Game Statistics
COMMERCE, Texas (Jan. 27) – Cristina Yarbrough scored five of her team-high 16 points in the opening minutes of the second half to spark a 15-2 run that gave Central Oklahoma a comfortable lead and the Bronchos went on to throttle Texas A&M-Commerce 73-55 here Wednesday night.
UCO led just 31-30 at halftime before Yarbrough had two steals, a 3-pointer and a layup during a four-minute surge that pushed the advantage to 46-32 and the Bronchos had no trouble the rest of the way in recording their third straight Lone Star Conference North Division win.
“We made a lot of mistakes and really didn't very well in the first half,” UCO coach Guy Hardaker said. “We came out a little more focused in the second half and made some things happen, but it still wasn't very pretty.”
The Bronchos improved to 13-5 on the year and 4-1 in LSC North play heading into Saturday night's crucial showdown with league leader Northeastern State at Hamilton Field House.
UCO shot just 40.0 percent (26-of-65) from the field, including only 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from 3-point range, but the Bronchos forced A&M-C into 27 turnovers while making a season-high 18 steals.
Yarbrough had five of those thefts to go along with 16 points and seven assists to lead UCO, while Ashley Beckley added 13 points and five rebounds as the only other player in double figures. Alyssa Fuxa (nine), Savannah Hamilton (eight) and Courtney Allen (eight) combined for 25 points off the bench.
The Bronchos made just 10-of-31 shots (32.3 percent) in taking their slim 31-30 halftime lead, but Yarbrough and her teammates quickly put some distance between themselves and the Lions.
Jordan Stark started UCO's big run with a layup just seven seconds into the second half, Rose Anderson followed an A&M-C score with a jumper and then Yarbrough made back-to-back steals that led to a Beckley bucket and a Yarbrough layup.
Yarbrough continued the onslaught with a 3-pointer and layups by Stark and Brianne Grisham ended the spurt that gave the Bronchos a 46-32 lead.
The closest A&M-C got the rest of the way was nine at 48-39 with 12:21 remaining and Hamilton answered that by scoring all eight of her points in a 9-0 run that made it 57-39 and UCO coasted in from there.
The Bronchos trailed 4-0 in the opening minutes of the game, but came back to lead by as many as eight (28-20) before a late scoring drought enabled the Lions to get within a point by intermission.
