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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
McKenna Pulley
71
Winner Fort Hays St. FHSU 21-6,12-6 Mid-America Intercollegiate
64
Central Okla. CentOK 17-9,11-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Fort Hays St. FHSU
21-6,12-6 Mid-America Intercollegiate
71
Final
64
Central Okla. CentOK
17-9,11-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Fort Hays St. FHSU 21 10 17 11 12 71
Central Okla. CentOK 15 12 15 17 5 64

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Victory Slips Away In Overtime For Bronchos

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team let a crucial MIAA showdown slip away in overtime Thursday night, falling to Fort Hays State 71-64 at Hamilton Field House.
 
UCO got an enormous boost from a three-point play by McKenna Pulley with 31 seconds left in regulation. The layup and-1 from the senior forward gave the Bronchos a 57-54 lead and positioned Central for a season sweep of Fort Hays State.
 
But after both teams traded a pair of free-throws on the next two possessions, which left UCO with a 59-56 lead with 17 seconds left, a banked in 3-pointer from Hays with 3.5 ticks on the clock tied the game. The teams then traded turnovers in a span of only two seconds, but Shatoya Bryson's buzzer beater didn't fall and the Bronchos had to play an extra five minutes. FHSU outscored Central 12-5 in the final frame for the victory.
 
Central Oklahoma is now 17-9 on the season with the loss and 11-7 in the MIAA. The loss broke a tie with Fort Hays for sixth place and left the Bronchos in seventh heading into the final day of the regular season this Saturday.
 
"That was a tough loss for a lot of reasons," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "We didn't play well in general, we needed to get another conference win tonight, and it's just always tough to lose when you have a lead in the final minute. That stings, but we need to forget about it and focus on the next game."
 
Central Oklahoma hosts Nebraska Kearney Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hamilton. The Bronchos can still get back to sixth place with a win and a Missouri Western loss. UCO would land in eighth place with a loss. Central will play in Kansas City next weekend as the postseason begins with the MIAA Tournament at Municipal Auditorium.
 
UCO and Fort Hays State went back-and-forth Thursday night in the first few minutes of the game, but Hays took an early lead and spent most of the night ahead. The Bronchos hit 5 of 14 shots in the first quarter, three 3-pointers and a pair of free-throws, but found themselves in a 21-15 deficit after the first 10 minutes thanks to four 3-pointers by Hays and a 50-plus percent shooting mark in the opening frame.
 
Central slowed Hays in the second quarter, keeping the Tigers from hitting any shots from outside and using its patented stiff defense to take a 12-10 advantage in the quarter and cut the lead to 31-27 at halftime.
 
Fort Hays maintained its lead throughout the third quarter as well, as the Bronchos continued to cut it to one possession, but couldn't string together enough stops to get over the hump.
 
The Bronchos finally did get over the hump in the fourth quarter. The lead bounced back and forth from five points to three points for the first 7:54 of the final quarter. A pair of free-throws by Micayla Haynes brought it to three again with just under three minutes to play, then Haynes followed that with a 3-pointer tie the game with 2:06 to go.
 
Neither team would score for the next 93 seconds. That's when Pulley grabbed an offensive rebound, and scored on a putback as she was fouled. She sank the free-throw to give the Bronchos a 57-54 lead with 31 seconds to play.
 
Haynes opened overtime with a backdoor layup to give the Bronchos a 61-59 lead with 4:39 to play. Then neither team scored again for the next 2:43, but that's when Fort Hays State knocked down a 3-pointer to go ahead 62-61. Bryson answered with a three on the next possession to give the Bronchos a 64-62 lead, but FHSU hit one more 3-pointer to go back ahead 65-64, then the Bronchos never scored again. The Tigers sank 6 of 6 free-throws in the final 23 seconds to close out the victory.
 
Haynes led UCO Thursday night with 18 points on 5 of 12 shooting. The senior hit 4 of 9 threes and added four free-throws to go with five assists and three steals on the night. Bryson scored 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting. Also a senior, Bryson hit two 3-poitners and had three rebounds. Kelsey Johnson chipped in 10 points and four rebounds, Jaci Littell added nine points and four boards, and Pulley finished with five points off the bench.
 
Central finished the night 24-for-65 from the floor, 8-for-26 from behind the arc, and 8-for-11 from the free-throw line.
 
UCO will host Kearney Saturday before beginning the MIAA Tournament next week in Kansas City. Central will honor Bryson, Haynes, and Pulley in a senior day ceremony prior to the 1:30 p.m. tipoff at Hamilton Field House.
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