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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Avery Allen
77
Central Okla. CentOK 3-2,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
84
Winner Harding Hard 2-1,0-0 GAC
Central Okla. CentOK
3-2,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
77
Final
84
Harding Hard
2-1,0-0 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. CentOK 17 14 21 25 77
Harding Hard 16 19 20 29 84

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos Outpaced In Arkansas

SEARCY, Ark. – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team played the third of six straight road games Saturday and the Bronchos came up short, 84-77, at Harding.
 
"We gave up a couple of big runs in the second half and couldn't get back into it," UCO head women's basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. "It was a really close game and they are a really good team, but those runs killed us late."
 
Central Oklahoma had a big run to start the second quarter, but Harding made a bigger counter and took a halftime lead. The Bronchos cut the lead to one point on four different occasions in the third quarter, but just couldn't get over the hump to retake the lead. A 9-0 run in the fourth quarter gave Harding all it would need Saturday.
 
Kelsey Johnson led all scorers Saturday with a 32-point performance. The senior from Washington, Oklahoma went 14-for-26 from the floor and hit 4 of 5 free-throws. She also had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with two blocks and one assist.
 
Karly Wadsworth and Alayzha Knapp were also in double figures for the Bronchos Saturday. Wadsworth scored 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, including three made 3-pointers. Knapp had 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting. She also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals, and one blocked shot.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing 10 times in the first 20 minutes. Central Oklahoma hit 14 of 32 shots in the first two quarters, including three 3-pointers. But the Bronchos didn't go to the line once and a 15-2 run to close the half left Central in a small but manageable deficit, 35-31, at halftime.
 
Wadsworth hit a 3-pointer one minute into the second quarter and after Knapp and Johnson both made baskets, Wadsworth hit another three to give Central its biggest lead of the first half, 29-20, with 5:24 to play in the quarter.
 
But that's when Harding made its run. Johnson ended a 9-0 run with another two-point basket, but a 6-0 Harding run ended the half to complete the 15-2 stretch over the final five and a half minutes.
 
Central Oklahoma made an early third-quarter run to cut the lead to a point, and needed to make short bursts throughout the quarter to get the game as close as it would get in the second half.
 
UCO got within a basket midway through the fourth quarter before Harding's final run put it out of reach.
 
Central Oklahoma shot 47.1 percent from the floor Saturday, hitting 32 of 68 shots overall. UCO went 6-for-19 from behind the arc and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
 
Brooke Rayner added nine points and five assists and two steals. Clary Donica scored seven points to go with four rebounds. Jaci Littell (three), Ginger Reece (two), Avery Allen (two) and Aliyah Llanusa (one) also scored for Central.
 
Reece had a team-high three steals on defense. Rayner and Llanusa joined Knapp with two each.
 
Central Oklahoma is in the middle of a six-game road trip. The Bronchos continue the adventure Tuesday, Nov. 23 at Cameron. UCO will play at Missouri Southern and at Pittsburg State in December before playing at home again Dec. 9.
 
 
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