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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Julia Mason
73
Fort Hays State FHSU 24-4, 18-4
81
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 18-10, 12-10
Fort Hays State FHSU
24-4, 18-4
73
Final
81
Central Oklahoma UCO
18-10, 12-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Fort Hays State FHSU 14 14 21 24 73
Central Oklahoma UCO 18 18 23 22 81

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Upset Special!

EDMOND (Feb. 27) – McKenzie Solberg scored five of her game-high 22 points during a 50-second  span in the fourth quarter to keep Central Oklahoma safely in front and the Bronchos went on to upset No. 9-ranked Fort Hays State 81-73 Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
 
UCO finished the regular season 18-10 – its most wins since 2010-11 – and ended up fifth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association standings at 12-10 while dropping the Tigers to 24-4 and 18-4.
 
The Bronchos will host Lindenwood at 7 p.m. Monday in the first round of the MIAA Post-season Tournament.  The final three rounds of the tournament will be at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
 
"We played well today and beat a really good team," head coach Guy Hardaker said.  "We had some turnover issues, but we did a great job running our offense."
 
UCO overcame 18 turnovers by shooting 54.8 percent (23-of-42) from the field and 84.4 percent (27-of-32) from the free throw line. 
 
Solberg was fouled repeatedly in drives to the basket and ended up 13-of-17 from the foul line while going 4-of-5 from the field with a 3-pointer in her 22-point outing.
 
Julia Mason continued her strong late-season play with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Haley Weathers had 12 points and Jordan Ward 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
The Bronchos appeared in control after taking a big 19-point lead (57-38) on a Bailey Taylor 3-pointer with late in the third quarter, but FHSU went on a 17-2 run to pull within four (59-55) two minutes into the final stanza.
 
It was still a four-point lead at 67-63 with 4:15 left to play when Solberg took over.
 
The senior standout converted a three-point play at 3:29 and then followed a FHSU miss with two charity tosses at 2:39 to up UCO's lead to 72-63.
 
The Bronchos then forced a turnover and Weathers made two free throws with 2:15 remaining to make it 74-63.  UCO made 7-of-8 foul shots the rest of the way to close out the big win.
 
The Tigers led only once, at 3-2 in the first two minutes of the game.  J. Mason put the Bronchos on top to stay with a layup off a Weathers assist and UCO was up 18-14 after the opening quarter.
 
FHSU got within one on two occasions in the second period, but the Bronchos took a 36-28 halftime lead on Savannah Gray's last-second 3-pointer.
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