Horizon League Women’s Basketball Scoreboard (Jan. 26)
Detroit 74, UIC 68
#rv/rv Green Bay 78, Valparaiso 55
Youngstown State 75, Loyola 38
Detroit 74, UIC 68
On the strength of a 22-8 run to end the first half, the Detroit women's basketball team was able to cool off the UIC Flames, 74-68, on Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall. The win was the 12th straight at home on Dick Vitale Court, tied for the 11th longest in the nation.
Senior Demeisha Fambro was the high scorer ending the game with a season-high 20 points. She was 6-of-10 from the field, tying her career high with four 3-pointers, while also pulling down six rebounds.
Sophomores Shareta Brown and Senee Shearer each had 15 apiece, with Brown adding eight rebounds and four assists and Shearer draining three 3-pointers and corralling four boards. Senior Yar Shayok was also in double figures with 10 points, and junior Megan Hatter tied her career-best with nine boards and she also had seven points, all coming in a crucial time in the second half.
The game was tied at 68-all with 1:43 left when UDM (10-7, 3-2 HL) ended the contest with six-straight points, the last four on a pair of free throws by Fambro and one each from freshman Rosanna Reynolds and Shearer.
The game got to that point as UIC (6-12, 2-3 HL) erased a one-time nine-point Titan lead, 46-37, with 16:40 left. The Flames started chipping away after that and closed to within three, 49-46, but a jumper by Shayok and a three by Shearer pushed the Titan lead back to eight, 54-46, with 11:36 left.
Detroit then had to hold off another charge as the Flames trimmed the advantage to just one, 56-55, but that is when Hatter scored seven-straight points to raise the lead back to eight, 63-55, at the 6:38 mark. UDM had to hold off one more UIC comeback attempt as the Flames tied the game at 66 and then again at 68 before the red, white and blue was able to deal the final knockout blow.
Detroit shot 47.2% from the field and outrebounded the Flames, 36-25, although UIC did find a way to outscore the Titans in the paint, 30-26.
Detroit didn't get off to a slow start offensively, but UIC – who came into the game last in the HL in shooting – hit 10 of its first 18 from the field to take an eight-point advantage, 23-15.
That is when the Titans turned it on with a 15-2 spurt to regain the lead, 30-25, with 4:08 left in the first. Brown had seven in that run, while Fambro and Shearer with three and Shayok netted two.
The Flames would score six-straight points to once again pull ahead, but baskets by Fambro and Brown put the Titans up, 34-31. Fambro the ended the first-half scoring with a three as the red, white and blue took a 37-31 lead at the break, a half that saw Detroit shoot 65.2%.
Green Bay 78, Valparaiso 55
Senior Adrian Ritchie finished just two rebounds and two assists shy of a triple-double as the Green Bay women's basketball team defeated Valparaiso 78-55 on the road for its 10th straight win. The victory improves the Phoenix, which is receiving votes in both Top-25 polls, to 15-2 overall and 5-0 in the Horizon League, while the Crusaders dropped to 7-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Green Bay opened the game with an 11-4 lead after three three's from seniors Sarah Eichler, Stephanie Sension and Jenny Gilbertson. The Phoenix made its first three attempts from behind the arc, and finished the game shooting nearly 43 percent from long range.
Ritchie used a no-look pass to Sension and hit a three on the next possession to extend the lead to 17-4. Green Bay held Valparaiso scoreless for more than six minutes in the first half on an 11-0 run.
Valparaiso cut Green bay's lead to 10 at 24-14 with 5:35 remaining in the first half, but Lydia Bauer responded with an open three from the corner. Bauer finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds.
Ritchie scored five consecutive points for the Phoenix to close the half, snapping a 6-0 Crusaders run with a layup and then another layup and the foul on the next trip down the court. Valparaiso's Gina Lange, who finished with a game-high 18 points, hit a jumper to cut Green Bay's lead to 34-22 going into the half.
The Phoenix opened the second half with five unanswered points after Sension scored in the post on a feed from Bauer and a Bauer hit a three on the next possession. However, the Crusaders used an 11-2 run to bring Green Bay's lead to single digits at 41-33 with 15:18 remaining. Two free throws from Megan Lukan answered the run, and sparked a 16-2 streak for the Phoenix over the next 4:17 to push the lead to 57-35.
Redshirt junior Breannah Ranger didn't attempt a shot in the first half, but helped fuel the Phoenix run with 13 points-just two shy of tying her career high. Ranger shot 5-of-6 from the field and 3-3 from the charity stripe and blocked a shot while playing 19 minutes.
With the shot clock winding down, Eichler sank an NBA-length three to extend the lead to 20 points at 71-51 with 3:33 remaining. Eichler had 11 points in the game, giving her 958 points for her career. From there, Borseth was able to give all 11 players time on the court and seal the 10th straight victory for the Phoenix.
Sension finished the game with nine points and two blocks, while Lukan added eight points and seven assists. Gilbertson had five points on a perfect day from the floor, while redshirt junior Sam Zastrow was one point shy of tying a career high with four points on the day. Redshirt freshman Taylor Thomas also scored two points late in the game.
Valparaiso became the first team since Central Michigan on Dec. 5 to score more than 50 points. The Phoenix entered the game with the nation's best scoring defense at 46.7 points per game and have held 12 of 17 opponents below 50 points this season. Green Bay shot 59.6 percent from the floor, including a 66.7 (16-24) mark in the second half.
Youngstown State 75, Loyola 38
The Youngstown State women's basketball team scored the first 12 points of the game 22 of the first 24 and never looked back in a 75-38 win over Loyola on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. The 37-point win is the largest margin of victory against a league opponent since joining the Horizon League in 2001-02.
Senior Brandi Brown scored a game-high 24 points and became the school's record holder for most free throws with 375. Brown also recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 16 rebounds.
Junior Monica Touvelle scored 12 points by hitting four 3-pointers, and Heidi Schlagel added 10 points. Freshman Shar'Rae Davis and junior Liz Hornberger just missed double figures with nine and eight points, respectively.
The Penguins improve to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the Horizon League while the Ramblers fall to 6-12 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Youngstown State shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the floor and 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from 3-point range in the first half. On the defensive end, the Penguins limited the Ramblers to a 36 percent from the field, forced 10 first-half turnovers and scored 12 points off those miscues.
The Penguins made three of their first four field-goal attempts and jumped out to a 12-0 lead with 15:19 to go. Loyola, which missed its first six shots, scored its first basket on a layup by Troy Hmabric at the 14:15 mark.
Touvelle ignited a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer, and Brown scored the next seven to give the Penguins a 20-point lead, 22-2, midway through the first half.
Loyola scored six straight points to get within 14, 24-10, before a basket by Brown and 3-pointers by Davis and Karen Flagg quickly ballooned the YSU advantage back to 22, 32-10, with 4:19 to go.
Touvelle added two more 3's to extend the YSU advantage to as many as 25, 41-16, in the first half.
In the second half, the Penguins scored 33 points and shot 41.4 percent from the floor while the Ramblers connected on just 23.3 percent of their field-goal attempts after halftime.
For the game, the Penguins shot 50.9 percent from the field made 11 3-pointers while the Ramblers did not have a player reach double figures and shot just 29.1 percent.
The Peguins forced a total of 16 Loyola turnovers, which led the 21 points.