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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Aliyah Llanusa
71
Central Okla. CentOK 7-4,3-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
78
Winner Fort Hays St. FHSU 8-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Central Okla. CentOK
7-4,3-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
71
Final
78
Fort Hays St. FHSU
8-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. CentOK 12 24 11 24 71
Fort Hays St. FHSU 14 18 24 22 78

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Comes Up Short At Fifth-Ranked Hays

HAYS, Kan. – The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team came up short in an upset bid of fifth-ranked Fort Hays State Friday night at Gross Coliseum.
 
Fort Hays State 78, Central Oklahoma 71.
 
Aliyah Llanusa led Central's efforts. The third-year sophomore from Choctaw, Oklahoma scored 17 points to go with six rebounds and four steals. Kelsey Johnson was the high scorer for UCO, putting up 18 points to go with five rebounds. Johnson was just 4 of 11 from the floor, but hit 10 of 11 free-throws.
 
Alayzha Knapp also scored in double figures with 16 points and Avery Allen added 10 points off the bench.
 
"We let them get to the free-throw line at will," UCO head women's basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. "In the third quarter, they took control by getting to the line and getting us in foul trouble. And we didn't shoot the ball well. When you're playing a team like this, you can't afford to do those things."
 
Llanusa and Knapp both fouled out. Johnson had four fouls. Central Oklahoma committed 26 fouls in the game and Fort Hays State was 24-for-34 from the free-throw line.
 
Central led early in the game and only trailed 14-12 after one quarter of play as both teams turned the ball over and struggled to hit shots.
 
UCO jumped out in front in the second quarter and held its biggest lead of the game in that frame. That came from a Llanusa 3-pointer with 45 seconds to play till the break. Central led 36-32 after two quarters of play.
 
Fort Hays State made its push in the third quarter, outscoring Central 24-11. UCO hit just 3 of 14 shots in the quarter and Hays made 9 of 11 free-throws to go with 7 of 16 shooting from the floor.
 
But the Bronchos didn't waiver.
 
Llanusa cut it to two, 61-59, with five and a half minutes on the clock. Then Johnson got it back to two again with just over three minutes to play. She hit two of her 10 free-throws to make it 65-63. UCO got it to two one more time on a Knapp bucket with 2:29 to play, but Hays eventually pulled away.
 
Hays made it 69-65 with about 90 seconds left before hitting nine free-throws down the stretch to get the 78-71 victory.
 
Brooke Rayner and Karly Wadsworth both scored three points for Central. Jaci Littell and Clary Donica added two each off the bench.
 
Central Oklahoma gets no rest on this road trip. After battling the No. 5 team in the country Friday night, UCO will take on No. 12 Nebraska Kearney Sunday at 1 p.m. to wrap up its first semester of play in the 2021-22 season.
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