Box Score

UCO UCO 9-1

UAFS UAFS 3-8

UCO UCO

9-1

Final

Dec. 15, 2018

UAFS UAFS

3-8

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
UCO UCO	11	13	13	27	64
UAFS UAFS	17	10	12	18	57

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/15/2018 4:56:00 PM | Chris Brannick

No. 23 Central Oklahoma Powers Past Fort Smith

Next Game:

at Southern Nazarene

12/18/2018 | 1 p.m.

Next Game

Full Schedule

Dec. 18 (Tue) / 1 p.m.

at Southern Nazarene

Recap
Roster

FORT SMITH, Ark. - The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team used a fourth-quarter surge to work past Arkansas-Fort Smith Saturday afternoon, earning a 64-57 non-conference win at the Stubblefield Center.

"The team really showed some fight today," UCO head basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. "We didn't start very well and had to dig out of a hole, and it took us awhile to do it, but the girls kept fighting and got the win."

Shatoya Bryson led the way for Central Oklahoma, which is now 9-1 on the season, with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The junior point guard also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Blake Blessington also scored in double figures for the Bronchos Saturday, adding 13 points. The senior forward went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in helping Central secure its third win in as many seasons and sixth consecutive win against Fort Smith. Blessington also had four rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Central Oklahoma fell behind early Saturday as part of a back-and-forth first quarter. UAFS scored the game's first four points, but a Bryson 3-pointer gave UCO a 9-8 lead just before the first media timeout. After Blessington hit her first two free-throws of the game to make it 11-8, Fort Smith went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter with a 17-11 lead.

Fort Smith went up 19-11 after almost 90 seconds of play in the second quarter. That would be the Lions' largest lead of the game. Central began chipping away at the lead with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes. Blessington knocked in a jumper, Ireon Smith sank a 3-pointer, and Bryson added a fastbreak layup to make it 19-18. UAFS kept its lead though, holding a 27-24 advantage at the halftime break.

Micayla Haynes, who transferred from Fort Smith to Central Oklahoma this summer, opened the third quarter with a jumper that was soon followed by a Blessington 3-pointer that gave the Bronchos its first lead since the first quarter.

The back-and-forth continued. There were four ties and four lead changes in the third quarter. UCO's biggest lead of the third frame came when Blessington went on a personal 4-0 run to make it 37-33. But again, UAFS went on a big run to close the period and led 39-37 heading into the fourth.

The game was tied for the ninth and final time went Fort Smith knocked down a pair of free-throws with 4:29 to play in the fourth. That made it 48-48. But with 3:47 to play, Madison Lee knocked down a huge 3-pointer that gave the Bronchos a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Bryson hit another fourth-quarter dagger from behind the arc to make it 58-54 with just 55 seconds left in the game. The Bronchos then sank six free-throws down the stretch to ice the game. Haynes, Bryson, and Blessington each knocked down each of their two attempts to put the Bronchos back in the win column.

Smith chipped in nine points to go with a team-high six rebounds. Lauren Chancellor had seven points off the bench, including one 3-pointer, and Megan Hartness added two in reserve duty. Lee scored five points including her fourth-quarter 3-pointer. She also had a pair of rebounds, a pair of assists, and one steal. Haynes finished with six points.

Central Oklahoma shot 46 percent from the floor Saturday, making 6 of 16 attempts from behind the arc. The Bronchos were 12-for-20 from the free-throw line. UCO also forced 19 turnovers, one above its season average, and had 10 steals, right at its season average.

UCO improved to 9-1 on the season with the win, and will close out its 2018 portion of the schedule next Tuesday against Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Okla.

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