Box Score
EDMOND (Jan. 14) -- Rose Anderson scored 15 of her season-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes to lead a sizzling second-half shooting exhibition that carried No. 20-ranked Central Oklahoma past Texas A&M-Commerce 89-81 Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House.
The Bronchos shot 66.7 percent (22-of-33) in scoring 58 second-half points to overcome a 33-31 halftime deficit and back turn back the Lions in a showdown of the two teams expected to battle it out for the Lone Star Conference North Division title.
UCO, which earned a share of its first-ever North Division crown last season, is favored to win again this year while the Lions were picked second in the league's preseason poll.
The Bronchos improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the LSC North, while A&M-C fell to 8-6 and 0-1.
Anderson made all five of her second-half shots -- including three 3-pointers -- in her 20-point outing. UCO also got 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists from Lizzie Brenner and 14 points apiece from Mallory Markus and Ashley Beckley.
The Bronchos finished with assists on 25 of their 32 field goals, with Kasey Tweed handing out a career high eight.
"We came out and got after it in the second half," UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. "We did a great job of running our offense and getting a lot of layups, which opened up some other things for us. We've really struggled our last three games and this was a good win for us."
The Bronchos trailed by four early in the second half, but scored nine layups -- four by Beckley -- in a four-minute stretch to surge in front by six (53-47). A&M-C came back to take a 62-61 lead and it was tied at 64-all midway through the second half before UCO went in front to stay.
Tweed broke the deadlock with a pair of free throws at the 9:17 mark and she followed an A&M-C miss with a 3-pointer from the wing 20 seconds later to bump the lead to 69-64. Anderson drained a trey at 7:08 to give UCO a 75-68 lead, but the Lions stayed close and were within two at 81-79 following a Nola Taylor layup with 2:18 left.
Cristina Yarbrough made it a four-point cushion nine seconds later with a driving layup and Anderson nailed a 3-pointer at 1:37 upped the advantage to 86-79, with A&M-C pulling within 86-81 on an Alisha Williams layup at 0:39.
The Lions couldn't force a turnover and Yarbrough made two free throws with 34 seconds left to clinch it.
UCO looked like it was going to rout the Lions in the early going, jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead as A&M-C missed its first nine shots of the game. The Lions bounced back with an 12-2 run to surge in front and A&M-C was up by as many as six before settling for the 33-31 halftime lead.
The Bronchos resume their LSC North Division schedule Saturday with a 2 p.m. game at Southwestern Oklahoma.
