From ECU Sports Info.
Teri LaJeunesse, Sports Information Director
EDMOND, OKLA. – The East Central University women’s basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the 2014-15 season, with a 60-51 decision at Central Oklahoma.
The Tigers (8-2, 4-0 GAC) were led by senior Ashleigh Kelman-Poto, who tallied her first double-double of the year. Kelma-Poto led the team with career highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
ECU opened the scoring, with a triple by senior Taylor Fischer, and the team then traded points for the first three minutes of the game. However, that is when the Bronchos (10-3) put together a 6-0 run to push the lead to five points (5-10).
The deficit remained between five to nine points for most of the half before the Tigers started a come-back. In the final 3:45, ECU went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to three (25-28) at the half.
UCO opened the second half with a 4-0 run, but ECU countered with a 9-2 run until 14:30 remained to take a 34-33 advantage. The game remained close over the next 4:30 that resulted in a 39-all tie. However, the Bronchos followed with a 5-0 run to take the lead again.
The Tigers kept fighting and the teams traded points for the next four minutes, with most of UCO’s points coming at the free-throw line. ECU had the deficit at two (48-50), with 4:37 left on the clock, when UCO used a final 6-0 run to put the game away with a 48-56 advantage. The teams traded shots over the final minutes, but the Bronchos had created enough of a cushion for the 51-60 win.
The key difference of the game came at the charity stripe, where ECU went 2-of-4 and UCO was given 31 chances for free points and made 24.
The Tigers will now look to get back to the heart of the 2014-15 Great American Conference schedule, as they open the 2015 portion of the season at Southern Nazarene, Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. in the Sawyer Center.