Five Women's Basketball Teams Win on Saturday

Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 30)
Cleveland State 63, IUPUI 56 (ot)
Detroit 82, Georgia Southern 79
Green Bay 66, Maine 49
Milwaukee 84, New Mexico State 81
UIC 70, Texas Southern 66
Middle Tennessee 69, Wright State 62
Temple 81, Oakland 57
#rv/-- West Virginia 85, Youngstown State 58

Cleveland State 63, IUPUI 56 (ot)
The Cleveland State women's basketball team opened up the ECU Pirate Thanksgiving Tournament with a win Saturday, earning a 63-56 overtime victory against IUPUI. With the win, the Vikings are now 3-3 on the season, while the Jaguars fall to 5-3.

Imani Gordon led the Vikings with her second double-double in the last three games, posting 14 points and 14 rebounds against IUPUI, while Kiersten Green and Haley Schmitt each added 12 points. Along with her double-double, Gordon also notched a career-high seven assists and career-best five steals.

Entering the halftime break the Vikings trailed by one, 24-23 after Green sank her second three-pointer of the game as time was expiring. IUPUI then opened the second half on an 8-4 run, before the Vikings were able to close the gap back to one-point at 32-31 following a Schmitt layup and a pair of Gordon free throws with 14:43 left to play. The Jaguars then regained control the game, gaining their largest lead at the 46-36 mark before Cleveland State made another run to get the momentum back on their side.

Over the next 4:16, the Vikings posted a 12-2 run, including six straight points to end the run, tying the game at 48-48 – the third tie of the game – with 4:15 left to play. The Vikings then extended their lead with a Cori Coleman layup and a Gordon jumper to put the score at 52-48 with 2:39 remaining. The Jaguars weren't out of the contest though, as they closed out regulation on a 4-0 run, knotting the score at 52-52 heading into the overtime period.

The Vikings then controlled play throughout the overtime period, outscoring the Jaguars, 11-4. Adesuwa Aideyman was able to put the Vikings on the board first during the extra five minutes, converting her first three-pointer of the game at the 2:57 mark. The Jaguars were then able to close the gap to one point on the next possession, but the Vikings closed out the frame on an 8-2 run, including a 4-for-5 performance from the free throw line, for the seven-point overtime victory.

In the first overtime contest of the season, the Vikings posted a 40-percent clip from the floor (25-62), and notched 21 points off of 30 IUPUI turnovers. CSU notched 15 assists on its 25 made field goals, and grabbed 34 rebounds.

Detroit 82, Georgia Southern 79
The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team came out firing on all cylinders as the Titans built up a double digit lead and held on to defeat the Georgia Southern Eagles, 82-79, in the consolation game of the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.

UDM (2-6) shot a season-high 51.8% (29-of-56) with four players reaching double figures. Senior Senee Shearer led the way with 22 points, while tacking on four rebounds and four assists as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Senior Megan Hatter and junior Ellisha Crosby added 17 apiece with Hatter recording seven rebounds and tying her career-high with five assists. Freshman Megan Galloway was also a load on the offensive ending finishing with a season-high 16 points and pulling down seven rebounds with one block.

The Titan offense also did a great job of not turning the ball over ending the contest with 17 assists – the second most this season - and a season-low 10 turnovers. Detroit was able to even the battle of the glass, 35-35, and was 8-of-17 from three and 16-of-22 at the free throw line.

Detroit led by as many as 12 on the day, but Georgia Southern (1-6) came back to make it a one-point game, 72-71, with 1:31 left. The Eagles hit a three to trim the deficit, but Crosby responded to the comeback attempt by nailing one of her own with 1:11 remaining. The teams then traded baskets, but Crosby was able to split a pair of free throws to give UDM a 78-73 lead with just 20 seconds on the clock.

A three-point play by the Eagles once again made it a one possession game, but Hatter calmly stepped to the line to sink a pair and it looked like that would do it, but the Eagles' Lacie Dowling – who led all scorers with 26 points and had eight 3-pointers – hit Georgia Southern's 11th trey of the game to make it 80-79 with just two seconds remaining and Hatter was able to seal it away swishing another two from the charity stripe.

UDM led early as seven-straight points gave the Titans a 9-3 lead just four minutes into the game. The Titans – who connected on six of their first 12 shots compared to just 1-of-12 on Friday – then opened a double-digit lead at 18-8 at the 12:47 mark as sophomore DaVonna Bradford and Galloway had back-to-back layups.

The Eagles then went on a 21-6 run over the next five minutes as Georgia Southern caught fire from outside hitting four 3-pointers during that stretch to take a 29-24 lead. It was still a five-point deficit, 34-29, with 5:40 left in the half when the Titans came back alive offensively led by Shearer.

First she had a bucket plus the foul and then she tallied one from behind the arc to get the red, white and blue within one, 36-35, with four minutes left in the stanza. After a GSU score, Shearer drained a three to knot it at 38-38 and Detroit went into the break up by two, 42-40, as Crosby was able to get inside for a score with just one tick left on the clock.

Detroit started the second half strong as both Shearer and Galloway had a basket and a foul for the old fashioned three-point play and the Titans led by eight, 48-40. Georgia Southern cut that to three, 48-45, but a 9-0 run ensued which allowed UDM to open its largest lead of the contest, 57-45, with 11:33 left.

Another Eagles run trimmed the advantage down to three, 60-57, but a huge trey from Hatter denied that to get any closer and another trifecta by Shearer extended the Titans' lead to 68-59, with 4:32 remaining as the Titans hung on to win.

Bradford scored a career-high eight points and had six rebounds and a career-best four assists in making her first collegiate start. Freshman Haleigh Ristovski was the only other Titan to score on the day hitting her only shot of the game.

Georgia Southern stayed in the game by hitting 11 3-pointers in the contest, while shooting 46.3% from the field.

Green Bay 66, Maine 49
The Green Bay women’s basketball team was able to overcome poor first half shooting as it took home the Maine Thanksgiving Tournament title with a 66-49 win over the host Black Bears on Saturday afternoon from the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

In addition to taking home the tournament title, senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) was named the tournament MVP, where she was joined by freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) on the all-tournament squad. Ranger finished today’s contest with a career-high 18 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks, while Buck had 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“It was a good win for our players,” head coach Kevin Borseth said. “We struggled shooting we overcame that and played really well around the basket.”

Shooting woes plagued both teams in the first half, as neither squad shot over 30 percent. Despite the shooting, the Phoenix went into the break with a 26-19 lead, its lowest points total in a half this season.

Green Bay scored the first points of the game and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. A Ranger layup at the 18:31 mark started the scoring for the game before Mehryn Kraker (West Allis, Wis.) connected on a jumper to put the Phoenix ahead, 4-0, while forcing the home team to call a timeout.

It remained close through most of the first half, as the Black Bears stayed within three points (17-14) with 5:33 remaining. However, back-to-back buckets from Kraker and Buck extended the Phoenix advantage to seven points (21-14), and Green Bay maintained that difference going into halftime.

Green Bay was just 10-for-34 (29.4%) from the field in the first 20 minutes, while Maine was 7-for-26 (26.9%). Despite the poor shooting, the Phoenix defense carried over its strong defensive presence from the last game, forcing 11 Maine turnovers with five steals.

Opening the second half on a 13-2 run gave the Phoenix the cushion it needed to take home the title. Receiving six points from Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) during the run, Green Bay distanced itself from Maine to take a 39-21 lead with 15:11 remaining.

The Phoenix extended its lead to as many as 22 points (51-29) with 10:48 remaining, feeding Ranger inside for 10 of her 18 points. Turning around its first half shooting, Green Bay shot 64.0 percent from the field (16-25) in the second stanza in the win.

For the game, Green Bay shot 44.1 percent (26-59) from the field while holding Maine to 34.6 percent (18-52). The Phoenix controlled the boards, 39-32, and also had fewer turnovers, 19-9. While the squad struggled from three this game (2-15), Green Bay was strong in the paint with 42 of its 66 points coming from the lane.

Kraker added a career-high 17 points, while Megan Lukan tied a career-high with eight rebounds. Maine had a game-high 18 points from Liz Wood, who went 4-for-9 from three.

Milwaukee 84, New Mexico State 81
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 79 seconds to hold on to an 84-81 victory over New Mexico State University Saturday at the Pan American Center.

Senior Angela Rodriguez tied her career-high with 30 points and junior Macie Dorow set career-highs with 14 points and five rebounds in her first start of the season to provide the biggest spark in the victory in the final game at the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic.

Freshman Sydney Snower also came through with four straight free throws with the game on the line in the final minutes, giving UWM the late lead it would not relinquish.

"It was such an exciting game," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I was telling our staff just how much fun it was to coach in that game. The energy, the excitement that we brought to an arena that is not ours - and we didn't have a lot of fans here, just a few parents - but we did it by ourselves. I felt like it was a full team effort, we really locked in, we bought in to exactly what we were trying to do with the game plan and I just couldn't be any more proud than I am right now."

Sophomore Avyanna Young added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with junior Ashley Green contributing 16 points and six boards in the victory. Snower finished with seven points and four rebounds in her second collegiate start.

Sasha Weber led the Aggies with 17 points. Brianna Freeman added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Panthers (2-4) led by as many as seven points with just over five minutes to play, only to see the Aggies (3-4) force the 15th tie and 11th lead change of the day with two minutes to go.

Rodriguez hit a three to re-give UWM the 78-77 lead at the 2:17 mark, but the Panthers found themselves trailing again after two NMSU shots from the free throw line.

Snower calmly sank two free throws at the 1:19 mark to once again forge UWM ahead by a point. From there, Dorow grabbed a defensive rebound on one end and came up with a very crucial offensive rebound on UWM's next possession to force the Aggies into fouling with 11 seconds left. Snower again hit them both and, after a quick basket by New Mexico State, Rodriguez made it a perfect 10-for-10 day at the line when she swished both with just 2.6 seconds left on the clock.

"I had all the faith in the world that Sydney and Angela were going to make those free throws," Rechlicz said. "Sydney plays with a level of confidence, even as a freshman. Everybody stepped up. It was just really fun to be a part of this team today."

Dorow finished up her big day by securing a final steal on the last play when the Aggies tried to throw it the length of the court. Her 14 points doubled her previous career-best of seven points, with the 35 minutes played also a collegiate best.

"Macie earned every second of the time she had today," Rechlicz said. "We decided as a staff that it was the right move to make and she was ready for that jump. She went from playing 10 minutes in the Lamar game to 35 minutes today and earned every second of it. She hit some big shots for us and was really there for us on the defensive end. I'm just really proud of her and excited for her because I know how much this meant to her."

Rodriguez scored 30 points in a game for the second time in her UWM career, finishing 8-for-19 from the floor, 4-for-5 from three-point range and a perfect 10-for-10 from the line.

"I didn't even know she had 30 ... it was such a quiet 30," Rechlicz said. "The biggest part of her game that has changed is her leadership. She is constantly talking on the court and every person on the court believes in her."

Rodriguez's 200th career made three-pointer tied the game at 51-51 and UWM took the lead on a Green layup on its next possession. That helped cap an 11-3 run that turned a 48-42 deficit into a 53-51 lead. UWM would build the lead to as many as seven at 71-64, only to see the Aggies fight back before the final minutes.

New Mexico State held on to a three-point lead at halftime at 43-40. The first half was a closely-contested 20 minutes after a pair of early scoring runs. In fact, no team led by even three points the final nine-plus minutes following a 21-21 tie at the 9:19 mark.

The Panthers were hitting from long distance once again, making seven of 12 attempts in the first half, with Dorow pouring in 12 points by intermission.

Milwaukee led early at 8-5, but the Aggies responded, scoring nine points in a row to take a 14-8 lead at the 13:56 mark. From there it was UWM's turn for an extended scoring spree, with Dorow burying back-to-back triples to tie it at 14-14. That was part of a 13-2 run by Milwaukee, taking a 21-16 advantage on a jumper by freshman Bre'Zall Warren at the 10:25 mark.

For the game, Milwaukee shot a season-high 47.4 percent from the floor (27-of-57), including an impressive 50 percent from three-point range by making 11 of 22. Both teams shot well on the day, with NMSU finishing at 52.7 percent (29-of-55) while also claiming a slim 37-35 advantage on the boards.

All four teams finished the weekend with 1-1 records in the Aggie Thanksgiving Classic.

UIC 70, Texas Southern 66
The UIC women’s basketball team (5-2) won its fifth consecutive game with a 70-66 victory over Texas Southern (3-4) Saturday (Nov. 30) to conclude the San Juan Shootout. Katie Hannemann had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her eighth career double-double, Ruvanna Campbell added 15 points and Rachel Story finished with 14 points.

UIC’s last five-game win streak came from Nov. 22-Dec. 6, 2008 when the Flames defeated Bradley, Canisius, SIUE, Florida Atlantic and Western Michigan to begin the 2008-09 season. One more win will be UIC’s first six-game win streak since Jan. 11-Feb. 3, 2007 in the midst of a program-record 11 consecutive victories. The Flames finished the 2006-07 season with 19 wins and earned their first trip to the postseason (WNIT).

UIC hit 27-of-36 free throws, including 16-of-16 in the first half. The Flames’ 75 percent shooting from the charity stripe ties a season-high. UIC also had 11 steals and scored 18 points off 20 Texas Southern turnovers.

UIC held a 47-38 advantage on the glass and improved to 5-1 this season when out-rebounding its opponent. UIC had 17 offensive rebounds and put back 17 second-chance points while limiting Texas Southern to six second-chance points.

UIC trailed for much of the first half and was down 30-19 with 4:46 left on the clock. The Flames responded with a 17-4 run to end the half and go up 36-34 at the break. The run included seven points from Story and four from Hannemann.

Strong play from Texas Southern’s Jazzmin Parker and Morgan Simmons helped the Lady Tigers take a 55-50 lead with 8:29 remaining in the game before UIC stormed back. Campbell and Hannemann combined for 15 of the Flames’ final 20 points and UIC limited Texas Southern to 11 points the rest of the way.

Hannemann set a season-high with 19 points and hit 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line. She had 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor in the second half. Hannemann’s seven offensive rebounds ties her career high set against Wright State (Feb. 21, 2013).

Campbell came on strong late as she scored nine points over the final eight minutes of play. She had 11 points and six rebounds in the second half to finish with 15 points and nine rebounds. Campbell, who has been in double-digits every game this season, also collected three steals.

Story hit 6-of-6 free throws in the first half and entered the break with 10 points. She finished the contest with a team-high three assists and two steals.

Sophomore Terri Bender had four steals while senior Emily Kobel picked up two of her own. Kobel also collected nine rebounds, one short of her career high.

The Flames received strong play from their reserves as UIC held a 15-11 advantage in points off the bench. Senior Megan Wallace had seven points while sophomore Caitlin Garant added six points and hit 4-of-4 free throws.

UIC looks for six consecutive victories next Saturday (Dec. 7) when the Flames play at Butler (2-4). Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Middle Tennessee 69, Wright State 62
The Wright State women's basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit to tie the game at 50, only to see Middle Tennessee later go on a 12-0 run to pull away for a 69-62 decision in the Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals Saturday in Estero, Florida.

The Blue Raiders scored the first five points of the game, only to see WSU close to within one at 9-8 following an Ivory James fast-break layup with 15:36 remaining in the first half.  Middle Tennessee, however, answered with six straight points and, despite the Raiders cutting the deficit to two on three occasions, used a 13-1 run to go up 39-25 en route to a 39-29 halftime advantage.

MTSU shot 48 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and hit 10 of 12 free throws while Wright State shot just 32 percent and was four of seven at the stripe.

The Raiders chipped away to start the second half and eventually tied the game at 50 on a Tay'ler Mingo layup with 10:44 to play.  WSU was within one at 54-53 as KC Elkins connected on a three at the 8:24 mark, only to see the Blue Raiders go on their decisive 12-0 run from there over the next six minutes.

Wright State trimmed the margin to 67-62 on a Tayler Stanton putback with 59 seconds left, but could get no closer.

The Raiders could not get on track offensively the entire game, shooting just 31 percent overall and were seven of 25 from behind the arc.  Middle Tennessee, meanwhile, shot 46 percent for the game and outscored WSU 48-22 in the paint.

Kim Demmings, after scoring 30 points Friday against NC State, tallied 27 more in this game to lead WSU while James and Mingo had 11 each.  Stanton just missed a double-double as she had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Ebony Rowe paced Middle Tennessee (3-3) with a double-double of 28 points and 11 rebounds while Shanice Cason had 14 and Laken Leonard 13 off the bench.

Temple 81, Oakland 57
Olivia Nash finished with a team-high 16 points and Michele Hayes tallied a career-best 10 points, as the Oakland women's basketball team (1-6) fell to Temple (4-1), 81-57, Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall.

"Temple played harder than we did, plain and simple," said head coach Jeff Tungate. "Our effort has become our identity and today we lost our identity. Give Temple credit, they knew how bad we guard on the ball and took advantage of it. They knew how poorly we defend in the post and took advantage of it. We missed uncontested layups and gave them 22 layups on 34 made shots. You can't win basketball games doing that. I guarantee we will regain our identity quickly."

Nash also had a team-best nine rebounds, falling just one short of her fifth double-double of the season. Hayes earns her career-best in points on 3-of-6 shooting and a career-high four free throws. Elena Popkey and Bethany Watterworth each added eight points.

The Owls came out on fire to start the game as they made its first nine field-goal attempts and used a 16-6 run to take a 39-29 lead at the half. Temple shot 50 percent (17-34) in the opening half. Nash scored eight of her 16 points in the first half. OU trailed by as many as 14 in the half but four points by Hayes in the final four minutes cut the Temple lead to 10.

Temple started off the second half as hot as they did to begin the game making six of its first seven shots and used a 25-10 run to jump out to a 64-40 lead. TU outscore the Golden Grizzlies 54-26 in the paint and outrebounded OU 41-33.

Temple's Natasha Thames led all scorers with 21 points as the Owls had three scorers with 18 or more. Erica Covile tallied a game-high 10 rebounds and Tyonna Williams recorded 11 assists.

West Virginia 85, Youngstown State 58
Youngstown State junior Heidi Schlegel scored a game-high 24 points and the Penguins went toe-to-toe with West Virginia in the second half but dropped an 85-58 contest on Saturday at the Beeghly Center.

Schlegel was 6-of-12 from the field and went 11-of-13 from the free-throw line in 28 minutes of action. She had 12 points in each half. Karen Flagg had a double-double scoring 14 points while grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds. LaTisha Walker had nine points as the starters scored 50 of the Guins' 58 points.

With the loss, YSU falls to 1-4 on the season while West Virginia improves to 5-1.

In the second half, the Penguins were outscored by just six points (40-34). YSU shot 39.3 percent in the final 20 minutes after shooting 22.9 percent in the opening half.

For the game the Penguins shot 30.2 percent while West Virginia converted at a 50-percent clip (32-of-64). The Mountaineers only led on the boards 42-37 and the Penguins finished with 16 offensive caroms. YSU also had 15 assists on 19 baskets in the contest.

On three occasions after the intermission the Guins were able to cut the WVU deficit to 21 points (47-26 at the 18:51 mark, 54-33 with 13:26 left and 5:52 at 67-46), but could not get any closer.

Leading the way for the Mountaineers was Bria Holmes who scored 19 points. Christal Caldwell had 17 and Taylor Palmer added 14.

West Virginia scored the first nine points of the day and led the entire contest. Youngstown State trimmed the deficit to four nine minutes into the first half, but the Mountaineers closed out the first half on a 20-8 run to take a 45-24 lead into the locker room.

Walker scored YSU's first points at the 17:07 mark, but she picked up her second foul on the next possession and played just four minutes the entire first half. Christal Caldwell converted a three-point play at the 16:25 mark for three of her 13 first-half points to put the Mountaineers up by double digits for the first time at 12-2.

Youngstown State went on a 9-3 run to make the score 15-11 on Schlegel's lay-up with 11:05 remaining, and Schlegel hit a 3-pointer at the 8:21 mark to cut YSU's deficit to 25-16. The Mountaineers outscored YSU 20-8 over the final eight minutes of the half with 11 of those points coming from Holmes.

Holmes had 16 of her points in the first half while Caldwell had 13 in 10 minutes. Schlegel scored 12 of her points in the first half.