Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 7)
Detroit 85, Chicago State 64
UIC 62, Butler 57
Valparaiso 63, Toledo 61
South Dakota State 66, Green Bay 54
#7/7 Louisville 99, Wright State 40
Detroit 85, Chicago State 64
Seniors Megan Hatter and Senee Shearer and junior Ellisha Crosby each eclipsed 20 points and the Titans never trailed as UDM ran away from Chicago State, 85-64, in day two of the Toledo Invite on Saturday at Savage Arena.
Hatter tallied a career high 21 points and tied her career mark with 11 rebounds for her second collegiate double-double. Crosby tied her season high with 24 points and tacked on four rebounds, three assists and three steals and Shearer recorded 20 points, four rebounds and a career-best nine assists.
Detroit (3-7) led from the very start scoring the first 10 points of the game, with sophomore DaVonna Bradford the early spark netting five of those. Chicago State (1-8) cut that deficit down to six, 15-9, but an 18-8 spurt by the Titans gave the red, white and blue a 33-17 advantage with 7:47 left in the first. Hatter had seven in that run, while Crosby nailed two of her career-best six treys.
Despite the early offense, CSU was able to hold off the early UDM blow out and would trim the Titan lead down to just five in the second half, the latest at 48-43, with 16:46 remaining. Detroit then went on an 11-2 charge to regain the momentum as four different players scored in that spurt, with Shearer adding five, including a three ball to make it a 59-45 contest with just over 13 minutes left.
A minute later, UDM led by 14 again, 61-47, as Hatter was perfect from the charity stripe, but the pesky Cougars hung around and trailed by just nine, 67-58, at the 7:25 mark. That is when the Titans put the game away ending it on an 18-6 run for the 21-point victory.
Bradford ended the game with a career-high nine points and corralled five rebounds. Sophomore Tayelor McCalister – who missed the last five games with an injury – returned to the line-up and scored seven points, handed out a career-high five assists and tied her career-best with four steals, while freshman Haleigh Ristovski had two points and six boards.
Detroit shot just under 50% for the game hitting 33-of-67 (49.3%) shots – a season high in field goals – and outrebounded Chicago State, 43-32. UDM also connected on a season-best 11 three pointers and posted 21 assists, while forcing 18 turnovers and coming away with 10 steals.
UIC 62, Butler 57
The UIC women’s basketball team (6-2) won its sixth consecutive game Saturday (Dec. 7) with a 62-57 victory over Butler (3-5) inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. Katie Hannemann (16 points and eight rebounds) and Ruvanna Campbell (14 points and 10 rebounds) neutralized Bulldog center Liz Stratman while Rachel Story (17 points) had a strong second half for the Flames.
The Flames’ 6-2 record is the best start in 12 seasons and equals the best eight-game start in the Division I era. Since UIC became a Division I member in 1980-81, the Flames have been 6-2 to start a season twice (1995-96 & 2001-02).
It is also the Flames’ first six-game win streak since Jan. 11-Feb. 3, 2007 in the midst of a program-record 11 consecutive victories. Four of the six victories have been over 2012-13 WNIT participants (Idaho State, Miami Ohio, Texas Southern and Butler).
UIC shot 52 percent from the floor, including 60 percent (14-of-23) in the second half. UIC out-rebounded Butler 38-34 and out-scored the Bulldogs 40-24 in the paint. Stratman, the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week, entered the contest averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game and was held to eight points in only 24 minutes of action.
UIC ran out to a 14-2 lead with 11:43 left in the first half before the Bulldogs started their comeback. Lexus Murry’s free throw with 3:55 remaining concluded a 16-4 Butler run to tie the contest at 18-18.
Daress McClung sank a free throw with 15 seconds before halftime to trim the UIC advantage to 24-23 at the break. UIC limited Butler to 26 percent shooting (8-of-30) in the first half and forced eight turnovers.
The Flames held an eight-point advantage at 46-38 on Hannemann’s layup with 8:57 left in the contest. Butler tied the game for the third time at 53-53 with 3:21 remaining and McClung’s layup with 1:43 on the clock narrowed the UIC lead to 57-55. The Flames scored five straight points to pull away for their sixth straight win.
Story, who poured in 15 second-half points on 6-of-7 shooting, had an all-around strong performance with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. She also sank all three of her second half free throw attempts to help UIC seal the victory. The Flames are undefeated (6-0) with Story in the lineup and she has been in double-figures in nine straight contests dating back to last season.
Campbell recorded her Horizon League-leading sixth double-double of the season. She added two blocks and two steals in 36 minutes on the floor. Campbell, who has been in double-figures every game this season, had eight points and six rebounds in the first half.
Hannemann had a team-high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half. She collected seven points and seven rebounds in the second half. Hannemann has been in double-figures in seven consecutive contests.
Senior Emily Kobel finished with six points, four rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes. She was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and needs four more three-pointers (103 career three-pointers) to enter the program’s Top 10.
Sophomore Terri Bender set a career-high with six steals to go along with five points, five rebounds and two assists. The Flames had 12 steals as a team and forced 15 Butler turnovers.
Valparaiso 63, Toledo 61
The Crusaders managed just four offensive rebounds versus Toledo, but their final one was all that anyone will remember.
Sharon Karungi was in the right place at the right time when Lexi Miller drove down the right side of the lane with the score tied 61-61. Miller's shot attempt with six seconds remaining was off-target but caromed to Karungi. The junior caught the ball and put it right back up and in to give the Crusaders a 63-61 lead with three seconds in the game.
Toledo's Andola Dortch fired a desperation shot off, but it flew well off the mark as Valpo celebrated its second win at Savage Arena in as many days.
"I don't think our kids realize how big this win is. With the support that the Toledo women's basketball gets, not many teams walk out of Savage Arena victorious. We played together the whole game. Nobody tried to do too much. Both Liz and Elizabeth (Hamlet) really stepped up. Liz scored, and Elizabeth kept the energy level high," head coach Tracey Dorow said.
For the second straight day, Liz Horton shot lights out in the first half. The senior was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in a nine-point period. For the Toledo Invite, Horton was a combined 8-for-9 from the field and 4-for-4 from three-point land in the first half. Twenty of her 24 points over the weekend came in the first stanza.
Neither team led by more than five points until the Crusaders took a 30-24 lead on a Lexi Miller free-throw with three minutes left. A pair ofJessi Wiedemann foul shots extended the Brown and Gold's lead to eight. Toledo scored the final five points of the first half as Valpo took a 35-32 lead into the locker room.
A wild second half ensued that featured five ties and ten lead changes. Toledo's Janelle Reed-Lewis knocked down a three-pointer with 16:50 left to cut the Valpo lead to two. The game remained a one-possession tilt the rest of the way.
Toledo was on top 59-56 before Wiedemann recorded two of her nine second-half points. Karungi followed with a three-point play to give the visitors a two-point advantage.
Reed-Lewis, who dropped in eleven points in the final half, scored Toledo's last points on a jumper with 3:43 to go. The Rockets drew iron on four three-point attempts in the closing three minutes.
Toledo had possession of the ball with 20 seconds remaining. Elena De Alfredo had a look from outside, but it clanged out and Horton pounced on the rebound.
Out of a timeout, Miller raced down the right side of the lane and tossed up a runner that didn't fall. Unguarded, Karungi grabbed the rebound and dropped in the game-winner.
"I was really pleased with how we executed the game plan. (Associate Head Coach) Kurt (Westendorp) prepared a great scouting report and our kids did an outstanding job adjusting when we switched our defenses." Dorow said.
Wiedemann was voted to the All-Tournament Team. The sophomore scored 29 points in the Invite to go with nine assists and ten rebounds. She logged 73 minutes in the two-day event.
Karungi was named the Most Valuable Player. Over two games, she scored 31 points and pulled in 28 rebounds. Karungi was 15-of-27 (55.6%) from the floor in two Valpo wins.
South Dakota State 66, Green Bay 54
Unable to overcome a 15-2 run that spanned both halves by the visiting South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the Green Bay women’s basketball team saw its 19 game home winning streak come to an end as it fell to SDSU, 54-66, on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center.
The Jackrabbits (6-4) outscored the Phoenix 15-2 over a stretch of 6:48 to earn the program’s first ever win over Green Bay. Meanwhile, the Phoenix (6-2) saw its home winning streak of 19 games, dating back to February 9, 2012 (vs. Detroit), come to an end.
Despite the losing effort, Green Bay sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontairo) recorded the first double-double of her career finishing with a game-high 14 points in addition to 10 rebounds, while senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) added 12 points and junior Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) had 10 points.
South Dakota State scored the first points of the game and assumed an early 4-3 advantage before Green Bay found its stride. Setting up its offense in the lane, the Phoenix took the lead (6-4) for the first time in the contest on a Megan Lukan layup and-1 play. Green Bay continued to pound the ball into the paint, slowly building its advantage to seven points (14-7) with 12:39 remaining. Twelve of Green Bay’s 14 points in the early going came in the lane, with the other two points coming on free throws after and-1 plays.
The Jackrabbits worked their way back into the contest, using a 7-0 run highlighted by five points from Tara Heiser to knot the score at 14-14 with 8:33 remaining. However, the Phoenix responded with an 11-3 run over the next four minutes to assume its largest lead of the game, 25-17, at the 4:43 mark. Five different players scored for the Phoenix during the run that started with a free throw by Ranger.
Another Jackrabbits run, this time a 10-2 scoring edge to close the half tied the game at 27-27 going into the break. SDSU shared the wealth during the run, with four different Jackrabbits registering a point as the team tied the game for the third time.
Green Bay outshot SDSU in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 44.0 percent (11-25) from the field compared to 36.7 percent (11-30) for its opponents. Both squads struggled from deep, as the Phoenix was just 1-for-9 (11.1%) and the Jackrabbits were 2-for-11 (18.2%).
Extending its scoring advantage, SDSU opened the second stanza with a 7-0 run to assume its largest lead of the game, 34-27 with 17:55 remaining, a lead it did not relinquish the rest of the way.
Green Bay worked its way back into the contest, using a 10-5 edge in scoring to pull back to within two points (44-42) with 11:02 remaining. However, it was all the closer the squad got in the contest as each time the Phoenix mounted a rally the Jackrabbits were able to respond.
Green Bay finished the game shooting just 34.0 percent (18-53) compared to 43.9 percent (25-57) from SDSU. The Jackrabbits also controlled the boards with a 44-33 difference, and utilized its bench with 24 points, while the Phoenix had just nine from its reserves.
SDSU was led by 13 points apiece from Tara Heiser and Mariah Clarin, who finished the game with a double-double adding a game-high 15 rebounds.
#7/7 Louisville 99, Wright State 40
The Wright State women's basketball team dropped a 99-40 decision at #7 Louisville Saturday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
A Kim Demmings jumper at the 16:31 mark of the first half cut the Raider deficit to 11-6, only to see the Cardinals follow with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to break the game open. Louisville shot 54 percent in the first half, including five of 10 from three-point range, while WSU struggled, hitting just eight of 43 shots.
Louisville gradually built on the lead the rest of the way, with the final score being the largest margin. The Cardinals shot 58 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 56 percent overall while the Raiders ended the game at 23 percent.
Tay'ler Mingo led Wright State (7-3) with 15 points.
