Davis Dials Long Distance

1/29/2011 10:05:59 PM

Paige Locke

Box Score

EDMOND (Jan. 29) -- Heather Davis scored 18 of her career-high 21 points in the second half and tied a school record for single-game 3-point percentage to spark streaking Central Oklahoma past Lone Star Conference North Division rival East Central 81-76 Saturday night at Hamilton Field House.

Davis nailed all five of her long-range shots in tying the 100-percent 3-point mark held by Mallory Markus and Brianne Grisham and finished 7-of-9 from the field while hitting both free throw tries. The junior guard added six assists and four rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench as the Bronchos won for the seventh straight time.

UCO improved to 13-5 on the year and stayed atop the LSC North Division standings at 6-0. The Tigers fell to 9-10 and 2-4.

“We struggled some and it wasn't very pretty, but we found a way to get it done,” head coach Guy Hardaker said. “Heather hit a bunch of big shots for us and really played well.”

Davis entered the game with just eight 3-pointers for the season, but had four in the second half en route to her 21-point outing that led four UCO players in double figures.

Britney Morgan made 9-of-10 free throws in scoring 14 points, while Ashley Beckley -- the leading scorer in the LSC with 20.2 average entering the game -- had 12 in 22 foul-plagued minutes. Kylie Mayes added 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Courtney Allen chipped in eight points, a career-high eight rebounds and five assists and Alex Richardson had seven points, seven boards and six blocks, tied for the second-most in school history.

The Tigers stayed in the contest with their 3-point shooting, hitting 16-of-41 attempts from beyond the arc. ECU, which entered the game averaging 7.8 treys a game, hit nine in the first 17 minutes of the game

That early outside marksmanship helped stake the Tigers to a 12-point lead (36-24) with 3:17 left in the opening half, but Richardson scored five points in an 11-0 run that made it 36-35 by intermission and Beckley scored the first bucket of the second half to put UCO in front 37-36.

ECU came back with a Ashley Robison layup to regain the lead before the Bronchos answered with an 11-2 spurt to move in front to stay. Beckley hit back-to-back layups, Davis scored four points and Allen drilled a trey to end the run that gave UCO a 48-40 lead at the 14:07 mark.

Davis had three 3-pointers in a four-minute span to counter ECU's outside attack and keep the Bronchos in front and her fifth and final trey of the game gave UCO its biggest lead at 72-60 with 3:38 left to play.

The Tigers used a 13-5 run to get within four at 77-73 with 53 seconds left, but Mayes hit one free throw at 0:23 and Beckley two more at 0:15 after rebounding an ECU miss to make it 80-73 and clinch the win.

UCO is back at home Wednesday for a big North Division showdown with No. 7-ranked and defending champion Northeastern State. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

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