 seconds left in the half gave UCO its 18-point cushion at the break and she had another long-distance dagger with 8:38 left to put the Bronchos up by 30, 71-41.

SNU ended the game with a 28-15 run to arrange the final margin, but the outcome was never in doubt.

UCO will take an extended break, not returning to action until making its home debut on Saturday, Dec. 1 against Oklahoma Baptist.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories