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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jesheon Cooper
53
Central Okla. UCO 14-2, 5-2 MIAA
61
Winner Emporia State ESU 10-3, 5-1 MIAA
Central Okla. UCO
14-2, 5-2 MIAA
53
Final
61
Emporia State ESU
10-3, 5-1 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. UCO 8 17 10 18 53
Emporia State ESU 10 15 20 16 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Streak Ends At Emporia State

EMPORIA, Kan. – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team dropped a 61-53 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association contest at Emporia State Wednesday night, ending a nine-game win streak for the Bronchos. Central dropped to 14-2 on the season and 5-2 in league play.
 
"We had a lot of trouble on offense tonight and when you play a team like Emporia, you really can't make many mistakes at all," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "We didn't shoot the ball well at all and we had too many turnovers to overcome. I do want to say I'm proud of the effort we gave down the stretch. We could have given up at one point we were down kind of big. But we didn't. We just need to play the way we played there at the end for all four quarters."
 
Jo'Nah Johnson led the Bronchos in scoring for the second time in three games. The freshman from Edmond had a team-high 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and put home five free-throws.
 
Jesheon Cooper never got going on offense, but even though the senior center finished with just four points on 2 of 8 shooting, she did set another school record with her defense.
 
With 4:58 to play in the fourth quarter, Cooper rejected her eighth shot of the game, setting the new single game record. She finished with nine. After blocking 100 shots as a junior – besting the old record of 55 – Cooper now owns the single game and single season records for blocks. Her 147 career blocks is also just eight short of the career record.
 
Melinda Murillo added 10 points for the Bronchos, on a night when the senior guard couldn't find a rhythm. Murillo shot 4 of 13 from the floor, hit just 1 of 5 threes, and turned the ball over a season-high eight times.
 
Blake Blessington added eight and was the only other Broncho to make more than one field goal.
 
UCO jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter thanks to forcing turnovers on each of Emporia's first three possessions. UCO forced five turnovers by the quarter's end, but the Bronchos struggled themselves on offense, turning the ball over eight times. UCO also watched as Emporia hit 5 of 8 free throws in the opening quarter to build a 10-8 lead. Central did not make a trip to the free-throw line in the opening frame.
 
Emporia used a big spurt to start the second quarter, jumping out to a 16-10 lead before Hardaker used an early timeout with just over eight minutes to play in the quarter. The Hornets kept the pressure on the Broncho defense from there, leading by as many as eight with seven minutes to play.
 
Central kept pushing though. The Bronchos continued to force turnovers – five more in the second quarter – and went on an 8-2 run of their own to get back in the game.  Central then took a 23-22 lead on a Blessington 3-pointer with 1:27 to play.
 
Blessington added two more free-throws before the half. After Emporia's Morgan Laudan earned a 3-point play with a layup and a free throw with nine seconds left, Central couldn't get a shot of before the buzzer and the team's left the court for halftime tied 25-25.
 
Emporia again jumped ahead in the third, forcing the Bronchos into five turnovers before the Hornets ever committed one. ESU built an eight-point lead with the effort, tying its biggest lead of the game before another forced turnover on UCO and a fastbreak layup made it 45-35.
 
Central's offensive woes were glaring as the Bronchos took the last possession of the third quarter down to the buzzer without getting a shot off for the second quarter in a row.
 
UCO lost the first quarter just 10-8, and won the second quarter 17-15, but in the third, UCO was outscored 20-10.
 
The Bronchos made a big push late, and ended up winning the final frame 18-16, but it was all too little, too late. Emporia held its biggest lead of the game, 16 points, with eight minutes to play. UCO got as close as six when Johnson hit her second 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play. Central however, had to foul and Emporia closed out the win.
 
Central Oklahoma is back in action this weekend. The Bronchos return to Kansas on Saturday to take on Washburn in another MIAA matchup at 1 p.m.
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