Box Score Kearney, Neb. – Senior guard McKenzie Solberg scored 27 points and Central Oklahoma sunk 28 free throws to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 73-65, Thursday night at the Buckle Court at the Health & Sports Center.
UCO (12-4, 6-4) has now beaten UNK (8-8, 4-6) three straight times.
In last year's MIAA Tournament first round game in Edmond, Solberg came off the bench to tally 26 in a 90-70 win over the Lopers. Now her team's leading scorer at just over 15 per game, she had another big night thanks to a 14 of 14 effort from the charity stripe.
A solid free throw shooting team on the season, UCO was even better tonight, going 28 of 31 (90.3%). UNK, meanwhile, was 7 of 9 at the line, making this the fourth time over the last six games the Lopers have made less free throws than its opponent.
Leading for the last 32 minutes but not by more than 11, the Bronchos scored just nine points in the third quarter. Ahead 49-44 heading into the fourth, UCO saw Solberg score a quick five points to push the lead back to double digits.
UNK didn't get closer than four points the rest of the way with Solberg tallying 16 of her points over the final 10 minutes. She finished 6 of 12 from the field (1 of 3 threes) and also grabbed seven rebounds, including four offensive.
"Defensively, we got caught on their pick and pops and they hit some big early threes. We made an adjustment and I thought we played better defense in the second half," said UNK head coach
Carrie Hofstetter. "They didn't give us anything easy early on and, for the first time in a long time, I felt we let the lack of success on the offensive end dictate our defensive energy."
Among the MIAA's top three point shooting teams, UCO erased a 7-2 deficit by sinking four long range shots over a three-minute span in the first quarter. UNK came in allowing only four threes per game and allowed the 'Chos just one more trey.
Besides Solberg, UCO's bench scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. The unit was led by guard Bailey Taylor (10 points) and forward Olivia Mason (eight points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks & two steals).
"UCO is pretty aggressive and have some talented players. Our urgency defensively wasn't as good; we weren't in a stance and not able to control the ball as we have the past several games," said Hofsetter.
For UNK, guards
Laramey Becker (16) and
McKenzie Brown (12) reached double digits thanks to combining to hi six threes. Each grabbed four rebounds with Arizona junior point guard
Alexa Hogberg having seven times, nine points and two of UNK's 11 offensive caroms.
UNK hosts Northeastern State Saturday afternoon. NSU fell to No. 3 Fort Hays State tonight, 68-47.
