Kasey Tweed made two clutch free throws with 10 seconds remaining and No. 14-ranked Central Oklahoma barely staved off a final Science & Arts of Oklahoma rally in holding on for a 65-64 victory Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
Tweed’s two foul shots gave the unbeaten Bronchos a 65-61 lead, but Lamitra Daggs converted a three-point play on the other end with four seconds left to make it 65-64.
Ashley Beckley missed two free throws after being fouled on the inbounds play and Juliana Leite got off a 35-foot 3-point try at the buzzer that bounced off the back iron as UCO escaped with the hard-fought win in the home opener.
The Bronchos improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1997-98 while ending USAO’s six-game winning streak. UCO returns to action Tuesday, hosting Midwestern State at 7 p.m.
“It was an ugly game, but fortunately we came out on top,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. “We couldn’t make any shots and did an awful job rebounding, so we’ll take this win and move on.”
The Bronchos shot a paltry 31.3 percent (21-of-67) from the field, including just 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from 3-point range while getting outrebounded 45-28. UCO’s saving grace was making 15 steals while forcing 43 turnovers.
Beckley finished with a team-high 14 points for the Bronchos, while Lizzie Brenner had 13 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists. UCO also got 11 points from Tweed and 10 from Rose Anderson.
The Bronchos missed 11 layups and just 23.5 percent (8-of-34) to trail by 11 (33-22) at halftime, but cut the deficit to two at 37-35 on an Anderson three-point play with 13:22 left to play.
Tweed had another three-point play at the 8:25 mark to tie it at 45-all and UCO went up 52-50 on Courtney Allen’s layup with 5:05 remaining. It was tied again at 56 before the Bronchos got back-to-back layups from Brenner and Anderson in going ahead 60-56 with 2:09 left.
A Beckley layup had UCO in front 62-59 at 1:39 and then Tweed made one of two foul shots at 0:58 for a 63-59 lead before USAO’s Ivaney Marquez hit two charity tosses with 43 seconds left to make it 63-61.
Brenner missed a shot on the other end, but the ball went out of bounds off USAO and Tweed was fouled with 10 seconds left. She calmly swished both shots to make it 65-61 and set up the wild finish.
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