Box Score
EDMOND (Jan. 8) -- Kasey Tweed made two free throws with nine seconds remaining to give Central Oklahoma the lead and the No. 14-ranked Bronchos survived two late misses by Abilene Christian to pull out a thrilling 68-67 victory Thursday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
Tweed was fouled driving to the basket at 0:09 and calmly made both foul shots to put UCO in front by one, with the Wildcats missing a mid-range jumper at 0:04 and a tip-in at the buzzer as the Bronchos held on.
Ashley Beckley had a career-high 27 points to carry UCO as the team's only double-digit scorer, with the Bronchos overcoming a horrid outside shooting performance that saw them hit just 1-of-19 (5.3 percent) 3-point attempts.
"We shot it awful and were fortunate to win the game," UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. "I thought we played with a lot of intensity and it was a tough battle, but we just couldn't make any shots. Ashley really carried us and Kasey hit two huge free throws at the end."
UCO improved to 10-2 on the season while dropping the Wildcats to 8-5. The Bronchos return to action Saturday, hosting Angelo State at 2 p.m.
Beckley, who had scored just 14 points in the previous three games, was UCO's best offensive option all day. She ended up hitting 11-of-17 field goals and 5-of-7 free throws in her 27-point outing while adding seven rebounds and three steals.
The sophomore forward had 15 first-half points as the Bronchos took a 34-26 lead into intermission and UCO stayed in front throughout the second half, going in front 66-60 on a Beckley layup at the 3:39 mark.
ACU responded with seven unanswered points to take its first lead since the opening minutes at 67-66 with 2:06 remaining and UCO managed to stay within one despite missing its next two shots and turning the ball over as the Wildcats threw the ball away twice and missed a shot.
Lizzie Brenner rebounded ACU's miss with 27 seconds left and UCO ran the clock down before Tweed was fouled driving the baseline at 0:09. She swished both charity tosses to put the Bronchos up 68-67, with the Wildcats missing two last-second shots at the upset.
Autumn Whitaker had the first chance for ACU, but her 15-foot baseline jumper was off the mark and Jody Meyer's tip-in fell off the front rim as the final horn sounded.
UCO shot just 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the field in the contest, thanks mostly to its woeful 3-point performance, and the Bronchos made only 19-of-30 free throws (63.3 percent).
Tweed went 7-of-8 from the line in finishing with seven points, while Rose Anderson added eight points and Brenner seven points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
The Bronchos held ACU leading scorer Jamie Meyer -- who was coming off a school-record 49-point outing in a win over Texas Woman's Monday -- to five points.
The game was tied 19-19 midway through the first half before an Anderson layup ignited an 10-2 run that gave UCO a 28-21 advantage and it was a nine-point cushion at 33-24 after a Beckley layup at 2:08 before the Bronchos settled for the 34-26 halftime lead.
The Bronchos took a pair of 10-point leads early in the second half, but ACU quickly got back in the game and managed to stay close before surging in front with its late run that set up the last-second finish.
