by Chris Brannick
EDMOND – Central Oklahoma turned a late second quarter run into a big second half and beat Emporia State 66-57 in an MIAA matchup Monday night at Hamilton Field House.
UCO is 5-7 on the year following the win and now is 2-6 in league play, snapping a five-game losing streak with the victory.
“We played really well in a lot of different areas tonight and I’m proud of this team for not giving up,” UCO head women’s basketball coach Emma Andrews said. “Things have been going tough for us obviously, but the team is still focused and playing hard. We needed some things to go our way and they made it happen tonight.”
UCO was down by four points, 22-18, after one quarter of play, and trailed 26-18 nearly six minutes into the second quarter. What looked like Central’s unfortunate pattern of an off quarter soon turned.
Aliyah Llanusa, who had a team-high 14 points to go with 10 rebounds in the game, knocked down a 3-pointer to finally put UCO on the scoreboard in the second frame with 4:08 to play until halftime.
UCO then went on a 12-4 run to end the half, highlighted by a Karly Wadsworth 3-pointer at the buzzer, to tie the game, 30-30 at the break.
Eliana Bravington had four points in the run and Kassie Boorer scored two.
While Emporia did open the second half with a quick 7-2 run, the Bronchos kept it going with a big response. UCO scored the next 12 points, with six coming from Aspen Williston and four more from Llanusa. Alayzha Knapp also scored two during that 5:05 run that ended with UCO in front, 44-37 with just over one minute to play in the third quarter.
Central Oklahoma built its biggest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, reaching a 15-point advantage, 62-47, with a little more than three minutes remaining.
Llanusa posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, her third of the season. She never had more than nine rebounds in her career before this season. The fourth-year junior went 5-for-11 from the floor, 3-for-5 from behind the arc, and added one free-throw. She also had three steals and three assists.
Williston joined Llanusa in double figures with 12 points and added seven rebounds and a block. She went 6-for-8 from the floor Monday night.
Lexi Foreman scored 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting to go with five steals, three assists and two rebounds. Knapp finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Wadsworth, who has hit buzzer-beating 3-pointers before the halftime break in each of the past two games, scored eight points on Monday night to go with five assists and three steals.
Brooke Rayner added five points, Bravington four, and Boorer four to round out the scoring.
The Bronchos shot 42.6 percent as a team and hit seven 3-pointers and seven free-throws. Emporia State went 9-for-41 from behind the 3-point line, a 22 percent mark. The 41 attempted 3-pointers is a Hamilton Field House record.
