Bronchos Knock Off No. 25 Midwestern

12/19/2012 9:27:00 PM

Rachel New

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EDMOND (Dec. 19) – Courtney Harper fueled a first-half scoring spurt that put Central Oklahoma in control and the Bronchos went on to throttle No. 25-ranked Midwestern State 72-53 Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.

It was the second upset in three outings for UCO, which knocked off No. 11 Pittsburg State on the road two weeks ago.

Harper scored seven points in a 16-2 run late in the first half that turned a 19-19 tie into a 35-21 UCO lead and the Bronchos turned back a second-half MSU rally before pulling away down the stretch in improving to 7-2 in just their second home game of the season.

“It was a real physical game and it was hard to get much going offensively, but it was a great win for us against a really good team,” head coach Guy Hardaker said. “We played well defensively and made enough shots to come out on top.”

UCO's hounding defense limited the Mustangs to 24.2-percent shooting (16-of-66) from the field -- including just 1-of-10 from 3-point range -- and the Bronchos forced 24 turnovers to help offset MSU's 54-40 advantage on the boards. The teams combined for 54 fouls, including 34 in the second half.

Alyssa Fuxa scored a game-high 18 points and added four assists to lead UCO, while Harper hit 5-of-8 shots with a pair of treys and 5-of-7 free throws in a 17-point, nine-rebound, two-block outing despite playing just 18 minutes because of foul trouble.

McKenzie Solberg added 10 points, seven boards and two blocked shots off the bench.

The game went back-and-forth most of the first half and was deadlocked at 19 with 4:55 left when Fuxa ignited UCO's decisive run with a layup. Back-to-back layups by Chelsi Dennis and Harper pushed the lead to 25-19 and it was 27-19 Whitney Dunn and Rachel New each hit one of two free throws.

MSU ended that 8-0 run with a pair of foul shots at the 2:25 mark and the Bronchos responded with another 8-0 spree, this one capped by a Harper layup and 3-pointer – both off New assists – in an 18-second span.

That upped UCO's lead to 35-21 with 1:33 left in the half and the Mustangs scored the final five points of the half to get within nine at 35-26 by the break.

The Bronchos stayed safely in front the first eight minutes of the second half before MSU rallied, finally pulling within five (53-48) with 9:48 left to play.

A free throw by Harper and two more by Dennis pushed the lead back to eight at 56-48 and the Mustangs got no closer than seven the rest of the way, with UCO scoring 10 straight points to break the game open.

The Bronchos don't return to action until hosting Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday, Dec. 29.

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