The Horizon League women's basketball teams continued their winning ways on Tuesday night as conference teams won four of the five games they played. Cleveland State and Detroit both won in overtime, while Green Bay and Valparaiso achieved victory in regulation.
Dating to last Wednesday, Horizon League teams have won 15 of the last 16 games they’ve played.
Cleveland State 68, Murray State 61 (OT)
Destinee Blue and Shalonda Winton each scored 19 points to help Cleveland State defeat Murray State 68-61 in overtime on Tuesday night as part of the Magnolia Classic hosted by the University of Mississippi.
Winton, who scored eight of her points in overtime, pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the second consecutive game to notch her third double-double of the season.
Murray State's Mariah Robinson poured in a game-high 23 points and it was her bucket with 1:46 left in overtime that give the Racers a 60-59 advantage. Winton scored the next six points and three clutch free throws from Honesty King helped CSU end the game on a 9-1 run.
Eight of CSU's 12 points in the extra period came from the free throw line. The Vikings, who entered the contest shooting at a 73% clip from the charity stripe, were 17 of 23 (73.9%) in the game.
Blue scored CSU's first seven points of the night in the first 1:35 of the game. Murray State jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half until CSU chipped away to cut the halftime deficit to five at 36-31.
Buckets from Blue and King cut the lead to one early in the second half, but the Racers built their lead back to six points with 15:55 to go. Both teams went cold from the floor as neither managed to score in a stretch that lasted almost four minutes.
CSU didn't take the lead until the 3:14 mark when Takima Keane’s jumper gave the Vikings a 53-52 advantage. She followed with lay-up to grow the lead to three, but Robinson countered with two free throws at the other end to tighten the lead to just one with 1:55 to go in regulation.
Winton split at the free throw line to give CSU a 56-54 lead before Murray State's Kayla Lowe tied the game with seven seconds left in the second period.
In such an evenly played game, CSU won the battle of the benches with eight points - five from Imani Gordon and three from Kiersten Green - while the Racers received seven points from the second unit. The Vikings pulled down 47 rebounds to win the battle of the boards by five, while Murray State was three up in the turnover margin (19-16).
The Vikings will be in action again on Wednesday, playing tthe host Rebels in a game slated to begin at 2:00 p.m.
Detroit 70, Eastern Michigan 69 (OT)
Senior Jalesa Jones tallied a season-high 18, and sophomore Senee Shearer tallied her second-straight 20-point game, as the Titans were able to hold off Eastern Michigan, 70-69, in overtime on Tuesday night at historic Calihan Hall.
Jones was a career-best 11-of-12 from the free throw line, while adding three rebounds and two assists.
Shearer was 7-of-15 from the field with four 3-pointers and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe, ending the game with 23 points, tying her career high that she set on Sunday against IPFW. In her last three games, the second-year guard is averaging 20.3 points per game.
Detroit never trailed in a game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes. The game was tied at 63 heading into the extra period and again at 67-all with 3:27 left. Both teams did not score again until 2:16 left when senior Lauren Allen hit a jumper after junior Yar Shayok came up with a steal.
The Titan defense, strong all night with 12 steals and forcing 23 turnovers, kept Eastern Michigan off the board for the next two minutes and to just two points the rest of the way, coming away with three turnovers and holding EMU to just one field goal.
The Titans added to their lead down the stretch, but it took a great job on the boards to help secure the win. After Shayok missed a free throw, Shearer was able to get inside and corral the rebound, sending Jones to the line with 18 ticks on the clock. The seasoned guard hit 1-of-2 from the line to extend the lead to three, 70-67. EMU then tried to get the ball in the hands of Tavelyn James - the second leading scorer in the country at 25.1 ppg., who finished with just nine points on 3-of-14 from the field – but she missed a 3-pointer. The Eagles got two points closer with three seconds remaining but the Titans inbounded the ball, cleared the press and celebrated its second-straight home victory.
UDM went to the line a season-high 31 times, connecting on a season-best 21.
The Titans will put their two-game winning streak on the line against another MAC opponent as Detroit will end a three-game, five-day span with a trip to Western Michigan on Thursday. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., at University Arena.
No. 18/14 Green Bay 80, Ball State 39
The No. 18/14 Green Bay women’s basketball team returned to competition after a 12-day break and used its inside game to cruise to a 80-39 win over Ball State Tuesday at the Kress Events Center. The Phoenix did not sink a three pointer in the contest for the first time since Dec. 28, 2009 when it hosted Southern Illinois.
Five players scored in double figures in the win with Julie Wojta leading all scorers with 19 points in 26 minutes of play. Wojta posted her fifth double double of the season while adding a game-high 12 rebounds.
Green Bay opened the contest with three consecutive layups as the Cardinals came within four twice in the opening minutes. Ball State later came within five before the Phoenix opened up a 15-1 run, holding the Cardinals scoreless for over eight minutes of play.
With 8:37 to play in the first half, Wojta already had 12 of Green Bay’s 20 points before getting her first breather of the contest from Breannah Ranger who scored within seconds of entering the game. Ranger finished with a career-high 12 points during her career-high 16 minutes of play.
Green Bay scored 26 of its 35 first-half points in the paint with Wojta leading the way with 14 points and nine rebounds. As a team, the Phoenix shot 38 percent (14-of-36) from the field and 63 percent from the free throw line to lead 35-12 at the break.
Junior Lydia Bauer scored Green Bay’s first eight points of the second half, boosting the Phoenix lead to 43-14. Sarah Eichler added a jump shot in the paint at the 11:20 mark to make it 58-18 and the Phoenix never slowed down. Bauer finished with 14 points in the game, eight in the second half, going 6-for-8 from the field.
After missing three games due to pelvic bone bruise, Jenny Gilbertson returned to action tonight, pouring in a career-high 10 points while playing a career-high 21 minutes.
In addition to Wojta, Bauer, Ranger and Gilbertson who posted double figures, freshman Megan Lukan tied a career-high with 12 points while grabbing a career-high four steals. Lukan continues to improve from the free throw line as the starting point guard went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Green Bay will wrap up nonconference play Friday, Dec. 23 as it travels to Madison to face in-state rival Wisconsin. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
Valparaiso 53, Eastern Illinois 50
Ashley Timmerman’sthree-pointer with 29.8 seconds to play broke a tie and pushed the Crusaders past Eastern Illinois 53-50 at the Athletics-Recreation Center in the team’s final game before conference play begins.
Timmerman delivered the game-winning triple as the shot clock was beginning to wind down from the top of the arc. Just 34 seconds earlier the senior guard hit a pull up jumper from the right elbow to tie the game at 50.
Laura Richards came up with her fifth steal of the game on the Panthers’ next possession, but Valpo’s defense had to force two more missed shots by Eastern Illinois in the final 11 second after missing a pair of front ends of one and ones. When Jordyne Crunk’s triple try was off the mark just before the buzzer, the Crusaders had their third victory in their last four games.
The Crusaders started the game hot from the floor, making seven of their first eight shots and nine of their first 12 to build a 22-17 lead with nine minutes to play before intermission.
After the Panthers cut the lead to one, Valpo went on a 10-1 run, holding the visitors without a field goal for six minutes while forging a 32-22 advantage. Eastern Illinois scored the final four points of the stanza though and the Crusader lead was six at the break.
Valpo scored the first four points of the second half to push the lead back to 10, and still had a seven point lead with 11 minutes to go when the Panthers made a run. Kayla Payne’s triple at the 8:01 mark pulled the Panthers within one. The Crusaders made just one field goal over a seven-and-a-half minute span, and when Chantelle Pressley hit a jumper with 2:26 to go, the Panthers had a 50-46 lead, capping a 16-5 run.
Ashley Varner answered Pressley’s basket with a jumper in the paint and added a steal on Eastern Illinois’ next possession, setting up Timmerman’s tying jumper.
The Crusaders, who dressed just six players for the contest, each of whom saw at least 22 minutes of action, shot a season-high 50% from the field, including 6-of-13 (46.2%) from three-point range.Varner registered her second straight double-double, and third of the season. She scored a season-high 19 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. Tabitha Gerardot added 12 points while Timmerman finished with nine. Richards handed out seven assists, pulled down six rebounds, and registered the five steals while not leaving the court for the 40 minutes.
Eastern Illinois, which entered the game ranked 23rdin the latest Mid-Major poll, shot 36.7% from the floor, including just 4-of-18 (22.2%) from three-point range. The Panthers, which were averaging 77.1 points per game entering the contest, outrebounded Valpo 36-30, including 16-4 on the offensive end, but managed just five second chance points in the contest.
Valparaiso will have eight days off before returning to the hardwood on Wednesday, Dec. 28, to open Horizon League play at Wright State.
Central Michigan 65, Wright State 60
Wright State rallied from a 10-point second half deficit and led with two minutes remaining, only to see Central Michigan score seven of the game's final eight points for a 65-60 decision Tuesday in the championship game of the Wright State Invitational Presented by Holiday Inn.
WSU used a 10-0 run, capped off by threes from Courtney Boyd and KC Elkins, to go up 18-12 with 10:21 remaining in the first half before the Chippewas answered with a 14-0 run of their own. CMU maintained the advantage the rest of the way in the period and led 30-25 at the break.
The Chippewas scored the first four points of the second half and went up 44-34 with 14:03 to play. WSU, though, responded with a 19-8 run over the next six minutes, nine by Boyd, to regain the lead at 53-52 on a Breanna Stucke triple at the 8:22 mark.
Stucke connected on another three to make it a four-point game, but Central Michigan came back with five straight to lead 57-56. Neither team then had more than a one-point edge as Wright State regained the lead at 59-58 on two foul shots by Kim Demmings with 2:20 left.
It was tied at 60 as Stucke hit one of two free throws at the 1:07 mark, but that proved to be the final points of the day for the Raiders.
Both teams shot 29 percent for the game overall as WSU was 10 of 38 from behind the arc compared to five of 18 for Central Michigan. The Chippewas, however, was 20 of 28 at the foul line while the Raiders were 14 of 19.
Demmings led all scorers with 18 ponts for the Raiders and nearly had a triple-double as she added nine rebounds and eight assists. Boyd chipped in 17 off the bench and Molly Fox posted a double-double of 10 points and 15 boards.
Wright State opens Horizon League play on Wednesday, December 28, as the Raiders host Valparaiso for a 7:00 contest.
Tags: Cleveland State - Women's Basketball · Detroit Mercy - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball
