Detroit, Green Bay and Loyola got their conference seasons off to a good start on Thursday night as they all won their opening league game. The trio joined Wright State, who won its league opener on Wednesday night, atop the standings in the Horizon League.
Detroit 72, Butler 60
Detroit used a 30-4 second-half run to move past visiting Butler, 72-60, on Thursday night from Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall.
The win moved Detroit to 5-8 on the year and 1-0 in the Horizon League, while Butler fell to 4-8, 0-1 in conference play.
Freshman Shareta Brown led the way with her fifth double-double of the season totaling a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, including 19 points and nine rebounds in the second half. The rookie was 7-of-11 from the field and 9-of-14 from the free throw line. It marked the third time this season she crossed the 20-point plateau.
Senior Jalesa Jones tallied 17 points, four assists and three steals, while junior Yar Shayok just missed a double-double ending with 11 rebounds and nine points.
Detroit took control of the game with a 30-4 offensive surge in the second half. Down by five, 38-33, at the 17:07 mark, the red, white and blue turned it on with Brown leading the way. She scored 16 points during that charge and could not be stopped inside grabbing five rebounds.
The defense stepped up holding Butler to 1-of-9 from the field with five turnovers, while the Bulldogs missed all five of their free throw attempts.
When Brown was not scoring, it was the other Titans doing damage as Jones had nine points, sophomore Senee Shearer nailed a trey and Shayok added two.
Brown stared the spurt by scoring seven straight to put UDM back on top, 40-38. Four straight free throws by Jones came next and then it was Brown again with six straight as the Titans took a 10-point lead, 50-40, with 11:37 left.
Shayok got in the mix with a layup and then Brown was fouled, but showed her strength by putting it in and then connecting on the free throw for the old fashioned three-point play. Jones added a basket and Shearer ended the offensive explosion with a 3-pointer and the Titans had a 60-40 lead with 8:47 left.
Detroit ran its lead to as high as 21, 63-42, with under eight minutes left before Butler chipped away to get within 11, 65-54, with 2:46 on the clock.
Sophomore Megan Hatter finished with eight points and four rebounds, while Shearer added five points and four assists.
UDM shot 42.1% from the field compared to 33.9% from Butler, while outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint, 32-20.
Detroit jumped out to an early 9-2 lead as Hatter hit a pair of 3-pointers to lead the offense, while the defense forced two turnovers and held Butler to just 1-of-5 shooting.
The Bulldogs then went on a 13-3 run to take a 15-12 lead midway through the first half. From there, both teams traded the lead and the half ended in a 30-all tie as junior Demeisha Fambro streaked down the court for a layup as time expired.
The Titans will put their winning streak on the line on Saturday as the red, white and blue host Valparaiso on New Year's Eve. Game time is set for Noon. Butler
No. 14/18 Green Bay 80, UIC 63
Junior Sarah Eichler scored a career and game-high 19 points while Julie Wojta tied a career-high 15 rebounds as No. 18/14 Green Bay (11-0, 1-0 HL) opened Horizon League play with an 80-63 win over UIC (7-5, 0-1 HL) Thursday at the Kress Events Center. Five players scored in double figures for Green Bay as it captured its 31st-consecutive regular season win.
Both teams shot 41 percent from the field in the first half as Green Bay struggled to get into its offensive rhythm with its leading scorer, Wojta, only scoring two points in the opening period.
Green Bay opened the contest with back-to-back three pointers from Eichler and Ritchie, sparking a 13-4 run in the first seven minutes of play. Midway through the first half, Quilling drained a deep three from the right wing to boost Green Bay’s lead to 11 before Wojta scored her lone bucket of the half at the 9:10 mark when Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) found her down low for the 20-7 advantage.
With a 10-point Phoenix lead, Stephanie Sension added a three-point play with 5:12 remaining in the first half with a bucket down low before converting the free throw to boost Green Bay’s lead to 30-17.
UIC came as close as seven with 3:20 to play in the opening half when Jasmine Bailey sank a bucket down low to cut Green Bay’s lead to 30-23. Bailey scored nine points in the first half while Shamiea Green added eight for the Flames.
Green Bay sank five three pointers in the first half, the most in four games throughout the opening half, going 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. For the second time this season and first time since its season opener, Green Bay shot
Adrian Ritchie opened the second half with a three from the top of the key while Wojta scored six points in the opening four minutes as part of an 11-4 run by the Phoenix. After a jumper by Bailey, Eichler poured in eight consecutive points for the Phoenix, boosting its lead to 18 (53-35) at the 14:00 mark.
With 9:55 to play, Wojta stole the ball and took it the distance for the 58-39 lead before Bauer sank one of her two three pointers of the contest with 7:29 to play to give the Phoenix a 20-point advantage.
UIC came as close as 12 after a three from Taylor Foulks with 3:25 to play in the game but an 8-2 run by Green Bay over the next two minutes secured the 80-63 win.
In addition to Eichler’s career-high 19, Wojta finished with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, her sixth double double of the season. Ritchie chipped in 18 points while Sension added 11 and Bauer 10 as Green Bay finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, its second lowest shooting percentage of the season. The Phoenix scored 27 points off UIC’s 25 turnovers as the Flames dished out only eight assists in the game.
Four players scored in double figures for UIC, including Bailey who led the Flames with 18 while Foulks chipped in 15.
Green Bay will close 2011 Saturday, Dec. 31 as it hosts Loyola (6-6, 1-0 HL) at 3 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. UIC stays in the state of Wisconsin, playing at Milwaukee on Saturday with the game scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET.
Loyola 81, Milwaukee 73
Loyola used an 11-1 run early in the second half to take control of the contest against Milwaukee and never looked back as the Ramblers were the only team in conference play to win on the road Thursday night, defeating the Panthers, 81-73.
Loyola outrebounded Milwaukee 47-25 on the night and shot 83.3 percent (20-24) from the free throw line in the win.
Milwaukee jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the game and was still up 19-12 with 9:23 left in the half when Loyola went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. The rest of the half was a nip and tuck affair before the Ramblers went on another run, this one 9-3, to take a 33-27 lead into the halftime break. Milwaukee shot 40 percent in the first half, while Loyola only shot 35 percent, but the Ramblers outrebounded the Panthers, 27-10, including 17 on the offensive end, in the opening frame to overcome their poor shooting.
In the second half, Milwaukee closed to within five points, 43-38, on an Angela Rodriguez three-pointer, but Loyola used an 11-1 run to extend its lead to 54-39 and Milwaukee was not able to cut the lead to single digits again until there was less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Loyola was led by Simone Law, playing in her first conference game, who had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Lauren Hibbard also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes of play. Patrice King, also playing in her first Horizon League contest, had 17 points and a team-high five assists for the Ramblers. Troy Hambric was also in double-figures, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Courtney Lindfors led Milwaukee with a game-high 23 points to pace four Panthers in double figures. Freshman Ashley Green posted 16 points and a game-high four steals, while Rodriguez had 14 points and Sami Tucker finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Loyola is back in action Saturday afternoon at Green Bay with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. ET. Milwaukee remains at home, hosting UIC at the Klotsche Center on Saturday afternoon with tipoff also scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
Wright State 58, Valparaiso 42
A 19-5 second-half run allowed the Wright State women's basketball team to pull away for a 58-42 win over Valparaiso Wednesday night in the Horizon League opener for both teams at WSU's Nutter Center.
The Raider lead was just 14-11 before a 13-2 WSU run, capped off by a pair of Courtney Boyd threes, made it 27-13 with 1:57 remaining in the first half. Wright State took a 27-15 advantage into the break as the Raiders shot 42 percent from the field compared to 25 percent for the Crusaders.
Valparaiso scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the deficit to two and the margin was three until Boyd hit two more threes and KC Elkins one to start the 19-5 run and extend the lead to 41-29.
WSU maintained a double-figure advantage the rest of the way, with the largest lead being 17 on two occasions, the final at 54-37 on a Kim Demmings triple with 4:44 to play.
The Raiders shot 39 percent for the game compared to 29 percent for the Crusaders and held a 22-4 edge in points in the paint.
Demmings led all scorers with 16 points for WSU and added nine rebounds while Molly Fox had 12 points and nine boards. Boyd chipped in 12 off the bench as the Raider reserves outscored the Valparaiso bench 20-8.
Gina Lange paced Valparaiso (4-8, 0-1 Horizon) with 10 points.
Wright State (8-5, 1-0 Horizon) closes out 2011 and its current five-game homestand on Saturday, December 31, with an 8:00 matchup against Butler. Valparaiso is in action on December 31 at Detroit. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Loyola - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball
