University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

Gorillas Down UCO

2/23/2013 3:59:00 PM

Hayley Bryan

Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 23) – Central Oklahoma fell behind early in the second half and never regained the lead in dropping a 79-68 decision to Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association rival Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos led 41-40 at halftime on Savannah Hamilton's buzzer-beating 3-pointer and answered a PSU bucket early in the second half for a 43-42 lead before the Gorillas scored four straight points to move in front for good.

UCO trimmed a 13-point deficit to seven in the final minutes, but the Bronchos then missed seven shots in a row and Pitt State pulled away.

The Gorillas improved to 16-7 overall and 10-5 in the conference, while UCO fell to 9-14 and 2-13.

Jill Bryan led the Bronchos with 18 points, while Hamilton ended with 12. UCO shot just 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field and was outrebounded by the taller, more physical Gorillas 49-33.

The first half was close throughout, with the Bronchos falling behind by five points early before coming back to take a series of three-point leads, the final one at 17-14 on two Bryan free throws. It was tied at 19, 21 and 23 before PSU went on a 6-0 run to go ahead 29-23 at the 7:46 mark.

Three-pointers by Jill and Hayley Bryan and two Jill Bryan free throws keyed an 8-2 spurt that pulled UCO even at 31 with 4:00 left in the half. The Gorillas had a 40-36 advantage with 56 seconds remaining, but Hamilton hit a layup at 0:49 and a 3-pointer at 0:01 to give the Bronchos their 41-40 halftime advantage.

Jill Bryan answered a PSU bucket to open the second half for UCO's last lead at 43-42.

The Bronchos go on the road to Missouri Southern for a 5:30 p.m. contest.

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