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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Kelsey Johnson
61
Neb.-Kearney UNK 25-5,14-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
69
Winner Central Okla. CentOK 18-9,12-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Neb.-Kearney UNK
25-5,14-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
61
Final
69
Central Okla. CentOK
18-9,12-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Neb.-Kearney UNK 14 18 12 17 61
Central Okla. CentOK 17 16 17 19 69

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Wins Regular Season Finale

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team earned a hard-fought victory over Nebraska Kearney Saturday afternoon in the final game of the 2019-20 regular season. UCO won 69-61.
 
Central Oklahoma improved to 18-9 with the win and finished the league schedule 12-7. The Bronchos earned the seven-seed in the MIAA Tournament for the second year in a row and will play Northwest Missouri Wednesday, March 4 in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
 
"We really had to fight for it today and I'm proud of the girls for the way they played," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "We had two out with injuries and another that could barely walk, but the team just fought through. We had some others step up and get it done. And it was good to send our seniors out with a win in their last game in this gym. That's always a good little note."
 
Kelsey Johnson, who did not practice Friday and showed signs of slowing down prior to tipoff due to an ankle injury, flipped a switch when the ball went up. The junior forward poured in a career-high 26 points on 9 of 12 shooting and added four rebounds and two steals.
 
Johnson scored 10 points in the opening quarter, two more in the second, then put up eight points in both the third and fourth quarter to lead the Bronchos. She topped her career-high of 24 points, set just two weeks ago.
 
UCO also got double-digit performances from Brooke Rayner and Shatoya Bryson, who both scored 11. Rayner was 4-for-10 with one 3-pointer and a pair of free-throws. Bryson went 4-for-13 and added three free-throws. Rayner also had a game-high three steals while Bryson swiped a pair.
 
Central Oklahoma and Nebraska Kearney went back-and-forth all afternoon Saturday. There were nine lead changes in all and neither team led by more than six points until UCO took a 69-61 lead with 15 seconds to play in the game.
 
Kearney struck first, knocking down a 3-pointer on the game's first possession. But Rayner answered with her lone three on the day to tie the game. After a turnover by UNK, Johnson then knocked down her first basket of the game to give the Bronchos a 5-3 lead. UCO led throughout the remainder of the first quarter and took a 17-14 lead into the first break.
 
The Bronchos continued to hold firm to the lead into the second quarter. It wasn't until UNK earned an and-1 layup with 6:48 to play and took a 21-20 lead. But Rayner had the answer again, sinking a layup on the other end to put the Bronchos back in front.
 
UNK regained the lead with two minutes to play in the first half, but Clary Donica knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Bronchos up 33-32 and that's how the game went to halftime.
 
The back and forth continued in the second half. Central hit 6 of 12 shots in the third quarter, including one 3-pointer by Jaci Littell, and added four free-throws as the Bronchos outscored UNK 17-12 in the frame. There were four lead changes in the third quarter alone, but when Central went ahead 43-42 on a Lauren Chancellor layup, the Bronchos didn't look back.
 
UCO led by six at the final break and outscored Kearney 19-17 in the final 10 minutes to get the win.
 
McKenna Pulley added eight points and four rebounds in her first career start. The senior was just 1-for-2 from the floor but went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Donica scored five, Littell and Chancellor had three, and Tayler Factor added two to round out the scoring for the Bronchos, who eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for the season Saturday.
 
UCO will head to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season since joining the league eight years ago. The Bronchos will face a Northwest Missouri team that took a win from UCO in Edmond February 1.
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