Women's Basketball 1/15/2025 9:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

UCO Visits Missouri Southern Thursday Night

Central Oklahoma Looks To Sweep Season Series From Lions In Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. – Central Oklahoma continues a four-game road swing with a trip to Missouri Southern State Thursday night for an MIAA matchup inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Central Oklahoma takes a 4-11 overall record into this weekend, with a 3-3 record in the MIAA. Missouri Southern is 11-7 overall and also 3-3 in league play.

This is the second meeting of the season between the two schools. The Bronchos hosted the Lions on Dec. 8 and earned an 87-76 victory. The win for the Bronchos last month snapped a six-game losing streak to Missouri Southern. MSSU owns a 21-17 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1982-83 season.

"Missouri Southern is a good team, they're well coached, and we need to be focused going into this game," UCO head women's coach Emma Andrews said. "We were able to get the first meeting but that only means they're going to be working that much harder for this one."

Central Oklahoma looks to snap a two-game slide on Thursday. The Bronchos opened conference play with a loss to No. 12 Pittsburg State, but responded with three straight wins over MSSU, Rogers State, and Newman. But the Bronchos dropped league battles with Northeastern State and Arkansas Fort Smith last week and look to right the ship Thursday night.

UCO heads into the matchup averaging 63.9 points per game while the team shoots 39.3 percent from the floor. The Bronchos shoot 30.8 percent from behind the 3-point line and average 5.7 made threes per game. Central also shoots 68.7 percent at the free-throw line and averages 12.1 makes from the stripe per game.

Defensively, Central Oklahoma is allowing 73.1 points per game. Opponents shoot 43.5 percent from the floor overall, 35.0 percent from behind the 3-point line making 6.5 per game, and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line making 11.0 per game.

Korie Allensworth leads UCO into Joplin averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game. The senior from Sulphur leads UCO in field-goal attempts (178), free-throws made (45) and is second on the team in free-throws attempted (54). Allensworth, who ranks 13th in the league in scoring, ranks third in the MIAA in free-throw percentage at 83.3 percent.

Jordyn Turner is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game and the senior forward from OKC leads the Bronchos in rebounding at 8.5 boards per game, which ranks third in the MIAA. Turner is shooting 50.4 percent from the field this season (70-for-139) and is 9-for-11 from behind the 3-point line, an 81.8 percent rate. She's second in free-throw makes (38) behind Allensworth but leads the team in attempts (58) shooting 65.5 percent.

LaKysia Johnson averages 11.7 points per game and does so coming off the bench. The senior guard from Altus has made more shots (74) than anyone on the team and she shoots 54.0 percent overall (74-for-137). Johnson adds 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Her team-leading steals average ranks sixth in the MIAA.

Talia Pogi is UCO's fourth player to average double figures this season. The junior guard from Mustang scores 10.1 points per game and she adds 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Pogi leads UCO in 3-point makes (29) and attempts (91).

Gracee Miller adds 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Karly Wadsworth, whose 15 made 3-pointers are the second-most on the team, adds 5.2 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game. Peyton Walker, who starts at point guard, is averaging 2.3 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game in 15 games played this season.

Alexis Lewis (2.6), Parker Simonsen (1.6), Jacey Crawford (0.9) and Alexis Martin (0.7) also contribute.

Missouri Southern welcomes Central Oklahoma to Joplin Thursday night averaging 68.7 points per game. The Lions shoot 39.5 percent overall, 31.5 percent from behind the 3-point line with 6.8 makes per game, and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line with 12.4 makes per game.

MSSU is led by Ryan Franklin, who scores 13.2 points per game. Kaitlin Hunnicutt adds 12.4 points per game. Franklin also leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game and Hunnicutt has a team-high 32 made 3-pointers this season.

Central Oklahoma continues from Joplin Thursday night to Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon. The Bronchos take on No. 12 Pitt at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The men's game will be played first as a regionally televised game on 38 The Spot.

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Players Mentioned

#3 LaKysia Johnson: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#35 Alexis Lewis: F; 6' 0"; Senior

#25 Alexis Martin: F; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#13 Gracee Miller: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#23 Talia Pogi: F; 5' 9"; Junior

#21 Karly Wadsworth: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#4 Jacey Crawford: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#10 Peyton Walker: G; 5' 4"; Freshman

#15 Parker Simonsen: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

#20 Jordyn Turner: F; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#3 LaKysia Johnson
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#35 Alexis Lewis
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F

#25 Alexis Martin
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: F

#13 Gracee Miller
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Talia Pogi
: 5' 9"; Junior
: F

#21 Karly Wadsworth
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#4 Jacey Crawford
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#10 Peyton Walker
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: G

#15 Parker Simonsen
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

#20 Jordyn Turner
: 6' 2"; Senior
: F