by Chris Brannick
EDMOND – Central Oklahoma earned a wire-to-wire victory over Newman Saturday afternoon with the Bronchos cruising to a 71-57 victory in the MIAA contest at Hamilton Field House.
Central Oklahoma improved to 7-10 on the season with the win and the Bronchos are now 4-9 in league play. Newman is 6-11 overall following the loss and 3-9 in the MIAA.
“I don’t think we played great, but we were consistent,” UCO head women’s coach Emma Andrews said. “That wasn’t our best game but we played well enough to get a lead and we held on to it. Every win helps us get more confidence and get better.”
Aliyah Llanusa scored 20 points to lead the Bronchos and the junior guard filled up the stat sheet along the way. Llanusa added eight rebounds, four steals, and three assists. She went 7-for-12 from the floor, hit one 3-pointer, and went 5-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Aspen Williston also had a big double-double to lead UCO. She scored 17 points to go with 10 rebounds and added two blocked shots. Williston was 6-for-9 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
Karly Wadsworth gave UCO a third in double figures, scoring 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting. She hit two of UCO’s three 3-pointers and also made a pair of free-throws. Alayzha Knapp made it four in double figures with 10 points and she added six boards, a game-high four blocked shots, and three steals.
UCO managed 19 steals in the game. Llanusa and Tayler Factor each had four. Knapp and Brooke Rayner each had three. Wadsworth and Lexi Foreman both had two and Kassie Boorer also had one.
The Bronchos shot 25 of 64 from the field on Saturday, a 39.1 percent mark. UCO was just 3-for-18 from the behind the 3-point line, but got a boost with a 18-for-22 mark from the free-throw line.
Central Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead Saturday afternoon and while the Bronchos struggled from the floor on offense in the first quarter, the defense did not.
UCO led 4-0, and soon 8-3. Then a three-minute scoring drought hit the Bronchos. But Llanusa made it 10-3 with 2:36 to play in the opening quarter. The first frame finished just 10-5. Central Oklahoma held Newman to just 2-for-20 shooting in the first quarter, including 1-for-9 from behind the arc. The Bronchos forced four turnovers in the opening quarter as well.
In the second quarter, Newman finally started to hit shots, and cut the lead to just three points, 16-13, a couple of minutes into the quarter. But a 7-0 run followed by the Bronchos.
Wadsworth and Llanusa both had steals during the 53-second rally. Factor hit a pair of free-throws to start it off, then Knapp put home her first basket of the game with a driving layup. Llanusa finished it off with a big and-1 layup. Her free-throw gave UCO a 23-13 lead.
Wadsworth hit one of her two 3-pointers out of a media timeout to give UCO a 13-point lead, 31-18. The Bronchos took a 33-24 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Newman again cut into the lead. The Bronchos led by four, 33-29, early in the third quarter, but a 12-6 run that followed pushed it back to double digits, 45-35, later in the quarter. Another and-1 conversion from Llanusa with 49 seconds left in the third quarter made it 50-37 and that’s how the game went to the fourth quarter.
The game never went back into single digits, with UCO working up a 17-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before the Bronchos finished off the 71-57 victory.
Factor added six points off the bench for the Bronchos and Eliana Bravington chipped in two off the bench. Rayner finished with two points to go with a game-high seven assists and her three steals.
