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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jo'Nah Johnson
70
Fort Hays State FHSU 19-5, 10-5 MIAA
72
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 19-5, 10-5 MIAA
Fort Hays State FHSU
19-5, 10-5 MIAA
70
Final
72
Central Oklahoma UCO
19-5, 10-5 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Fort Hays State FHSU 17 18 16 19 70
Central Oklahoma UCO 19 17 18 18 72

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Central Stifles Tigers

EDMOND – Blake Blessington blocked Carly Heim's layup with just one second left on the clock, gathered the rebound as time expired, and led the University of Central Oklahoma in celebration of a 72-70 win over Fort Hays State in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association game at Hamilton Field House Saturday afternoon.
 
UCO led 72-62 when Blessington hit her third 3-pointer of the game with 2:36 to play in the fourth quarter. The Bronchos never scored again. They didn't need to.
 
Fort Hays State ended the game on an 8-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer, a pair of free-throws, a lay-up, and one more free-throw.
 
Tatyana Legette missed the second of two free-throws with 40 seconds left and Jesheon Cooper corralled the rebound. Murillo then missed a three with 15 seconds left to give Hays one final chance.
 
Heim caught a pass of a screen, dribbled to the left and tried to drive past Blessington. She made her move, going up for the game-tying layup, but Blessington rejected the shot and UCO got the win.
 
"I like our chances when the game is on the line and we're on defense," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "We've been bailed out by our defense quite a bit this season and tonight was no exeception. We didn't shoot the ball very well, we did have good looks, but they just weren't falling. And if we can win a game when Melinda Murillo plays like this, I'll take it."
 
The Bronchos grabbed the key conference win to improve to 19-5 on the season and 10-5 in league play. Fort Hays State dropped to 19-5 with the loss, and 10-5 in league play. The two schools are tied for fifth place in the MIAA. The two schools play next Saturday in Hays, Kan.
 
Jo'Nah Johnson led the Bronchos in scoring Saturday afternoon, pouring in 15 off the bench. Cooper had a big comeback game after a brief slump dropped her season scoring average back into single digits. The senior post had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocked shots.
 
Murillo finished with 11 on 5-for-17 shooting. She was 1-for-8 from behind the arc. The Bronchos altogether were a staggering 7-for-28 from behind the arc.
 
Blessington also finished with double figures, chipping in 10 points. She had just one point through three quarters of play before knocking down three 3-pointers in the final quarter.
 
Ireon Smith also had 10 points, and added three rebounds. Shatoya Bryson added eight, and Megan Hartness four to fill out the Broncho score sheet.
 
Central, which be Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday, will play UNK next Thursday in Kearney. UCO then plays Fort Hays State on Saturday, Feb. 17 before returning home for the final two games of the regular season on Feb. 22 against Washburn, and Feb. 24 against Emporia State.
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