Box Score Kearney, Neb. – Senior point guard Alexa Hogberg set a new school record for assists in a career (374) and the Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball team clamped down once again to upset 18th-ranked Central Oklahoma, 73-59, Thursday night in Edmond.

UNK (10-14, 6-10 MIAA) has won six of its last nine games to be tied with Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern State for eighth place in the league standings. At the end of the regular season, the eighth place team will host an MIAA Tournament first round game.

To win on the road for the second time this year and to beat UCO (20-5, 11-5) for the second time in a week, UNK went 11 of 21 from downtown and forced 20 turnovers.

Leading for 26 minutes, the Lopers did trail 40-36 midway through the third quarter. However, they responded with a game-clinching 11-0 run that featured threes from senior Nieka Wheler (Independence, Mo.) and junior McKenzie Brown (G.I. Northwest).

Now on a four-game skid, UCO didn't get closer than five points the rest of the night. UNK held the 'Chos to 23 percent (3 of 13) shooting from the field over the last 10 minutes which included 0 of 5 from the three-point line.

In the last nine games, UNK is allowing the opposition just 58.8 points per game.

"The coaching staff was talking about a stat this week. We've now held 16 MIAA opponents under 60 points since Coach (Carrie) Eighmey took over. Out of those 16, we've won 13. When we defend at a high level, we tend to do well," said UNK assistant Brandon Rohr. "We're really locked in defensively right now. We did a great job tonight of limiting their shots and were also tough on the boards."

Hogberg (Chandler, Ariz.) came in needing two assists to break Tami Tully's career assist record of 373, set between 1992-95. With 8:25 left in the second quarter, she found Brown, who nailed her first of five threes on the night. Hogberg added one more dime and, working around some foul trouble, scored five points.

Brown started to warm up in in the second quarter and remained so, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 5 of 12 three point shooting. Playing 37 minutes, she added five boards and two steals.

Backcourt mate Michaela Barry (Norfolk Catholic H.S.) logged a game-high 39 minutes and scored half of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. Going 4 of 6 from the triple line, she also had five rebounds and two assists.

"I thought our toughness was outstanding. When we got down, we made a nice run. We pushed the tempo, took great shots, got some stops," said Rohr. "We're really proud of our kid's effort and how resilient they are."

UNK won the battle on the glass, 36-34, scored 19 points of those 20 UCO miscues and got 19 points off its bench.

Besides Brown and Barry, seven other Lopers scored between three and seven points. That large group included senior post Kelsey Fitzgerald (Yankton, S.D.), who also had four assists and three blocks.

UCO saw four of its starters reach double figures, led by guard Marley Anderson (13).

Kearney is at Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon. The RiverHawks (6-18, 2-14) have now dropped 11 straight after a 64-44 setback to Fort Hays State tonight.