Green Bay and Wright State Win on Sunday

Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 17)
#rv/rv Green Bay 68, Duquesne 60
Wright State 90, Akron 80
Eastern Michigan 84, Cleveland State 70
Western Illinois 99, Milwaukee 86

Green Bay 68, Duquesne 60
Trailing by nine points with under eight minutes remaining, the Green Bay women’s basketball team battled back to outscore host Duquesne 23-6 down the stretch to rally for a 68-60 win in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Down by as many as nine points (54-45) with 7:42 remaining in the contest, the Phoenix used a big 11-0 run over 4:20 to grab back the lead, 56-54, with 3:42 remaining. Starting with a pair of free throws from senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.), the run ended with two layups also by Ranger to give the Phoenix its first lead since the 15:54 mark of the second half. A Megan Lukan layup added to the lead, 58-54, and Green Bay limited the Dukes to just one field goal while shooting 10-for-14 from the line to secure the 68-60 non-conference win.

Recouping from a first half free throw shooting percentage of 33.3 percent (4-12) the Phoenix were 75 percent (18-24) shooters in the second half, including a 6-for-8 showing from sophomore  Kaili Lukan and a perfect 4-for-4 performance by senior Sam Zastrow (Algoma, Wis.) over the final 1:18 to keep the Phoenix in the lead. 

“We were down by nine with seven minutes remaining and I told the kids, a lot can happen in seven minutes,” head coach Kevin Borseth said. “We turned up the intensity defensively, got some big steals and made key free throws down the stretch, and that was key for us in the win.”

In the first half, the Dukes led by as many as 10 points (18-8) midway through, but the Phoenix chipped away at the lead. A 20-10 scoring advantage over10:22 eventually tied the game at 28 with 1:23 remaining in the first half. Freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) started the run with a three, and after Megan Lukan was fouled and made the front end of a pair of free throw, sophomore Ellen Edison (Maple Grove, Minn.) connected on a three and was fouled on the shot for the four-point play to get the Phoenix back to within four points, 20-16, with 8:04 on the clock.

Duquesne built its advantage back to six points, 27-21, with 3:12 remaining before the Phoenix capitalized on a 7-1 scoring run highlighted by a layup and-one from Edison, a Buck layup and finally a Mariah Monke (Fergus Falls, Minn.) layup to knot the game at 28. However, the Dukes went 3-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch, while the Phoenix went 1-for-2 to give the home team a 31-29 lead at the break.

Green Bay went into halftime shooting 43.5 percent (10-23) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-13) from three compared to 36.4 percent (8-22) from the field and 22.2 percent (2-9) from deep for the Dukes. The difference in the half came at the free throw line where Duquesne shot 76.5 percent (13-17) compared to the Phoenix shooting just 33.3 percent (4-12).

The second half opened with a Monke layup to tie the game at 31-31, and the Phoenix offense kept clicking as it took the lead, 37-36, with 15:54 remaining on a Ranger layup. Despite taking the lead, the momentum swung in favor of Duquesne as the Dukes went on a 12-2 scoring run to jump out to a 48-39 advantage, forcing Green Bay to call a timeout with 10:01 remaining. Green Bay’s lone points during the run came on a pair of free throws by Ranger, and the Phoenix wouldn’t score another field goal until the 9:21 mark on a layup from Megan Lukan. The Dukes held the momentum before a resilient Green Bay squad came storming back, setting up the late game dramatics.

It was a career day for several Phoenix, as Ranger finished with her second double-double of the season, totaling 12 points and tying a career-high 11 rebounds. Kaili Lukan tied a career-best with 13 points, Edison finished with a career high 13 points and Buck set a career-high with seven assists in addition to tying her career-high in points (11) and rebounds (5).

As a team, the Phoenix finished the game shooting 46.5 percent (20-43) from the field with 16 assists. Green Bay also forced Duquesne into 22 turnovers compared to just 17 for itself, and also had an advantage in steals, 9-8.

Wright State 90, Akron 80
Four starters scored in double figures as the Wright State women's basketball team pulled away in the second half to defeat Akron 90-80 Sunday at WSU's Nutter Center.

The Zips led 21-15 eight minutes into the contest and the margin grew to 33-24 on a Rachel Tecca jumper at the 6:21 mark before the Raiders answered with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes, capped off by two Sarah Hunter free throws, to tie it at 34.  Layups by Ja'Monica Orton and Hunter gave WSU a 38-36 edge and Wright State went up 43-40 at the half on a KC Elkins three in the final minute.

The Raiders shot 40 percent from the field in the first half compared to 37 percent for the Zips and outscored Akron in the paint 20-10.

Akron scored eight of the first nine points of the second half to regain the lead at 48-44, only to see WSU take the lead for good with a 13-0 run, five of those coming from Ivory James.

The Zips closed to within four on three different occasions, but the Raiders were able to hold on for the victory thanks to hitting 19 of 22 foul shots in the second half, including 12 of 14 over the final 1:57.

WSU shot 41 percent for the game and was 27 of 36 from the free throw line overall while Akron shot 42 percent from the field but was just 13 of 24 at the line for the game, four of 11 after halftime.  The Raiders led 32-26 in points in the paint and 22-13 in points off of turnovers as they forced 25 while committing 12.

Tay'ler Mingo and James each had 18 points to lead Wright State while Kim Demmings had 16 and Tayler Stanton posted a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.  The other Raider starter, Elkins, added eight points and six boards while Hunter had nine points off the bench.

Tecca paced all scorers with a double-double of 33 points and 15 rebounds for Akron (2-2) while Hanna Luburgh had 16 points, Carly Young a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards and Hannah Plybon 10 points.

Eastern Michigan 84, Cleveland State 70
The Cleveland State women's basketball team had three players record double-digit points Sunday afternoon, but that wouldn't be enough, as the Vikings came up short against Eastern Michigan, 84-70. The loss puts the Vikings at 1-2 on the season, while EMU improves to 3-0.

The junior trio of Imani Gordon, Cori Coleman and Kiersten Green led the CSU offense, Gordon and Coleman with 15 points each and Green with 13. Haley Schmitt added nine points for the Vikings, while Khayla Livingston, Brooke Smith and Olivia Voskuhl combined for 18 points off the bench.

Gordon and Schmitt each grabbed a team-high six rebounds against the Eagles, while Livingston posted a game-high six assists. Gordon and Smith both tallied two steals on the day, while Gordon and Livingston both posted a blocked shot.

During the opening half, Eastern Michigan was able to gain a double-digit lead – which eventually proved to be too much for the Vikings to overcome. Eight minutes into the opening period, the Eagles held a 21-9 advantage, after going on a 13-0 run and then held a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half. During the first 20-minutes of action, EMU scored 20 points off of 16 first half Viking turnovers.

The Vikings limited their turnovers to just five during the second frame, while they were also able to chip away at the EMU lead. After the Eagles extended their lead to 20 (70-50) midway through the second half, Cleveland State finally got going offensively posting a mini 6-1 run to close the gap to 15 points (71-56) at the 5:02 mark. During this stretch CSU got a three-point basket from Smith, the first of her collegiate career.

Over the next 2:28 the two teams traded baskets, until the Vikings were once again able to go on a run, outscoring the Eagles 11-3 over a two-minute span. With this run, CSU was able to close the gap to single-digits, coming within nine points at the 78-69 mark with just 34 seconds remaining. The Vikings were then forced to foul EMU in the closing seconds, and the Eagles were able to convert all six of their free throw attempts, giving them the 14-point victory.

As a team, Cleveland State shot 35-percent from the floor (23-64), while the Eagles posted a .508 clip (31-61) from the field. The Vikings recorded 19 assists on their 23 made field goals, while they also forced EMU into 20 turnovers throughout the contest. The Eagles ended the contest with the slight advantage in rebounds, 43-36.

Western Illinois 99, Milwaukee 86
Angela Rodriguez and Avyanna Young both recorded double-doubles but it was not enough as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team fell in a shootout to Western Illinois University, 99-86, at the Klotsche Center Sunday afternoon.

Young was one of five Panthers (0-2) to score in double figures, netting a career-high 22 points to go with her game-high 16 rebounds. Rodriguez added 18 more, making four three-pointers and dished out an impressive 10 assists on the day but it was not enough as WIU (3-1) shot better than 50 percent from the floor.

Freshman Bre'Zall Warren poured in 13 points in just her second collegiate game, while Ashley Green and Janna Swopshire each chipped in 12.

Marley Hall had a game-high 23 points to lead five Leatherneck players in double-digit scoring.

"I felt like we came out extremely aggressive on the offensive end, executing exactly what we wanted to execute, which was to go inside first and then look for outside shots second. However, defense is the name of the game," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "You have to make defensive plays to win the game and I feel like we came out really lax on the defensive side tonight and it's something we have got to build on and get better at."

Milwaukee came out of the gates hot, connecting on seven of its first nine shots. A jumper by Young from the wing gave UWM a 16-14 lead just 4:39 into the game.

The Leathernecks were able to answer though, going on a 14-2 run capped by an Ashley Luke jumper at the 10:45 mark gave WIU a lead that they would never relinquish.

Western Illinois stretched the lead to 18 when Milwaukee answered back right before the half. Rodriquez hit a three followed by six-straight points by Young and UWM closed the lead to just nine at the break.

""I felt like `Avy' just came out and really played her heart out," Rechlicz said. "She was a huge spark for us on the boards and I think people in our conference are going to have a hard time stopping her, especially when she is getting eight offensive rebounds."

The Panthers continued to cut into that lead early in the second half. A three-pointer by Macie Dorow at the 18:27 mark cut the deficit to just six. A basket by WIU and a pair of free throws for Rodriguez kept the game within six until a three ball from Liz Skotowski at the 17:53 mark and UWM could never recover.

"We just had some unforced turnovers that put us in a bad position and they scored 29 points off our 22 errors," Rechlicz said. "When you look down the line and you only lose by 13, those are some huge mistakes and they were just unforced. Western is a great team and I think that they have some really scrappy guards and it really put us on our heels. It was turnovers we shouldn't have had."