Upset Bid Falls Short

2/22/2012 8:18:00 PM

Courtney Harper

Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 22) -- A spirited last-ditch rally fell short and Central Oklahoma ended the 2011-12 season with a tough 68-64 loss to No. 9-ranked Northeastern State Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos trailed by 63-51 with just 3:46 left to play before using a 9-0 run to trim that 12-point deficit to 63-60 with 1:12 remaining, but the RiverHawks held on to win for the third time in four meetings between the two rivals this season.

UCO, which lost seven players to season-ending injury during the year, finished 16-10. NSU improved to 23-3.

"I'm really proud of the way our girls battled, not just tonight but the whole season," UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. "We had some things go against us this year, but these girls never complained and just kept working hard. They went out and competed hard tonight, just like they have every game, and we came up a little bit short."

Savannah Hamilton led the Bronchos, hitting 6-of-11 shots with four 3-pointers in a 17-point outing. Courtney Harper had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Jill Bryan added 12 points and Chelsea Robinson 10 points, three assists and three steals.

UCO jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on back-to-back layups by Bryan and Heather Davis and it became an eight-point advantage at 15-7 following a steal and fast-break layup by Chelsi Dennis almost nine minutes into the contest. The RiverHawks responded emphatically, reeling off 16 unanswered points to move in front 23-15 with 5:03 left in the half.

The Bronchos battled back with a 9-1 run of its own to pull even at 24-all on a Hamilton 3-pointer from the top of the key at 3:15, but NSU retaliated with a 12-2 spurt to go ahead 36-26 before Rachel New hit a long-range 3-pointer with two seconds left to pull UCO within seven (36-29) at intermission.

Hamilton and Bryan hit consecutive 3-pointers to knot the game 45-45 with 14:21 left to play, but the Bronchos could never regain the lead and NSU started to pull away. The RiverHawks opened their biggest lead at 62-48 with 7:06 left and were still up 12 at 63-51 before UCO started its late rally.

Robinson scored six points and Hamilton added a 3-pointer in the 9-0 run that pulled the Bronchos within 63-60 at the 1:12 mark and the game was still within range after Robinson's layup at 0:34 made it 66-62. But UCO couldn't come up with a turnover and NSU iced the game with two free throws at 0:23.

It was the final game for three UCO seniors -- Davis, Courtney Allen and Kasey Tweed, though Allen and Tweed had their seasons cut short by injury.

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