UCO Rallies Past Lions

1/8/2014 8:26:00 PM

Julia Mason

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 8) – Olivia Mason came up big in the final 20 seconds to cap a strong second half that sparked Central Oklahoma to a 62-60 come-from-behind victory over Missouri Southern Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.

The freshman forward made a steal near half-court with 20 seconds left and the Bronchos protecting a 60-59 lead, then swished two free throws after being fouled at 0:18 to make it 62-59.

The Lions were fouled on a 3-point shot with 2.9 seconds left, but Shawnee Phillips missed two of the three foul shots and Mason rebounded the final one to secure the upset.

Mason scored all eight of her points and pulled down nine of her game-high 11 rebounds in the second half as UCO rallied from a nine-point deficit. Jill Bryan led a balanced attack with 13 points, while Britney Morgan added 12 points and a season-high eight assists.

The Bronchos improved to 8-5 on the season and 3-3 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while MSSU dropped to 9-3 and 3-2.

"That was a big win for us," head coach Guy Hardaker said. "I got after the girls pretty good at halftime and they responded in the second half. We did a much better job rebounding and made some big plays on both ends of the court."

UCO outrebounded the taller Lions 22-15 in the second half and forced 15 turnovers to pull off the win despite shooting just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) in the final 20 minutes.

The Bronchos trailed 38-31 at intermission and MSSU scored the opening bucket of the second half to make it 40-31 before UCO started its rally.

Julia Mason drove inside for a layup to ignite an 11-1 run that Morgan ended with 3-pointer from the wing to put the Bronchos on top 42-41. The Lions scored five unanswered points to regain a 46-42 lead at the 13:52 mark, but UCO responded with a 9-0 spurt.

Bryan started it was a steal and fast-break layup, Olivia Mason tied it with a short jumper and Morgan put the Bronchos ahead with a free throw at 11:46. Haley Weathers made four straight foul shots to cap the run and give UCO a 51-46 advantage with 10:23 left.

The lead peaked at six (56-50) with 5:47 remaining, but the Lions came back to tie it at 57-all with 2:30 left.

Julia Mason broke that at 1:17 on a nifty back-door layup off a Morgan feed and it was tied again at 59 after a MSSU bucket at 0:54. Bryan snapped that tie by making one of two free throws with 45 seconds left to set up Olivia Mason's game-ending heroics.

The Bronchos continue a four-game homestand Saturday, hosting Southwest Baptist at 1:30 p.m.

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