Box Score

Nebraska-Kearney UNK 15-11, 8-9 MIAA

Central Oklahoma UCO 16-11, 7-10 MIAA

Nebraska-Kearney UNK

15-11, 8-9 MIAA

Final

Feb. 23, 2019

Central Oklahoma UCO

16-11, 7-10 MIAA

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	OT 1	F
Nebraska-Kearney UNK	6	28	21	27	10	92
Central Oklahoma UCO	21	14	26	21	11	93

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/23/2019 4:09:00 PM | Chris Brannick

UCO Outlasts UNK In Overtime Thriller

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2/26/2019 | 5:30 p.m.

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EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team beat Nebraska-Kearney 93-92 in overtime Saturday afternoon in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association matchup at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos improved to 16-11 on the season with the win and are now 7-10 in league play. UCO clinched a spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament with the win, and is now in eighth place ahead of the final week of the regular season.

"That was a really exciting game and you always love to be a part of those," UCO head women's basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. "And it's always good to be on the right side of those games. We fought hard today. We shot the ball well and hustled. I'm proud of the team for getting the win today."

Shatoya Bryson scored a career-high 25 points to lead UCO. She hit four 3-pointers and went 7-for-14 from the floor overall with a 7-for-12 mark at the free-throw line.

Micayla Haynes added 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting and hit two 3-pointers. Ireon Smith scored 17 points off the bench with a team-high 13 rebounds, and Blake Blessington scored 15 points with a trio of 3-pointers.

UCO got off to a hot start, hitting 8 of 16 shots in the first quarter to build a big lead. The Bronchos also used a smothering defense, holding Kearney to a mere 1-for-13 shooting performance in the first 10 mintues. The Bronchos led 21-6 after the first quarter.

Kaci Richardson hit a 3-pointer to put the first points on the scoreboard. Bryson, Haynes, and Madison Lee also hit shots from outside in UCO's big first quarter.

The Lopers responded with a big second quarter. UNK scored the first 13 points of the quarter to cut the UCO lead to two, 21-19, with 6:11 to play in the second quarter. The Bronchos called a timeout to halt the run, and responded with a Smith 3-pointer out of the timeout to go up five. The rest of the quarter was even. The Bronchos never relinquished the lead though, and went to the locker room at halftime up 35-34.

Haynes' 11 first-half points paced the Bronchos, who hit six from outside in the first 20 minutes.

UNK opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to take a 37-35 lead, but Blessington answered with a quick three and Haynes followed with another. After a turnover and fastbreak layup by Richardson, UCO soon had a 43-37 lead just two minutes into the third quarter.

UNK wouldn't go away though. An 8-2 run over the next four minutes tied the game, 45-45. But again, halting a Loper run was Smith, who knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game with four and a half minutes to go to put the Bronchos up 48-45.

The Bronchos would hit three more from deep before the quarter's end. Both teams continued to shoot well. A Blessington buzzer-beating turnaround jumper though gave the Bronchos a 61-55 lead at the break.

Kearney again made a run in the fourth, and battled through late to force overtime.

Blessington hit a pair of free-throws to put UCO up 82-79 with 17 seconds to play, but UNK hit a 3-pointer in the corner with 11 seconds left that tied it up. UCO had a five-second violation on an inbounds play with seven seconds left before Kearney failed on its final effort.

The Bronchos started overtime with a pair of free-throws before UNK went up 85-84 with a 3-pointer. UCO went back ahead with another pair of free throws, then led 88-85 after a layup from Bryson. The Bronchos trailed 90-89 with two minutes to play, but Haynes darted through the UNK defense for a layup that put the Bronchos ahead 91-90.

With one minute to play, Smith missed a layup, got her own rebound, missed another layup, got her rebound again, and finally put in a basket to put the Bronchos up 93-90. UNK added its final basket on the next possession before the Bronchos sealed the win.

UCO will host Northeastern State Tuesday before hosting Emporia State next Saturday in the final game of the regular season. The Bronchos will then head to Kansas City, Mo. for the MIAA Postseason Tournament on March 5.

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