Missouri Southern State University sophomore guard Nariah Clay buried six treys and finished with 22 points Saturday to lead the women’s basketball team in a 75-57 win over the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos at Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium.
Ashlynn Alloway finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Grace Frazier logged 16 points in the win.
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The Lions improved to 7-3 overall, 2-0 in the MIAA; UCO fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Kaitlyn McCarn led UCO with 18 points, and Bobbie Fouquet tallied 13.
The Bronchos took an early 4-0 lead, but Frazier gave the Lions their first lead with a jumper at the 7:32 mark of the first quarter, making it at 5-4 game.
The score remained close until UCO opened a 7-point lead at the 3:03 mark with a 3-pointer from Nykaiya Dillard that made it a 17-10 game.
MSSU later tied the game at 21-21 off of a Clay trey and a Camryn Smith layup with 43 seconds left in the quarter. Another Clay 3-pointer gave the Lions a 24-21 lead to close out the opening stanza.
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Southern opened the second quarter with a Clay jumper, but UCO battled back to within one score at 28-26 off a Peyton Walker score with 7:19 left in the half.
The Lions increased their lead to 38-30 courtesy of a Lilly Thomas layup with 2:17 left and closed out the half with an Alloway transition score that gave Southern a 42-35 lead heading into the break.
MSSU held a 9-point lead at 46-37 with 6:22 left after an Alloway layup, but UCO battled back to within a bucket again, 49-47, with 3:27 left.
Southern responded with a 10-2 run capped off by a Hattie Pyle jumper to take a 10-point lead at 59-49 with 1:17 left in the quarter. They closed out the quarter with a Frazier jumper that made it a 61-51 game heading into the fourth quarter.
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The MSSU defense clamped down in the final quarter, allowing UCO just 6 points.
The lead increased to 13 off a Clay short jumper and 15 courtesy of a Thomas layup with 5:47 left. MSSU held its biggest lead of the game after a pair of Thomas free throws put the Lions up 75-55 with 1:03 left.
UCO managed one more score in the game, a jumper by Fouquet with 49 seconds left, as Southern claimed the win.
The Lions will have an 11-day break before hosting Avila University on Dec. 17 at Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium. They return to MIAA play with a rare Sunday game Dec. 21 when they travel to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to play Northeastern State University for their final game of 2025.
