Box Score

Blake Blessington

Missouri Western MWSU 11-2, 3-1 MIAA

Central Oklahoma UCO 11-1, 3-1 MIAA

Missouri Western MWSU

11-2, 3-1 MIAA

Final

Dec. 31, 2016

Central Oklahoma UCO

11-1, 3-1 MIAA

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Missouri Western MWSU	16	16	16	19	67
Central Oklahoma UCO	14	11	12	20	57

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/31/2016 4:04:00 PM

Missouri Western Knocks Off No. 19 Bronchos

Next Game:

at Lincoln University

1/5/2017 | 5:30 p.m.

Next Game

Full Schedule

Jan. 05 (Thu) / 5:30 p.m.

at Lincoln University

Recap
Roster

EDMOND (Jan. 31) – Too many missed layups led to a missed opportunity for Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

The No. 19-ranked Bronchos failed to convert a huge number of close-in shots during a frustrating first-half offensive performance that enabled Missouri Western to take the lead and UCO never recovered in dropping a 67-57 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association decision.

It was the first loss of the season for the Bronchos, who fell to 11-1 overall and 3-1 in the league in having the best start in school history ended. The Griffons improved to 11-2 and 3-1.

UCO attacked the basket relentlessly in the opening two quarters in repeatedly getting free for layups, but amazingly the Bronchos made just 3-of-18 chip-shots. That's a mere 16.7 percent and MWSU took advantage in grabbing a 32-25 lead.

The agony continued early in the third quarter as UCO missed four straight layups, enabling the Griffons to reel off nine unanswered points in opening up a 16-point lead that was too much for the Bronchos to overcome.

"That was a very disappointing performance on our part," said head coach Guy Hardaker, whose team had won 12 straight home games since losing to MWSU last February. "We couldn't make a layup, did a terrible job taking care of the ball and didn't play as hard as they (Missouri Western) did. That's a bad combination, especially when you're playing a good team."

The Bronchos ended up shooting just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the field, including a 29.0-percent effort (9-of-31) on layups. UCO tied a season-high with 21 turnovers in scoring a season-low 57 points, 18 points below its average.

Blake Blessington led the Bronchos with 14 points and had the best shooting game, making 5-of-8 shots with a 3-pointer and all three free throw tries. Jesheon Cooper had 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Olivia Mason also had 12 points and leading scorer Melinda Murillo managed just 11 while limited to 25 minutes because of nagging injuries that knocked her out of the game twice.

UCO's layup struggles started early, but the Bronchos still managed to grab a 9-4 lead on a three-point play by Blessington four minutes into the game. It was 14-9 after Mason hit two foul shots at the 1:41 mark, but MWSU ended the quarter with a 7-0 run and took the lead for good at 16-14 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Mason's 3-pointer from the top of the key had UCO within one (20-19) two minutes into the second period before five straight missed layups helped the Griffons go on a 9-0 spurt to open up a 29-19 lead.

UCO's deficit was 32-25 at intermission and that quickly grew to 16 (41-25) when the layup struggles continued in the opening minutes of the third quarter. MWSU's lead peaked at 17 (47-30) before the Bronchos managed to close within 11 (48-37) by the end of the period.

Hayley Bryan buried a 3-pointer with 5:51 left to play to make it a nine-point game at 55-46 and give UCO a glimmer of hope, but the Griffons answered with five straight points to make it 60-46 and put the game away.

The Bronchos go on the road for two league games next week, traveling to Lincoln Thursday and Lindenwood Saturday.

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