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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Shatoya Bryson
69
Central Okla. CentOK 15-7,9-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
75
Winner Neb.-Kearney UNK 21-2,10-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Central Okla. CentOK
15-7,9-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
69
Final
75
Neb.-Kearney UNK
21-2,10-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. CentOK 20 20 10 19 69
Neb.-Kearney UNK 19 18 17 21 75

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Central Lets One Slip Away In Nebraska

KEARNEY, Neb. – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team let an MIAA road game slip away in the final minute and the Bronchos lost, 74-69, to Nebraska Kearney on Thursday night.
 
Central is now 15-7 on the season and has a 9-5 record in league play.
 
"I think ball control was our big problem tonight," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "We didn't take care of the ball down the stretch and really all night. We had our chances but we didn't capitalize when we should have. Kearney is a really good team and you can't do that when you play a really good team in their gym."
 
Shatoya Bryson tied the game with a wing 3-pointer with 55 seconds to play. Kearney scored out of a timeout and then a pair of turnovers on Central's next two possessions were costly. Micayla Haynes turned the ball over and her ensuing foul resulted in a pair of UNK free-throws. After a timeout, Bryson turned it over and Jaci Littell's foul gave UNK two more free-throws to build a 75-69 lead. UCO had no time to recover.
 
Kelsey Johnson led UCO with 12 points on the night. The junior was 5-for-6 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, and also had four rebounds and a block.
 
Kaci Richardson added 11 points off the bench. The junior hit 4 of 8 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers. She added a team-high five rebounds.
 
Littell and Clary Donica also scored 10 and both had five boards. Bryson added seven and was the fourth Broncho with five rebounds.
 
Central Oklahoma held an early lead in the first quarter, but spent most of the opening frame working from behind.
 
Johnson made back-to-back buckets to open the game and give the Bronchos a 4-0 lead, but after UNK took the lead with back-to-back 3-pointers, Central fought the rest of the quarter to regain it. Kearney led 19-14 with just under two minutes to play, but a pair of free-throws by McKenna Pulley, a steal-and-score by Brooke Rayner, and a last second layup by Rayner gave the Bronchos a 20-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
UNK made a quick run to retake the lead early in the second quarter, but the Bronchos continued to battle. Central took a 31-30 lead with five and a half minutes to go thanks to a Bryson layup. Littell's layup two minutes later gave the Bronchos a 35-30 lead. Littell then gave the Bronchos their biggest first-half lead, 38-32, with a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play in the opening half.
 
Central made three more shots than UNK in the first half, going 17-for-30 from the floor. Kearney made two more 3-pointers than the Bronchos, who made 4 of 10 from behind the arc. Central made both of its free-throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.
 
UCO grew its lead to nine in the first five minutes of the second half. Littell made a layup on the third quarter's opening possession. Donica made two buckets over the next three minutes in a slow-going quarter, but the Broncho defense kept UNK off the scoreboard in the quarter four 4:42, going up 46-37 just ahead of the media timeout.
 
Kearney responded to the run by the Bronchos and spent the rest of the quarter chipping away. A pair of free-throws with 56 seconds to play in the third gave the Lopers their first lead in almost 14 game minutes. Central entered the fourth quarter down 54-50.
 
Central kept it close and within striking distance. A 3-pointer by Richardson with 6:45 to play tied the game, 60-60, and a Donica layup with 6:04 to play gave the Bronchos a 62-60 lead. But UNK responded again, going on a 6-0 run. Bryson's 3-pointer tied it again, 69-69, but the Bronchos wouldn't score again.
 
Pulley added eight points to the Broncho tally. Rayner and Tayler Factor each scored four. Haynes scored three in limited action.
 
Central Oklahoma will now head south back into Kansas to take on Fort Hays State Saturday at 2 p.m. in what will be the final road game of the 2019-20 season for the Bronchos. UCO ends the year with four home games over a three-week period after this weekend.
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