Cleveland State 68, Wright State 63
With a balanced offensive attack and strong second half, the Cleveland State women's basketball team was able to erase a 19-point first half deficit and earn a 68-63 victory over Wright State Thursday evening. Thursday's win, which snapped a five-game losing streak, improves CSU to 11-10 overall this season and 3-5 in league play, while Wright State falls to 10-12 (4-5 HL).
The trio of Shalonda Winton, Imani Gordon and Cori Coleman led the balanced offensive attack for CSU, with Winton notching a game-high 24 points. Gordon added 14 points and four assists, while Coleman tallied 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Kiersten Green and Honesty King each added seven points for the Vikings, while Haley Schmitt posted six to round out the scoring.
After going into halftime trailing by 14, the Vikings posted a 7-2 run over the first 2:38 of the second half to close the gap to single digits at the 39-30 mark, with four points from Winton and three from Coleman. The Raiders were then able to extend their lead once again over the next three minutes, before CSU went on an 8-0 run to close the gap to seven points (48-41) with 11:08 remaining.
Wright State was able to convert a three-pointer on the next possession, but five straight points from Gordon made it a five-point game at 51-46 with 10:04 left to play. The Vikings were able to battle back over the next five minutes, and back-to-back three pointers from Winton brought CSU within two (56-54), before a Green jumper and two free throws from Winton tied the game for the first time at the 3:34 mark.
The two teams traded three-point baskets over the next two possessions, before the Vikings were able to gain their first lead of the contest on a pair of Coleman free throws. With 1:44 left to play and a two-point lead (63-61), CSU closed out the contest on a 5-2 run to earn the five-point victory.
CSU recorded 17 assists on its 20 made field goals, including four from Gordon, Coleman and Green. The Vikings also tallied 10 steals and forced Wright State into 18 turnovers. For the ninth time this season CSU outrebounded its opponent, notching 35 boards against WSU's 34.
Ivory James, the only Raider to play off the bench, led WSU with 21 points on 8-14 shooting. Kim Demmings finished with 19 points and Breanna Stucke rounded out the Raiders in double figures with 10.
#rv/rv Green Bay 65, Loyola 62
Breannah Ranger made consecutive baskets in the closing minutes to help Green Bay get past Loyola, 65-62, at the Ramblers’ Gentile Arena.
The Phoenix trailed 62-60 when Ranger rebounded a missed jumper by Sarah Eichler and laid it back in to tie the game at 62 with 1:32 remaining. After grabbing a missed Loyola shot on the other end, Ranger scored the game-winning basket with :44 seconds left. The junior forward finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds.
Loyola led most of the way in the first half, but Green Bay kept within striking distance, never trailing by more than six, with the Ramblers ultimately taking a 26-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Phoenix scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to take a 34-28 lead, with 16:18 left in the game. Loyola would not let Green Bay get a lead larger than six though and a 7-0 run, capped off by a Becca Smith layup, put the Ramblers back in front, 48-47, with 9:04 remaining in regulation.
From that point forward the two teams traded baskets as neither team would have a lead greater than three points the rest of the game.
Lyndsey Booker’s three-pointer gave Loyola a 60-57 lead with 3:00 remaining, but Megan Lukan responded on the next possession for GB, completing a three-point play the old fashioned way to tie the game at 60. Troy Hambric gave the Ramblers the final lead of the game, 62-60, with a rebound layup with 1:54 left.
Adrian Ritchie led Green Bay with 22 points and eight rebounds. Ranger was the only other Phoenix player in double figures. Lukan and Stephanie Sension both finished with nine points.
Monica Albano had a game-high 23 points for the Ramblers as she connected on six three-pointers in the contest. Taylor Johnson had 12 points and six steals and Hambric rounded only the Loyola players in double figures with 11 points.
UIC 84, Milwaukee 67
UIC's Katie Hannemann and Rachel Story combined for 54 points as the Flames knocked off Milwaukee, 84-67, Thursday night at the UIC Pavilion.
Hannemann scored a career-high 29 points as she was 14-20 from the field for the game. The 14 field goals made are the second-most in a single game by a Horizon League player this season. Story also was very effective from the field, hitting 9-of-15 shots, to score 25 points.Milwaukee had a 16-14 lead near the midway point of the first half when the Flames ran off 12 consecutive points to take a 26-16 lead. Milwaukee hit consecutive three-pointers to get back within four and only trailed by five, 36-31, at halftime.
The first 12 minutes of the second half were even between the two teams as UIC's lead was six, 59-53, with 8:36 left in the game. But UIC went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 70-55 lead with 4:13 remaining and Milwaukee would never get closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Angela Rodriguez connected on 8-of-11 shots to lead Milwaukee with 22 points. Emily Decorah connected on five three-pointers to finish with 15 for UWM. The Panthers connected on nine three-pointers, but shot just 33.3 percent (9-27) from three-point range in the game.Terri Bender joined Hannemann and Story in double figures with 12 points. The Flames hit 81 percent (17-21) from the free throw line and had 20 assists on their 31 field goals.
Youngstown State 58, Detroit 53
Karen Flagg scored a career-best 17 points as the Youngstown State women's basketball team hung on for a 58-53 win over Detroit in a scrappy contest on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.
The Penguins (16-5 overall and 6-2 in the Horizon League) moved into sole possession of second place in the league standings behind Green Bay with the victory. YSU has now won five straight after starting league play 1-2. Detroit is now 12-8 overall and 5-3 in suffering its first defeat in its last six games.
With 4:56 left the Penguins led by 11 points at 56-45, but Detroit turned up the defensive pressure and YSU could not knock down some open shots. The Titans scored the next eight points and pulled within three with 53.8 seconds remaining following a 3-pointer by Senee Shearer.
Neither team would make a field goal after that point, but each had their opportunities, including many by the Titans to possibly tie.
With 43.9 seconds, the Penguins turned the ball over to give the Titans a chance to tie. Shearer missed a 3-pointer, but Audrey Matteson grabbed the rebound and her shot was blocked out of bounds. Still in possession, Rosanna Reynolds and Demeisha Fambro missed 3-pointers and a jump ball with nine seconds left allowed the ball to stay in Detroit's possession.
After a YSU timeout, Matteson took an arrant 3-point shot that landed in the arms of Monica Touvelle with 3.9 seconds left. Touvelle stepped to the line and drained the first of a one-an-one to all but seal the game. She made the last for the final outcome.
Flagg was 7-of-15 for the contest and had six assists and five rebounds. Brandi Brown posted her 16th double-double with 18 rebounds and 12 points.
The Penguins trailed 39-38 before a jumper in the lane by Flagg with 10:53 put them on top 40-39. On its next possession, Brown converted a layup off a pass from Flagg to extend the lead to 42-39.
With 9:55 left, Shar'Rae Davis fouled out, but without their starting point guard, the Penguins rallied. Flagg was left wide open for a 3-pointer and Heidi Schlegel followed with a wide open 3-pointer of her own to push the advantage to 48-39 at the 8:25 mark.
Brown's putback of her own miss at the 4:56 mark was the final field goal of the game for the Penguins.
On the night, YSU shot 35 percent making 21-of-60 shots, including an 8-of-37 performance from behind the 3-point arc. YSU was outrebounded by 10 (48-38), but the rebounds were even in the second half. The Titans had 17 turnovers and while the Guins finished with 15 assists on 21 buckets. Detroit was 16-of-58 from the field (27.6 percent) and went 18-for-27 from the free-throw line. Fambro led the Titans with 16 points while Shareta Brown had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
In a spirited first half, the Penguins eventually took a four-point lead into the locker room after falling behind by six at the game's outset.
Detriot built its 6-0 advantage while the Penguins were held scoreless for the first 3:04 of the game before two Flagg free throws.
The Titans took their biggest lead of the half at 9-2, but the Guins answered with a 10-1 run taking their first lead of the ballgame on a 3-pointer by Davis. With the game eventually tied at 23, YSU reeled off six straight points as Brown, Flagg and Melissa Thompson all knocked down shots for a 29-23 advantage with 44 seconds left in the first half. Two free throws by UDM's Brown cut the deficit to 29-25, which was the score at the break.
In the opening half, YSU shot 33.3 percent making 11-of-33 shots, including a 7-of-13 performance from inside the 3-point line. The Guins were 4-of-20 from behind the arc while the Titans made just one-of-six attempts. Detroit had 10 turnovers and shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) in the stanza. The Titans shot 10 more free throws than the Penguins.
Tags: Cleveland State - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
