by EDMOND (Feb. 15) – Aliyah Llanusa was seemingly everywhere at once in a sensational all-around performance that carried Central Oklahoma past Rogers State Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.
The junior guard had 12 rebounds, 11 points, six steals and five assists while playing all 40 minutes as the Bronchos prevailed 78-69 for their second straight win. UCO improved to 9-14 overall and 6-13 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
“Aliyah was unbelievable tonight,” head coach Emma Andrews said. “She did a little bit of everything for us, but she’s been doing that all year.
“We did a great job moving the ball and finding the best shot. I thought we played smart and came out with a good win.”
The Bronchos had an amazing 26 assists on 29 buckets, with four players registering at least five assists.
Brooke Rayner scored a game-high 23 points with eight assists, while Aspen Williston made 8-of-12 shots in a 19-point, eight-rebound outing.
Karly Wadsworth chipped in 11 points and five assists before fouling out late in the contest and Alayzha Knapp contributed nine points and five rebounds.
The Hillcats hit a last-second jumper to lead 23-22 after one quarter and RSU was still up one at 28-27 when the Bronchos scored eight straight points to move in front for good.
Llanusa sparked that spurt, feeding Williston for an inside bucket before drilling a 3-pointer from the wing off a Tayler Factor pass. Rayner ended the run with a trey from the corner that put UCO up seven (35-28) with 3:19 left in the half.
The Bronchos went on to take a 40-34 lead into intermission and pushed that to a 16-point bulge at 54-38 on another Rayner 3-pointer midway through the third quarter.
UCO’s lead was 10 (61-51) by the end of the period and the Bronchos appeared safe when Llanusa knocked down two foul shots to make it 71-59 with 4:58 left to play.
But the Hillcats made things interesting, going on a 9-0 run to cut UCO’s lead to just three at 71-68 with 2:27 remaining.
Rayner responded with a 10-foot jumper to make it 73-68 at the 2:11 mark and neither team scored again until Wadsworth made one of two free throws with 27 seconds left to push the lead to 74-68.
Rayner made four charity tosses in the final 23 seconds against just one for Rogers to arrange the final margin.
