Box Score
EDMOND (Feb. 22) – Central Oklahoma honored its three seniors prior to the final home game against Northeastern State and all three played a significant role in leading the Bronchos to a 69-65 victory Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
Senior Jill Bryan led the Bronchos in scoring with 22 points and iced the game with a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining, while classmates Britney Morgan and Rachel New displayed their ball-handling skills as the Bronchos had a season-low four turnovers.
Morgan finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals and New contributed seven points, four assists and a steal.
UCO snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win, improving to 11-13 on the season and 6-11 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play while avenging a two-point loss to the RiverHawks 16 days ago.
"Our seniors really gave us a lift today and that was great to see," head coach Guy Hardaker said. "All three of them have meant a lot to our program over the last five years and they gave us the spark we needed."
UCO also got 12 points and eight rebounds from Julia Mason, while Oliva Mason chipped in 10 rebounds and five points.
The Bronchos led the final 35 minutes of the game, but had to fend off a furious NSU rally.
UCO built a 15-point halftime lead (36-21) behind Bryan's 12 points and scored the opening bucket of the second half to make it a 17-point cushion at 38-21.
The Riverhawks rallied and used a 14-2 run to cut the lead to five (40-35) on a 3-pointer by Fontana Tate with 12:36 remaining, but the Bronchos responded with a 10-5 spurt to make it 50-40 at the 8:42 mark.
NSU went 8-for-15 from behind the arc in the second half and Tate hit one of her six treys to cut UCO's lead to three at 60-57 with just over two minutes remaining.
Missed free throws and turnovers had haunted the Bronchos in previous losses, but that's what won the game this time. UCO went 15-for-19 from the foul line, making 7-for-8 clutch free throws in the final minute to keep the RiverHawks at bay.
The Bronchos finish the regular season on the road, traveling to Fort Hays State Wednesday before finishing at Nebraska-Kearney Friday.
