Horizon League Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 8)
Green Bay 78, Northern Illinois 44
Wright State 67, Southern Illinois 64
Butler 85, Cleveland State 69
Canisius 77, Detroit 67
St. Xavier 80, UIC 79
The teams picked first and second in the Horizon League Women's Basketball Preseason Poll - Green Bay and Wright State - both picked up season-opening victories on Friday night as college basketball began the 2013-14 season.
Green Bay - the defending Horizon League champion - outscored Northern Illinois 29-1 in the final 10 minutes of the first half to open up a close ballgame and seal the win for the Phoenix. Wright State, which trailed by as much as 11 points in the first half, battled back to defeat Southern Illinois, 67-64. The Raiders were led by Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Kim Demmings who scored 23 of her game-high 31 points in the second half.
Green Bay 78, Northern Illinois 44
A young Green Bay women’s basketball team came together on Friday night, producing a 78-44 win over Northern Illinois in its first season opener at home in over 26 seasons.
A big 29-1 run over the final 10 minutes of the first half sealed the win for the Phoenix, while the team also saw numerous personal records set in the game. All 11 players that took to the court had at least one point, led by a career and game-high 13 from freshman Mehryn Kraker (West Allis, Wis.). Senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) recorded her first double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The lead exchanged hands seven times over the first 10 minutes, arriving at a 14-14 tie with 10:41 remaining in the opening stanza. A three by Ellen Edison (Maple Grove, Minn.) broke the tie, spurring an 11-0 run by Green Bay covering a span of 4:16. A Huskies free throw ended the scoreless run for NIU, but it was the only points the team had in the closing minutes as the Phoenix tacked on 18 more points to take a 43-15 advantage into the break.
NIU was held without a field goal for the final 11:02 of the opening half and shot just 24.0 percent (6-25). On the opposite bench, Green Bay shot an impressive 51.6 percent (16-31) from the floor including 41.7 percent (5-12) from behind the arc. The Phoenix exercised its scoring options inside and out using 20 points in the paint and 15 from three.
The Huskies were able to break their streak without a basket 25 seconds into the second half, but couldn’t generate enough offense to overcome a dominate Phoenix offense in the paint. Green Bay finished the game with 44 points in the paint, with 24 of those coming in the second half.
Green Bay also continued its trend from the preseason of capitalizing on its opponent’s miscues, this time turning 18 NIU turnovers into 17 points and 13 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points. The Phoenix also took advantage of its bench, receiving 30 points from its reserves.
Sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontairo) was impressive in her first game back after a season-ending injury suffered last year, registering eight points, three rebounds and a team-high two steals. Classmates Taylor Thomas (Wausau, Wis.) and Edison also finished with career highs, as Thomas chipped in six points and Edison nine.
In addition to Kraker, the other four freshman on the floor for the Phoenix all recorded their first points in a Green Bay uniform. Sam Terry (Baraboo, Wis.) finished with eight points, and all eight came in a span of 2:05 in the closing minutes of the second half.
As a team, Green Bay finished the night shooting 50.9 percent (29-57) while the Huskies went just 30.6 percent (15-49). The Phoenix also led in rebounding, 41-31, and assists, 21-11, while NIU led steals, 9-5.
Wright State 67, Southern Illinois 64
Behind 31 points from Kim Demmings, the women's basketball team picked up a win in its season opener Friday night, holding off Southern Illinois 67-64 at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois.
The Salukis led by as much as 11 on three different occasions in the first half, the final being 25-14 at the 8:36 mark, only to see the Raiders close the period on a 14-2 run, eight of those coming from Demmings, to go up 28-27 at the break.
WSU shot just 26 percent in the opening 20 minutes compared to 36 percent for SIU, but also made 11 of 22 foul shots compared to only one of two for Southern Illinois.
Wright State gradually build on the lead in the second half, going up 49-37 on an Abby Jump three with 10:53 to play. The Salukis stormed back to within one at 57-56 at the 5:54 mark and came within one again at 61-60 with 2:44 to play, but the Raiders held on down the stretch for the victory.
Foul shooting turned out to be the difference as while WSU shot 32 percent and SIU 41 percent, the Raiders made 23 of 41 at the stripe while the Salukis were just three of 13.
Demmings scored 23 of her game-high 31 points in the second half, marking the ffith time in her career that she has scored 30 or more points in a game. Ivory James had a near double-double of 15 points and nine rebounds as did Tayler Stanton with eight points and a career-high 15 boards.
Rishonda Napier paced Southern Illinois (0-1) with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while Dyana Pierre also had one of 12 points and 15 boards and Cartaesha Macklin added 12 points.
Butler 85, Cleveland State 69
The Cleveland State women's basketball team kicked off the 2013-14 season Friday evening, falling at Butler, 85-69.
Kiersten Green led the Vikings with a career-high 28 points, including a career-best five three-pointers, while Imani Gordon tallied 12 points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free throw line. Cori Coleman and Haley Schmitt each tallied nine points, while Adesuwa Aideyman added six.
Gordon had a team-high seven rebounds, while Green added five assists and Coleman had a team-high three steals.
The Vikings went into the halftime break trailing by 13 (43-30), and traded baskets during the opening minutes of the second half, including an Aideyman three-pointer at the 19:20 mark to put the score at 37-50 with 16:31 left to play. The Bulldogs then rattled off seven straight points to gain a 20-point advantage (57-37) with just over 14 minutes left in the contest.
Four minutes later the Vikings were able to close the gap to 15 points (61-46) with back-to-back baskets from Green, and then traded layups on the next two possessions to put the score at 63-48 with 8:44 remaining.
Butler was able to extend its lead once again over the next 1:39, gaining a 20-point lead (71-51) with 7:05 left in the contest. The Vikings stayed tough though, going on an 11-6 run over the next 3:30 – with five points from Green and six from Gordon – to put the score at 77-62 with 3:37 remaining.
The Bulldogs then outscored the Vikings 8-7 in the final minutes of the contest, earning the 85-69 victory.
Canisius 77, Detroit 67
Four Titans scored in doubles figures, but the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team's late game surge was not enough as UDM fell on the road at Canisius, 77-67, on Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Junior Ellisha Crosby led the way with a double-double in her Division I debut as she tallied a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds, while coming away with a team-best three steals.
Senior Senee Shearer posted 13 points, three rebounds and had a pair of steals Sophomore Rosanna Reynolds had 12 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Tayelor McCalister ended with a career-high 11 points and topped the UDM squad with four assists.
Detroit trailed by as many as 16 in the first half, but was able to cut into that and make it a seven-point game, 44-37, just four minutes into the second period. A lot of that came on the strength of a 9-2 run. Crosby started it with a fast-break layup and then Reynolds had one of her own and senior Megan Hatter drilled a trifecta that was followed by Shearer's run to the hoop.
Canisius, though, was able to hold serve and push it back to 14, 53-39, with 13:23 left, but the Titans ran off seven straight to once again get within seven, 53-46, with 12:04 remaining.
The Golden Griffins made it a double-digit lead again at 56-46 and 58-48, but a free throw from Shearer and three points from McCalister had the Titans behind by just six, 59-53, with 8:21 left, but that was as close as UDM could get with Canisius once again pushing the lead back to 15.
Detroit had one last charge in it as the Titans cut the home school's advantage down to seven as a three from Reynolds and some good free throw shooting by Crosby made it 72-65 at the 1:28 mark, but time was not on UDM's side.
Hatter finished with eight points and six rebounds and freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress collected six points, two assists and a steal.
Detroit had 11 steals on the night and forced 21 turnovers, but Canisius was 11-of-29 from three where the Titans were 6-of-31, tying a school record for attempts.
The Titans got off to a strong start thanks to some pressure defense forcing Canisius out of its game. UDM had a 5-2 lead as Reynolds had the first markers of the new season on a pair of free throws and that was followed by a three from Shearer.
The Titans then took a 10-6 lead at the 16:35 mark as Crosby had a basket and a free throw and Shearer went inside for a strong layup.
Canisius countered with eight straight for a 14-10 lead, but Detroit came right back to knot the score at 14-all as McCalister got inside for a bucket and Frederick-Childress used her speed to get to the rim for a deuce.
The Golden Griffins then got hot from the outside hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and then the foul calls started to mount up as they added six points from the line en route to a 12-0 run and a 26-14 advantage midway through the half.
They later opened a 32-16 lead, but the Titans ended the stanza on a 12-5 run to trim the deficit to nine at the break, 37-28. McCalister started the spurt with a layup and Reynolds added five on a basket and a trey with Hatter and Frederick-Childress also coming up with points down the stretch.
Canisius was 5-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half compared to the Titans 1-of-10, but Detroit had four steals and forced 10 turnovers in the opening period.
St. Xavier 80, UIC 79
The UIC women’s basketball team (0-1) dropped its season opener on Friday night by a final score of 80-79, on a game-winning three-pointer by St. Xavier’s (1-0) Sidney Prasse with four seconds remaining. The high-scoring affair featured nine players in double figures, including UIC redshirt sophomore Ruvanna Campbell with a career-high 21 points. Senior Emily Kobel tacked on 16 points, while freshman Melita Emanuel-Carr began her Flames career with 15 points.
“Tonight was a tough loss,” said Head Coach Regina Miller. “I’ve seen our players perform better and I know they will throughout the season. I saw some good things tonight, but I also saw a lot of elements that we have to continue working on.”
After trailing for most of the game, UIC overcame a 12-point deficit and grabbed the lead by the 7:07 mark of the second half. The Flames looked to be in cruise control as they executed an 8-0 run capped off by Kobel’s fourth trey of the night, going ahead 71-64 with 5:36 left to play.
From that point, St. Xavier went on a 13-6 spurt to knot the score at 77-77 with 1:18 on the clock. UIC jumped in front by two on a Megan Wallace jumper with 55 seconds on the ticker. After turnovers by both teams, the Cougars sank the game-winning three with four seconds left to play, leaving UIC with a half-court shot attempt that fell short.
The Flames shot well from outside in the second half, going 5-of-10 after totaling 1-of-10 in the opening period. UIC attempted 10 more free throws than St. Xavier, but came away with a 61.3 percentage, while the Cougars hit 90.5 percent of their free throws.
Defensively, UIC caused 20 St. Xavier turnovers and converted those miscues into 22 points. Sophomore Terri Bender paced UIC in the steals category with four swipes as the team managed 12 in total. Bender also tallied a team-high seven assists and added 10 points.
The Flames also scored 23 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds. Wallace led UIC in boards with seven, being closely followed by Campbell, Kobel and Katie Hannemann with six apiece. Wallace reached double figures in scoring with 11 points and also managed three blocked shots.
Campbell went on her own run to start the second half with 11 straight points for the Flames. She ended the night shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 7-of-13 from the foul line.
