Horizon League Women’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 16)
#rv/rv Green Bay 60, Youngstown State 46
Loyola 79, Wright State 70
Milwaukee 73, Cleveland State 72
Valparaiso 88, UIC 62
Green Bay 60, Youngstown State 46
In front of 3,388 strong, the Green Bay women’s basketball team came out on top in a battle of the league’s first- and second-place teams with a 60-46 win against Youngstown State. With the win, the Phoenix improves to 21-2 overall and 11-0 in the Horizon League with a three-game lead over Youngstown State, which fell to 17-6 and 7-3 in conference play.
For the second straight game, senior Adrian Ritchie opened the game with a three, giving Green Bay the 3-0 lead less than a minute in. It was the first of seven threes in the first five minutes of the game.
Youngstown State’s Liz Hornberger hit the first of five straight three’s in the game to cut Green Bay’s lead to 5-3, but after the teams finished exchanging triples Green Bay held an 11-9 lead with 15:39 remaining in the half.
The Phoenix had its lead trimmed to 11-10 off a Shar’Rae Davis free throw, but the home team sparked a 9-0 run with a three from Lydia Bauer. Bauer hit three three’s in the game, finishing with nine points.
Leading 20-10 with 12:50 remaining in the half, Green Bay was held scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes while the Penguins took the lead at 21-20 with 7:51 remaining. A flashy dish inside from Megan Lukan to Stephanie Sension stopped the run and put the Phoenix back on top 22-21 just seconds later. It was just one of a career-high nine assists on the day for Lukan.
Green Bay took a 30-25 lead into the locker room, marking the second time in two meetings this season the team led Youngstown State by five at the break.
Recent 1,000-point club member Sarah Eichler scored just two points in five minutes in the first half, but opened the final frame with a three—the first of 12 points she would score in the half to finish with a team-high 15.
Ritchie extended the lead to 38-27 with a deep shot from downtown at the 17:44 mark, but Youngstown State’s Brandi Brown responded with a three of her own to cut the lead back to single digits. On Green Bay’s next possession, Bauer hit the third three in a 30-second stretch, putting the lead back at 11.
Eichler gave the Phoenix its largest lead of the day with a layup at the 6:44 mark, putting the score at 57-39. The Penguins scored six unanswered points following the layup, but a jumper from Eichler and a free throw from Sam Zastrow was enough to seal the 60-46 win and a three-game lead in the Horizon League standings.
Eichler led Green Bay with 15 points on 7-10 shooting, while Ritchie added 11 points, nine rebounds and tied her career high with three blocked shots. Sension and Bauer each had nine points, while Breannah Ranger had six points and tied her career high with 11 rebounds.
Brown led Youngstown State with a game-high 20 points, but grabbed just six rebounds after entering the contest averaging nearly 12 boards per game. Hornberger had 11 points, while Davis rounded out the Penguins in double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Loyola 79, Wright State 70
Simone Law scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half and Taylor Johnson scored 18 of her 23 in the second half as Loyola knocked off Wright State, 79-70, this evening at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The Ramblers improve to 10-13 (5-5 Horizon) with their third consecutive win. Wright State drops to 10-14, 4-7 with the loss.
Loyola got off to a sluggish start as Wright State rattled off the first nine points of the game. The Ramblers had just one basket over th first 5:37 before finding their groove. Law had eight points and Monica Albano added six as Loyola held the Raiders scoreless for nearly five minutes, ripping off 14 unanswered points to take a 15-11 advantage nine minutes into the game. An Ayrealle Beavers three-pointer later bumped the lead to seven (26-19) but the home team was able to hang in there and Wright State scored the final five points of the half to even the proceedings at 35 heading to halftime. Law was terrific in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down 6-of-10 from the floor and all six of her free throws for her 18 points.
After Law scored again on Loyola's first possession of the second half, Wright State rode six points from Kim Demmings to take a 44-39 lead less than four minutes into the half. The Ramblers faced a three-point deficit before Johnson got going, scoring six straight points as part of a 10-0 run that gave LU a 53-46 lead at the 9:08 mark. Wright State managed to get within a point before Albano hit a key three-pointer to bump the lead back to four and the Ramblers cashed in on a Raider technical foul, knocking down both free throws and scoring on the ensuing possession to build the lead to eight. After a stop, Albano knocked in another trifecta to get the lead to double figures and the lead grew to 13 (69-56) at the 4:00 mark. Wright State managed to get as close as eight but Beavers drilled her second three-ball of the night to get the lead back to 11 with 80 seconds left and the Ramblers cruised from there.
Law added 10 rebounds to her 24 points for her seventh double-double of the season while Johnson ended the day with 23 points and five assists and helped the LU defense hold Demmings, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, to 19 points on 7-of-25 shooting. Albano was also solid, moving into eighth on Loyola's all-time scoring list with her 14-point effort.
Milwaukee 73, Cleveland State 72
Sophomore Janna Swopshire hit the go-ahead basket with just 4.9 seconds remaining as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball pulled out a thrilling 73-72 victory over Cleveland State University Saturday at the Klotsche Center.
The Panthers (6-16, 2-8 Horizon League) trailed the Vikings (12-13, 4-8 Horizon League) by five points with about four minutes to play, but rallied for the victory in a contest that featured 13 ties and 16 lead changes.
It wasn't over after Swopshire's late basket. Milwaukee was whistled for a foul on the inbounds play, but CSU missed the first free throw of a bonus situation and UWM rebounded. After another quick foul, the Panthers then also missed the first of a bonus situation but Cleveland State's long three at the buzzer went off the backboard.
Junior Angela Rodriguez led the team with 16 points, just missing a double-double after finishing with a season-high nine assists to just one turnover. Senior Sami Tucker added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while sophomore Ashley Green was also in double-figures with 10 points.
Shalonda Winton led the Vikings with 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Haley Schmitt added a career-high 14 points on a perfect 7-for-7 day from the floor.
Rodriguez gave UWM a one-point advantage at 63-62 on a layup with just over seven minutes to go before Cleveland State would jump back ahead. A 7-2 spurt capped an 18-5 run and gave the visitors a five-point cushion and momentum. But it was Rodriguez again, hitting a jumper over Winton and then burying a three in transition after getting a stop to tie the game at 69-69 with 3:42 remaining.
The teams traded a few empty possessions from there. With 1:42 to play, Young found a cutting Green for an easy back door layup to give UWM the 71-69 lead. The defense forced a missed three with about 30 seconds left, but Cori Coleman saved the ball from going out of bounds and found a teammate for a layup that tied the game and a foul shot after that to give CSU a 72-71 lead and set the stage.
Rechlicz took a timeout with 21 seconds left to draw up the play. Rodriguez took the ball on top and, after a few dribbles, passed to Tucker. Tucker dropped the ball down low to Swopshire who drew the double-team and still managed to finish for the winner with just 4.9 showing on the clock.
A strong contribution from the UWM bench helped out. Swopshire had seven, freshman Avyanna Young scored a season-high nine points and grabbed four rebounds and freshman Jordyn Swan also chipped in with a season-high six points.
Back-and-forth all game, the Panthers used an 11-3 run to open the second half to jump ahead, 42-37, on a three by Tucker at the 18:03 mark. Milwaukee would build its advantage to as many as seven, but a 9-2 run by CSU produced the 11th tie of the day at 49-49.
Milwaukee didn't let the run phase it, responding with nine straight points and taking a 58-49 advantage on Young's layup with 12:25 left.
On the day, the Panthers shot 46 percent (29-for-63) from the floor, finishing with 10 more made three's (10-for-27). They also had 21 assists on 29 made baskets and won the turnover battle, 18-to-15.
Valparaiso 88, UIC 62
Junior Tabitha Gerardot posted her eighth double-double of the season and all 11 Crusaders scored, including a career-high 13 from freshman Lexi Miller as Valparaiso outscored UIC by 32 in the second half to post an 88-62 win on Saturday in the annual Play 4Kay game to benefit breast cancer research.
Gerardot scored 18 points, including 12 in the first half, and pulled down 14 rebounds for the 21st double-double of her career. She was 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line.
Miller finished 4-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. She banked in a 3-pointer just outside half court to beat the halftime buzzer and send Valpo into the break down 39-33.
The two teams traded baskets through the first four minutes of the second half. Trailing 48-41, the Crusaders embarked on 29-6 run over the next 12 minutes to lead 70-54 with 4:18 to go.
Junior Charae Richardson started the run with a jumper. Sophomore Shaquira Scott followed with a three-point play.
Freshman Jessi Wiedemannmade a jumper and then Gerardot scored four-straight to the game at 52. Senior Gina Lange gave the Crusaders their first lead since early in the first half with a pair of free throws.
Senior Laura Richards added to the lead with a layup, junior Liz Horton followed with a drive to the hoop. Scott tacked on back-to-back baskets to build the lead to 62-52.
After a UIC basket from Taylor Foulks, Richards drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, and Miller followed with two free throws to push the lead to 16. Over the final four minutes, the Crusaders added to the lead, pushing the final margin to 26.
Lange, who scored 13 points in the second half, was the third Valpo player in double-figures with 15. Scott and Richards each added eight, with Richard also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. Richardson chipped in with seven, and sophomore Jessica Carr finished with six on 6-of-6 shooting at the free-throw line.
Valparaiso tied a season-high with nine made 3-pointers, and for the first time this season, every player who dressed scored at least two points.
The Crusaders outscored the Flames 55-23 in the final 20 minutes. Valparaiso finished with a 48-27 rebounding edge. Eight different players notched an assist, as the team finished with 18 on the afternoon.
Valpo led 7-6 early in the first half before UIC went on a 10-0 run, holding Valpo without a point for seven minutes. Rachel Story had a pair of baskets on the run for the Flames.
Miller came off the bench to hit all of her 3-pointers in the first half. The Crusaders trimmed an 11-point deficit to two at 28-26 with 3:39 to go in the half. The Flames built it back up to nine before Miller banked in her half-court shot to send the Crusaders to the locker room with momentum.
Story and Taylor Foulks each led UIC (7-16, 3-7 HL) with 14 points. Marissa Grossfeld added 12 and Katie Hannemann scored 10.
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Loyola - Women's Basketball · Milwaukee - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball
