University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

Turnovers Cost UCO

1/25/2012 8:09:00 PM

Heather Davis

Box Score

FORT SMITH, Ark. (Jan. 25) – A seven-minute shooting slump and too many turnovers proved insurmountable for Central Oklahoma to overcome here Wednesday night as the Bronchos fell to Arkansas-Fort Smith 83-69.

UCO led 25-20 with 5:24 left in the opening half, but made just two of their next 11 shots – going 1-of-9 from the field and 1-of-2 from the free throw line – and turned the ball over five times in falling behind 44-28 with 18:37 left in the game.

The Bronchos tried to rally and got within nine at 76-67 in the final three minutes before UAFS closed out the win.

UCO fell to 12-8 in the closing out a brutal nine-game road-swing. The Bronchos play five of their last six games at home, starting with Saturday's 2 p.m. contest against No. 6-ranked Northeastern State.

Courtney Harper led UCO with 17 points, while Jill Bryan added 14. Savannah Hamilton had her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Heather Davis also had 10 points for the Bronchos, who committed 28 turnovers to just 11 for the Lady Lions.

Harper and Bryan each drilled a 3-pointer in the first minute to stake UCO to a quick 6-1 lead and it was a 13-5 advantage on a Bryan jumper with 16:12 left in the half. UAFS came back to tie it at 16-all and then Harper ended a 5-0 run with a trey to put the Bronchos on top 21-16 midway through.

It was a 25-20 lead at 5:24 after two Bryan free throws, but UCO went cold after that and the Lady Lions went on a 24-3 run to take their big second-half lead.

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