CSU, GB, WSU and YSU Win on Saturday

Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 15)
Cleveland State 79, Detroit 74
Green Bay 81, Milwaukee 69
Wright State 103, UIC 91
Youngstown State 84, Valparaiso 56

Cleveland State 79, Detroit 74
Behind a strong second half surge, the Cleveland State women's basketball team kept its win streak alive Saturday afternoon, defeating Detroit, 79-74. The Vikings are now 13-11 overall, and 8-3 in Horizon League games.

"I'm really happy to come away with two wins this week, both of our games this week were tough for us, and I think we really showed a lot of growth in our team coming away with two victories," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We are playing with a lot of confidence in the final minutes of games, which has allowed us to stay strong and come away with victories that we would not have been able to get last year."

Cleveland State was led by Imani Gordon who notched her eighth double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Adesuwa Aideyman posted a team-high 17 points. Kiersten Green and Cori Coleman also tallied double-digit points, Green with 15 and Coleman with 14.

The Vikings struggled during the first half, as they went into the halftime break trailing, 42-31.

"After not shooting well during the first half, we were finally able to make shots during the second half which really helped us on both ends of the court. Sometimes it seems as if our offense is our best defense, and when we are hitting shots it helps us stay solid on the defensive end. This year we are finding ways to win games and not give it away in the final minutes," Peterson Abiad said.

To open the second half Cleveland State went on a 7-0 run, closing the gap to just four points at the 42-38 mark with 17:45 left on the clock. The Titans responded with a matching run of their own, extending their lead back to eight points (48-40), and held the advantage for the next 5:40.

At the 11:01 mark the Vikings were finally able to tie the score, as Aideyman converted an and-one play to put the score at 56-56. Detroit would once again regain control over the next three minutes, but an Olivia Voskuhl layup at the 7:49 mark knotted the score at 60-60 – just the second tie of the contest.

The Titans were able to answer with a three-point basket on the following possession, but a Voskuhl three-pointer off of a Gordon steal on CSU's next possession put the score at 63-63 with 6:04 left to play.

The Vikings then went on a 6-0 run, including five points from Coleman, gaining their first lead of the contest with 5:39 remaining. After Cleveland State was able to gain a 71-65 advantage at the 4:25 mark, the Titans battled their way back, coming within two points at the 73-71 mark. This would be as close as they would get though, as Cleveland State outscored Detroit 6-3 in the closing minutes for the five-point victory.

After struggling offensively during the first half, CSU rebounded and shot 51-percent from the floor during the second stanza (17-for-33), and shot 40-percent from the field for the game (27-for-67).

The Vikings were also able to capitalize on 16 Detroit turnovers, turning them into 22 Cleveland State points. On the other hand, Cleveland State made just five turnovers throughout the contest - their lowest turnover total this season.

Green Bay 81, Milwaukee 69
Overcoming a sluggish start to the game, the Green Bay women’s basketball team recovered to close the first stanza on a 22-7 run and held off a late second half surge by the Panthers as it evened the season series with its in-state rival Milwaukee with an 81-69 win on Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The win moved the Phoenix to 15-7 overall and 8-2 in the Horizon league, while the Panthers dropped to 7-16 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

Milwaukee came out with the hot hand to start the game, capitalizing on shooting from deep to lead by as many as five points (11-6) with 15:34 remaining.

Green Bay tied the game three times over the next 8:11, but was unable to grab the lead. Trailing 21-18 with 7:23 remaining in the first half, the Phoenix then went on a big 22-7 run to close the stanza and take a 40-28 lead going into halftime.

Sophomore Ellen Edison (Maple Grove, Minn.) started the run for the Phoenix, driving into the lane and sinking a jumper before being fouled, making the free throw to complete the and-1. The next trip down the court freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) hit on a three and after a Milwaukee offensive foul and turnover on the Panthers Sydney Howard, Edison was again fouled, this time on a three-point attempt and she was sent to the line where she made all three attempts.

An and-1 completion by freshman Mariah Monke (Fergus Falls, Minn.) ended a 12-0 run by the Phoenix as it pushed its lead to 30-21 with 4:28 remaining. Avyanna Young ended a scoreless drought of 4:37 for Milwaukee, but Green Bay closed with a 10-5 scoring advantage to put its lead at 12 points at intermission.

Bench play was key for Green Bay in the opening stanza with almost half of its points (19) coming from the reserves, while senior Sam Zastrow (Algoma, Wis.) provided strong rebounding and leadership at the point to guide the Phoenix after junior Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) got into foul trouble.

“It’s important to have kids come off the bench that are ready to play. It’s a tight game and we’re playing against a quality opponent so they have to be ready to play when they step on the court,” Borseth said. “But they practice hard and push our starters so when they get out on the court they are prepared for a game situation and that was really important today.”

“Sam Zastrow had a great game for us, and she really gave us huge minutes in the first half when Megan was out,” Borseth said. “She came up with some big rebounds and was a great leader for our squad today.”

The Phoenix started the second half where it left off, opening on an 8-2 run to force a Milwaukee timeout as Green Bay assumed its largest lead of the game at 18 points (48-30) with 16:49 remaining. Four different Phoenix had a point during the run, started by Megan Lukan who after being held without a point in the first half drove to the lane and made a layup 30 seconds in. Senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.), sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) and Monke also scored during the run.

“We knew starting the second half strong was important,” Borseth Said. “We had them in the same situation as the last time we played them and we let them get back in that time, so this time we knew we had to be strong.

“We hit key buckets and had some key defensive stops until the final four minutes, but I thought we achieved our goal coming out of the locker room.”

Milwaukee used a 10-2 run to get to within 10 points (50-40) with 12:09 remaining, but Green Bay went on another run, this time 25-13, to assume its largest lead of the contest at 22 points (75-53) with just over four minutes remaining.

The Panthers made it interesting, going on a 13-0 run over the closing four minutes to cut the advantage to single digits with under a minute to play (75-66). Green Bay allowed Milwaukee to hang around as it struggled from the free throw line down the stretch, but the Phoenix maintained composure and held on for the 81-69 triumph.

Green Bay finished the game shooting 43.5 percent (27-62) from the field and 37.0 percent (10-27) from deep, with 22 assists on 27 made field goals. The Phoenix also owned a 30-18 advantage in the paint and 24-5 off the bench. Milwaukee finished shooting 41.1 percent (23-56) from the field, while rebounds were even at 37 apiece.

Four Phoenix finished with double-digit scoring, led by 17 from Kaili Lukan, 15 by Megan Lukan, 13 from Buck and 12 from Monke. Kaili Lukan also added a team-high eight rebounds while freshman Mehryn Kraker (West Allis, Wis.) dished out a career-high six assists.

Milwaukee was paced by a game-high 22 points from Angela Rodriguez and a game-high 10 rebounds from Avyanna Young.

Wright State 103, UIC 91
The Wright State women's basketball team scored its most points ever since moving up to Division I Saturday as the Raiders defeated UIC 103-91 at WSU's Nutter Center.

WSU jumped out to an early 15-7 lead, only to see the Flames answer with 10 straight to take a two-point lead.  The two teams were tied four more times in the first half before a KC Elkins three gave the Raiders the edge at 37-34 with 3:32 remaining in the period.

A later Elkins basket extended the margin to four before a Ruvanna Campbell free throw made it 44-41 at the half.

UIC shot 52 percent in the first half compared to 39 percent for Wright State, but the Raiders countered by hitting seven of 18 three-pointers and were seven of 11 at the foul line.

An 8-0 burst, capped off by a Kim Demmings three, put WSU up 56-47 with 16:55 left in the second half, but back came the Flames as they went on a 18-6 run over the next four minutes to go back in front 65-62.

UIC led 79-77 on a Campbell jumper at the 7:21 mark, but that turned out to be the final lead of the day for the Flames as a Tay'ler Mingo layup and two Ivory James free throws gave the Raiders the advantage.

It was only a three-point game at 92-89 with 2:49 remaining until WSU closed out the game with an 11-2 run, all of those coming at the line in 12 attempts.

The 103 points are the most scored by the Raiders in a game since the program moved up to Division I, a span of 27 seasons (1987-88).  It is tied for the second-highest ever as WSU won 103-40 over Capital on January 5, 1980, with the highest being a 105-86 win over St. Joseph's (IN) on February 4, 1987.

It is also just the second time that Wright State has reached the century mark in a Division I game, with the other being a 100-73 decision over Cleveland State on February 25, 2012.

WSU shot 53 percent in the second half to finish at 45 percent overall while UIC shot 46 percent to end up at 49 percent.  The Raiders also made 21 of 26 foul shots after halftime and 28 of 37 overall compared to nine of 16 and 13 of 23 altogether for the Flames.  Wright State also led 32-12 in points off of turnovers as they forced 25 turnovers while only committing 10.

Demmings led all scorers with 31 points while Mingo added 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and five steals.  James posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while Elkins had a season-high 16 points.

Campbell paced UIC (18-7, 7-5 Horizon) with a double-double of 30 points and 18 rebounds while Katie Hannemann recorded one as well with 19 points and 13 boards.  Rachel Story had 22 points and Emily Kobel 14.

Youngstown State 84, Valparaiso 56
The Youngstown State women's basketball team made a season-high 13 3-pointers and shot a season-best 55 percent to beat Valparaiso 84-56 on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center.

Youngstown State emphatically snapped its three-game losing streak and improves to 11-12 overall and 7-3 in Horizon League play. Valparaiso dropped to 3-21 and 1-10.

Liz Hornberger made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points, and Monica Touvelle made four triples en route to 14 points. Karen Flagg had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, and Heidi Schlegel added 12 points.

Schlegel set YSU's single-season free throws record at the 15:30 mark of the first half, breaking Brianne Kenneally's mark of 140 during the 1999-2000 season. The senior from Wapakoneta, Ohio, finished 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the game to increase her season total to 144.

The Penguins had 21 assists on 27 buckets while registering eight steals, their most during conference play. YSU was 13-for-24 from 3-point range and 17-for-19 from the free-throw line.

Charae Richardson led Valparaiso with 19 points, and Sharon Karungi finished with 12. The Crusaders played without starting forward Liz Horton.

Youngstown State made eight of its 3-pointers in the first 15-and-a-half minutes, and Hornberger made the ninth at the first-half buzzer as the Penguins built a 42-27 lead at the break.

Hornberger hit a 3 for the first points of the game at the 19:06 mark, and YSU never trailed from that point forward. Valpo cut the deficit to one on three occasions, including 8-7 when Jessi Wiedemann made the Crusaders' only triple of the first period.  Schlegel's record-setting free throws at the 15:30 mark started a 15-6 run for the Penguins that put them ahead by double digits for the first time.

Valpo cut the deficit to eight twice, but Touvelle hit a 3-pointer to start an 11-0 run as the Penguins went up 36-17 with 4:29 remaining. The Penguins led by double digits for the final 26:46 of the game. Valpo scored seven straight points late in the period to get within 12 before Hornberger's buzzer-beater.

Richardson scored on the first possession of the second half to get Valpo's deficit down to 13, but that's as close as the Crusaders would get. The Penguins went up by 20 for the first time on a Latisha Walker basket at the 10:57 mark, and they were up by at least 20 for the final six minutes. The largest lead was 31 on Amanda Barger's two free throws with 25 seconds left.