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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jordan Ward
63
Winner Emporia State ESU 16-1, 9-1 MIAA
53
Central Oklahoma UCO 13-7, 6-5 MIAA
Winner
Emporia State ESU
16-1, 9-1 MIAA
63
Final
53
Central Oklahoma UCO
13-7, 6-5 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Emporia State ESU 32 31 63
Central Oklahoma UCO 27 26 53

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

No. 2 Hornets Thwart UCO Upset Bid

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 24) – Another poor shooting game sidetracked Central Oklahoma's gallant upset bid Saturday as the Bronchos fell to No. 2-ranked Emporia State 63-53.
 
UCO led briefly midway through the second half before a long scoring drought enabled Emporia to move in front for good and the Bronchos never recovered in losing their fourth straight Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association game.
 
The Hornets improved to 16-1 on the season and 9-1 in the league, while UCO dropped to 13-7 and 6-5.
 
"I was proud of our effort and thought we fought hard, but we just continue to miss shots that we should be making," head coach Guy Hardaker said.  "We had a chance to beat one of the best teams in the country today and it's disappointing we didn't get it done."
 
The Bronchos, who shot a season-low 24.2 percent in Thursday's five-point loss to Washburn, wasn't much better against ESU.
 
UCO made just 17-of-56 shots (30.4 percent), including only 1-of-13 attempts from 3-point range.  The Bronchos went 3-of-42 (7.1 percent) from beyond the arc in its losses to WU and ESU.
 
Central still nearly pulled off the upset, using a 13-2 second-half run to turn a 37-27 deficit into a 42-39 lead.
 
Olivia Mason started that surge with a 15-foot jumper, Marley Anderson added two free throws and O. Mason made UCO's only 3-pointer of the game to get the Bronchos within 37-34.
 
Chelsea Robinson's layup made it 37-36 and Anderson answered an ESU bucket with a driving layup before she fed Ashley Stephens for a short jumper that gave UCO its first lead at 40-39.
 
Anderson then came up with a steal and added two free throws to make it 42-39 with 12:03 left to play in completing the big turnaround.
 
The Bronchos still had a 44-43 lead at 10:35 after Stephens' layup, but UCO didn't score for six minutes – missing seven straight shots and committing three turnovers -- as the Hornets went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good at 55-44.
 
Central rallied again with seven unanswered points to pull within 55-51 on two Kylie Mayes free throws with 1:21 left, but ESU made 8-of-10 foul shots the rest of the way to close it out.
 
Mayes led the way with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Anderson supplied 10 points, four rebounds and two steals off the bench.
 
Mayes scored UCO's first eight points to keep the game tied early, but the Hornets went on to lead by as many as 10 in the first half before the Bronchos got within 32-27 by intermission.
 
UCO returns to conference play Thursday, traveling to Pittsburg, Kan. to take on No. 4 Pittsburg State.
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