Bronchos Ready For MIAA Quarterfinals

3/5/2014 10:59:00 AM

Britney Morgan

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BRONCHOS TO KC
Central Oklahoma makes its first-ever appearance in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Post-season Tournament quarterfinals Thursday when the Bronchos take on Emporia State.

Game-time at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. is 6 p.m.

Tenth-seeded UCO is 12-15 on the season, while the second-seeded and No. 7-ranked Hornets are 25-3.

The Bronchos advanced to the quarterfinals with an 85-79 road upset of seventh-seeded Lindenwood Monday night in St. Charles, Mo. ESU received a first-round bye.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Other quarterfinal games Thursday have ninth-seed Northeastern State (11-16) playing top-seed and No. 8-rated Central Missouri (23-3) at 12 p.m., fifth-seeded Fort Hays State (20-7) going against No. 4-seed Missouri Southern (19-7) at 2:15 and 11^th-seeded Southwest Baptist (12-15) meeting third-seeded Pittsburg State (23-6) at 8:15 p.m.

Saturday's semifinals will pit the NSU/UCM winner against the FHSU/MSSU winner at 12 p.m., with the UCO/ESU and SBU/PSU winners meeting at 2:15 p.m.

The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, with the tournament winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II national tournament.

UCO vs. ESU
Emporia State has a 12-4 series lead over the Bronchos and has won the last four meetings. The Hornets swept the regular season home-and-home series, winning 73-50 on Jan. 26 in Emporia and 66-45 on Feb. 15 in Edmond.

FIRST-ROUND RECAP
UCO won its first-ever MIAA Post-season Tournament game Monday with an 85-79 road victory over Lindenwood. The Bronchos didn't qualify for the league tournament last year in their first year in the MIAA.

Sophomore Julia Mason scored a career-high 28 points against the Lady Lions, making 10-of-14 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws while adding six rebounds. UCO also got 16 points and six rebounds from senior Jill Bryan and 14 points from senior Britney Morgan.

The Bronchos committed just eight turnovers in the game, their second-fewest of the season.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS
• UCO's Monday win over Lindenwood ended a seven-game road losing streak this season.

• The Bronchos are 2-1 in neutral-site games this year.

• UCO is making 6.7 3-pointers per game. The Bronchos have made 10-plus treys five times, with a high of 12 in an 81-63 home win over Missouri Western on Dec. 21.

• Senior Jill Bryan tops the team in scoring with a 13.3 average while adding 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals a game. She's had four games with 20-plus points.

• Jill Bryan ranks 11^th in career scoring at UCO with 998 points, needing just two more to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

• Senior Britney Morgan has averaged 15.0 points over the past four games, having made 11 3-pointers in that stretch. She's averaging 10.2 points, 2.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds a game.

• Morgan has moved into 14^th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 962 points. She's also in the top five in three other career categories at UCO – fourth in 3-pointers made (156), fourth in 3-pointers attempted (428) and tied for fifth in assists (305).

• Freshman Marley Anderson made her fourth start of the season in the Lindenwood win and finished with season highs for rebounds (eight), steals (four) and assists (three) while adding nine points and making no turnovers in 27 minutes.

• Sophomore Julia Mason had her best game of the season against Lindenwood with 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 shooting from the line. She's averaging 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds a game.

• Freshman Olivia Mason continues to lead the Bronchos in rebounding with 6.9 a contest. She's had seven double-digit rebounding games this season and adds 8.7 points a contest.

ABOUT EMPORIA STATE
• The Hornets had a seven-game winning streak stopped in their season finale with an 81-75 overtime road loss to Pittsburg State.

• ESU leads the MIAA in rebounding margin (+9.6) while ranking second in scoring margin (+15.1) and third in scoring (75.5).

• Laura Patrick tops the Hornets with a 14.3 scoring average and she leads the conference in 3-pointers per game (2.6). Merissa Quick adds 11.8 points and 2.7 blocked shots a game.

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