UCO couldn't hit from outside or the free throw line, shooting a season-low 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from 3-point range and missing 18 foul shots in finishing a season-worse 58.1 percent (25-of-43) from the charity stripe.
ACU, meanwhile, shot 51.7 percent (30-of-58) overall and a sizzling 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from long range. And this from a team that had made just 13 treys in its first seven games while shooting at a 22-percent clip.
Add in the fact that the Wildcats outrebounded UCO 44-29 and it resulted in a lopsided loss for the Bronchos, their first since a season-opening defeat to Arkansas-Fort Smith.
“We just got outplayed in every phase of the game,” said head coach Guy Hardaker, whose team fell to 5-2. “ACU beat us to all the loose balls and they obviously shot the ball well while we couldn't seem to make anything. It was a disappointing loss.”
Alyssa Fuxa scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds and three steals while playing all 40 minutes of the contest. Ashley Beckley finished with 18 points and 10 boards, with freshman Kylie Mayes chipping in a career-high 14 points.
The game went back-and-forth early and UCO led 8-7 three minutes in after a pair of Beckley free throws, but the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run during a two-minute spurt to surge in front to stay, 17-10.
ACU pushed its lead to 12 (27-15) and was still up 11 at 30-19 when the Bronchos briefly got back in the contest, getting eight straight points from Mayes to pull within 30-27 at the 7:02 mark. It was still a three-point deficit at 35-32 following Fuxa's layup at 4:41, but the Wildcats went on to take a nine-point lead (45-36) at intermission.
UCO then came out cold to start the second half and ACU scored seven unanswered points to go ahead 52-36 and the Bronchos never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.
UCO returns to action Saturday, traveling to Canyon, Texas to take on West Texas A&M in another Lone Star Conference crossover game.
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