Box Score

Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 12-17,6-13 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Central Okla. CentOK 18-10,12-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Northwest Mo. St. NMSU

12-17,6-13 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Final

Mar. 04, 2020

Central Okla. CentOK

18-10,12-7 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU	15	23	16	17	71
Central Okla. CentOK	18	12	16	21	67

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/4/2020 5:12:00 PM | Chris Brannick

Central Season Ends In MIAA First Round

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team's season came crashing to an end in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament first round at Municipal Auditorium with a 71-67 loss to Northwest Missouri.

Central Oklahoma finished the 2019-20 season 18-10 overall.

"Just really proud of Shatoya, McKenna, and Micayla, who didn't get to play today," UCO head coach Guy Hardaker said. "It's always the worst part to play in your last game. It's never easy. And I'm just really proud of that group.

"As far as the game goes, we just didn't get the breaks we needed," Hardaker added. "We weren't sharp and we had too many mistakes. And as hard as we fought to get back into it, we just couldn't get that break."

Central needed a comeback Wednesday. After a hot start and an early 11-point lead, the Bronchos found themselves down by 11 in the second quarter. UCO chipped away and chipped away, but in the end, couldn't find the break it was looking for.

Kelsey Johnson led UCO with 22 points and 10 rebounds, her seventh double-double of the season. The junior forward was 7-for-15 from the floor and hit 8 of 10 free-throws on the day.

Jaci Littell added 11 points and eight rebounds. McKenna Pulley scored nine points and added four rebounds.

Shatoya Bryson had eight points and tied a career-high with six steals in what was the final game of her brilliant career. Bryson wrapped up a career that totaled 869 points, 24th all-time at UCO, 416 rebounds, 16th all-time at Central, and 148 steals, which is sixth all-time in Broncho history.

Central Oklahoma got off to a hot start Wednesday afternoon, leading 12-2 after five minutes of play. Johnson scored six quick points as part of the run that continued over the next few minutes and was aided by five points from Pulley.

But, after going up 18-7 when Clary Donica hit a 3-pointer with 2:26 to play in the opening quarter, Northwest went on 18-0 run over the next five and half minutes.

The Bronchos still led 18-15 after the first quarter, but trailed by as many as 11 in the second quarter.

UCO made a push down the first-half stretch. Once NWMSU led by 11, 33-22, Central went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead in half. After the team's alternated buckets, Northwest Missouri drew a foul with two seconds left in the half and made all three free-throws to take a 38-30 lead into the locker room.

The deficit grew to start the second half. Northwest opened the third quarter with two buckets in a row to go ahead by 12 points, 42-30. UCO got within five points midway through the quarter, but the Bearcats held firm with the lead, pushing back ahead at every Broncho effort.

Central made its final push in the final few minutes of the game, going on a 7-0 run from the 3:57 mark to the 1:16 mark of the fourth quarter. Bryson made a free-throw to start the run, cutting the NWMSU lead to seven, 63-56. Littell made a pair of free-throws, Johnson made a layup, and Brooke Rayner added a layup. That cut it to just a point, 63-62.

Northwest made only free-throws the rest of the way, but it was enough and the Bearcats went 8-for-8 from the line in the final 90 seconds.

Littell made a layup with 39 seconds left to make it 65-64, Johnson made one free-throw to make it 67-65, and Littell made one more jumper with two seconds left to make it 69-67.

Central finished 23 of 60 from the floor, a 38.3 percent mark. The Bronchos hit only 3 of 13 from behind the arc, and went 18-for-22 from the free-throw line.

Rayner added eight points, Donica finished with three, and Laurenc Chancellor, Aliyah Llanusa, and Maddie Harelson all had two points.

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