Box Score

Fort Hays St. FHSU 19-2,13-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Central Okla. CentOK 13-10,9-8 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Fort Hays St. FHSU

19-2,13-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Final

Feb. 05, 2022

Central Okla. CentOK

13-10,9-8 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Fort Hays St. FHSU	19	23	19	14	75
Central Okla. CentOK	9	23	18	18	68

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/5/2022 6:28:00 PM | Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma's Big Comeback Comes Up Short

Next Game:

at Newman

2/12/2022 | 1:30 p.m.

Next Game

Full Schedule

Feb. 12 (Sat) / 1:30 p.m.

at Newman

Recap
Roster

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma basketball nearly erased an 18-point deficit but fell short in the end in an MIAA matchup against Fort Hays State Saturday at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos lost to the sixth-ranked Tigers, 75-68.

"It's hard to dig yourself out of a hole against a good team," UCO head women's basketball coach Guy Hardaker said. "We almost did it, but you can't let yourself get in that position in the first place. The girls did a good job of finding their way back into it, but it was just too much."

Central Oklahoma trailed by 18 points midway through the third quarter and entered the final frame down by 11 points. UCO was still down 11 with just over five minutes to play in the game before a late surge by the Bronchos had the Hays lead all the way down to just two points.

Central made a 9-0 that started with Alayzha Knapp knocking down a turnaround jumper. Brooke Rayner made a pair of free-throws and Kelsey Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer before Knapp scored another bucket to make it 66-64 with 2:50 to play in the game.

The Bronchos were 3-for-3 during the 2:34 run and held Hays to 0-for-5 shooting during that stretch.

Unfortunately for Central on Saturday, Fort Hays State responded with a quick 5-0 run and ended the game on a 9-4 run to take the victory.

UCO shot 44.8 percent from the floor Saturday, hitting 26 of 58 shots. The Bronchos were 7-for-17 on 3-point attempts and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Central leads the MIAA in creating turnovers but only forced 10 turnovers in the game, the second fewest all season.

Johnson led UCO in scoring, putting up 27 points on a 10-for-16 day shooting the basketball. She was 2-for-3 from behind the 3-point line and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. Johnson also had 13 rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Johnson also became just the fifth player in school history to score 1,300 points for her career. She is up to 1,317 points since joining the Bronchos in 2019.

Knapp posted 10 points and six rebounds. She was 5-for-9 from the floor and also had two steals and a blocked shot.

Johnson scored the game's first basket on Saturday but after Fort Hays State took a 4-2 lead a minute later, the Tigers led the rest of the way.

Hays led by as many as 10 in the first quarter and led by that amount at the end of the quarter, 19-9. The lead grew to as much as 13 in the second quarter, but the Bronchos battled to an even 23-23 frame and kept it a 10-point game at halftime.

The third quarter was nearly just as equal. Hays got its big lead by starting the second half on a 14-6 run. Johnson hit two free-throws on the first possession of the third quarter before six straight by the Tigers. She made a turnaround jumper to stall that run, but Hays kept pushing and scored eight of the next 10 points to take a commanding 56-38 lead with 4:06 to play.

UCO did respond by scoring the next seven points and outscored Hays 12-5 down the stretch to keep it at an 11-point deficit heading to the final quarter.

The teams traded 3-point baskets to start the fourth quarter and then traded a pair of free-throws before UCO made its biggest run of the game (9-0) to cut the lead down to two points before Hays pulled away in the end.

Rayner scored seven on Saturday and also had five rebounds, three assists and one steal. Aliyah Llanusa scored six, hitting two 3-pointers. She also had three assists and one steal.

Clary Donica and Taylor Dement both scored four points off the bench for the Bronchos while Caley Young and Ginger Reece both scored three. They both hit one 3-pointer. Jaci Littell scored two on a pair of free-throws and Avery Allen scored two points to go with three assists and three rebounds.

Central Oklahoma has just one game next week and not till Saturday, Feb. 12 at Newman. The Bronchos will also visit Rogers State and Northeastern State the following weekend before closing out the 2021-22 regular season with home games against Central Missouri and Missouri Southern the last week of February.

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