Horizon League Women’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 28)
#23/21 Green Bay 71, Detroit 63
Loyola 92, Milwaukee 76
Wright State 83, Valparaiso 78 (OT)
Youngstown State 79, UIC 66
Green Bay 71, Detroit 63
The #21/23 Green Bay women's basketball team passed a tough test in the Motor City with a 71-63 victory over Detroit on Thursday night. Paced by a second-straight career outing by reigning Horizon League Co-Player of the Week redshirt sophomore Megan Lukan, the Phoenix improved to 23-2 overall and 13-0 in the Horizon League. More importantly, the win granted the Phoenix the Horizon League regular season championship outright after claiming at least a share of it last week. Detroit dropped to 14-11 and 7-6 in conference play with the loss.
In the win, the Phoenix shot 15-36 from long range, good for a 41.7 percent mark. The team's 15 makes tied for the second-most in a single game in program history, while 36 attempts tied for third. After going 0-5 from long range in the first half, Lukan went 6-8 in half number two for a 6-13 outing. Her six makes tied for third in program history, while her 13 attempts were the most a Green Bay women's basketball player has ever attempted in a game.
Green Bay never trailed in the first half, jumping out to a 6-0 lead to start the game after the first of four three's on the night from Sarah Eichler and a three-point play from Stephanie Sension. The Phoenix extended the lead to 9-2 before a 7-0 run from the Titans gave the game its only tie of the opening frame.
Eichler hit the first of four combined three's in a row to extend the lead to 15-9 before redshirt senior Jenny Gilbertson capped off a 9-0 run with a triple of her own at the 11:37 mark.
Sension completed another three-point play to put the Phoenix up 24-16, but Detroit closed the first half on an 11-4 run over the final five minutes to leave Green Bay with a slim 28-27 lead at the break.
After her ice-cold first half from downtown, Lukan got Green Bay on the board first in the second half with a three for a 31-27 lead. Detroit's Shareta Brown scored her sixth of eight points on the night in the lane, knotting things at 31-31 shortly after.
Adrian Ritchie scored the next five points for the Phoenix with a three and a steal leading to a layup, but the Titans' Senee Shearer, who led the home team with 15 points, tied things up at 36-36 on a three with 15:34 remaining.
Another Lukan triple with 9:59 remaining put Green Bay up 44-42, sparking a run of a combined five-straight three's. A triple from Detroit's Rosanna Reynolds as the shot clock expired gave the Titans their first lead of the game at 45-44 with just over nine minutes to play.
Lydia Bauer had the answer with the next three, putting Green Bay back on top 47-45. The lead was short-lived, however, as Destiny Lavita-Stephens put the home team back in charge at 48-47. From there, it was the Megan Lukan show.
Lukan hit consecutive three's to extend the lead to 53-48 with 7:25 remaining as part of an 11-0 run. Sension took a feed inside and shot around Brown in the post to give Green Bay a 10-point advantage with a 58-48 lead at the 5:50 mark. After Detroit broke up the run, Lukan hit two more three's to grant the visitors a 64-52 edge with 4:24 to play.
The Titans wouldn't go away easy, as the host team used a 10-2 run over a three-and-a-half minute stretch to come within four points with just over a minute to play. However, a layup and two late free throws from Sension were enough to put the game on ice after three ties and six lead changes in the second half alone.
Green Bay was paced by Lukan's 20 points, just two shy of her career high. Before the Valparaiso game on Feb. 23, Lukan had hit just six of 34 attempts from behind the arc but in the last two games alone, she's hit 10-21 for a 47.6 mark. Sension added 14 points and five rebounds, while Eichler had 12 points on a perfect 4-4 from downtown and a game-high six assists. Bauer added nine points on three three's, and Breannah Ranger grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Behind Shearer's 15 points, Yar Shayok was the only other Detroit player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points. The Titans shot 46.7 percent from the field and hit seven of 20 attempts from long range, good for a 35.0 percent mark.
The win snapped Detroit's 15-game home winning streak dating back to last season, making Green Bay the only remaining Horizon League team with a perfect home record this season. The loss for Detroit was also the first since its home floor was named after former Detroit men's basketball head coach Dick Vitale this past December.
Loyola 92, Milwaukee 76
Simone Law set a new career high for the second straight game, pouring in 33 points, and Loyola outscored Milwaukee 42-18 in the paint en route to a 92-76 win tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers extended their Horizon League winning streak to seven games and wrapped up a 7-1 month of February, both equaling achievements during the 1988-89 season.
Milwaukee opened the game hot from outside, knocking down three triples to take an early 9-4 lead. Law and Troy Hambric were able to score effectively inside but the Panthers kept hitting and eventually opened up a 20-12 lead on an Angela Rodriguez jumper at the 12:41 mark. Loyola began to settle in defensively while maintaining its offensive efficiency and the home team took its first lead (25-24) on a Law basket with just over seven minutes left in the half. UWM quickly responded and rebuilt a six-point lead but the Ramblers finished the half strong, holding the visitors scoreless for the last 3:50 and scoring the last eight of the period to take a 38-36 lead into halftime.
After Sami Tucker scored on the opening possession of the second half, Loyola took off. Monica Albano knocked down a pair of three-pointers in a 12-2 run that gave the Ramblers their first double-digit lead of the game (50-40). A corner three-ball from Lyndsey Booker later bumped the lead to 13 with just under six minutes elapsed in the half and Loyola held a 64-49 advantage close to the midway point of the period after Johnson fed Law for a fastbreak lay-in.
Loyola maintained its double-digit lead for the next five minutes until Milwaukee made a push. A Rodriguez three-pointer and a Macie Dorow free throw sliced the LU lead to seven but two Law free throws and a jumper from Hambric restored an 11-point lead at the 4:58 mark and UWM would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Law and Hambric were terrific in the second half, combining for 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting, as Loyola shot 57% after halftime to finish at 54% for the game. Law added 12 rebounds to her 33 points for her eighth double-double of the season while Hambric just missed one, racking up 18 points and nine boards in 22 minutes of play. Albano also had another solid game, finishing with 16 points while playing 40 turnover-free minutes, passing both Lisa Kasprowicz and Ciara Henderson to move into fifth on Loyola's all-time scoring list. Taylor Johnson gave the Loyola a fourth player in double figures, ending with 13 points and five assists.
Angela Rodriguez led UWM with 22 points and eight assists. Tucker finished with 14 and Emily Decorah scored 11 points, knocking down 3-of-6 three-pointers.
Wright State 83, Valparaiso 78 (OT)
Kim Demmings scored 11 of the Wright State women's basketball team's 14 points in overtime as the Raiders prevailed over Valparaiso 83-78 Thursday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
WSU came out strong, scoring the first eight points of the contest and later went up 27-14 on a Demmings jumper with 7:27 remaining in the first half. The Crusaders, however, closed the period with a 17-5 run to close to within one at the break at 32-31.
The Raiders shot 48 percent in the opening 20 minutes compared to 28 percent for Valparaiso, but the Crusaders took 10 more shots and led 11-2 in points off of turnovers and 6-0 in second-chance points.
Valpo scored the first seven points of the second half to go up six, only to see Wright State answer with a 17-4 run, five each from Demmings and Kayla Lamotte, to take a 49-42 advantage at the 13:50 mark.
The lead later stretched to 68-58 on a Breanne Stucke triple with 6:27 left before the Crusaders scored 11 of the final 12 points of the period to force overtime, capped by a Tabitha Gerardot three from the right wing with 8.1 seconds left.
Valparaiso then opened the scoring in overtime with two Charae Richardson foul shots, but that turned out to be the final lead of the night for the Crusaders as a pair of Demmings baskets made it a two-point WSU lead and after two Shaquira Scott free throws again tied it at 73, Demmings hit a three from the right corner at the 3:01 mark and added another jumper to put Wright State up for good.
The Raiders shot 46 percent for the game, including 10 of 27 from behind the arc, while Valpo shot 35 percent.
Demmings finished with 27 points along with seven rebounds and five assists while Stucke added 13 points and eight boards, Ivory James 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Lamotte chipped in 11 points.
Gerardot paced Valparaiso (9-17, 4-9 Horizon) with a double-double of 33 points and 18 rebounds while Gina Lange also had a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.
Youngstown State 79, UIC 66
Youngstown State senior Brandi Brown scored a career-high 39 points as the Penguins put forth a strong performance in a 79-66 victory over UIC on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.
Brown, who had 33 points in her last home game, took it to another level on Thursday night. On her way to scoring the sixth most points in a single game in school history, she was 12-of-19 from the field, 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc and 11-of-12 from free-throw line. She finished with her 19th double-double of the campaign. Her previous career high was 35 against UIC in March 2011.
The victory was key for the Penguins who remain in second place in the Horizon League standings behind Green Bay and moved closer to solidifying a first-round home game in the league tournament. YSU improves to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in the Horizon League while the Flames drop to 9-17 and 5-8.
It was apparent early the Brown could have a night to remember. She scored YSU's first seven points, had 10 of their first 13 and scored 22 in the opening half, playing just 17 minutes.
YSU was extremely hot in the first half making 16-of-24 shots (66.7 percent), knocking down 9-of-13 3-point attempts (69.2 percent) while connecting on 8-of-9 shots from the line (88.9 percent).
All the sharp shooting amounted to a 49-34 halftime advantage.
YSU trailed twice in the early going before wrestling the lead away from the Flames at the 16:50 mark of the opening half. The Guins drilled three consecutive 3-pointers as Hornberger connected on one and Brown made two from downtown to go in front 16-7.
UIC cut the deficit to four on two occasions and trailed 25-20 at the 8:45 mark. A 22-6 run by the Guins over the next 6:42 stretched the advantage to 47-26 with 2:02 left in the half.
Youngstown State began the run with a 10-0 spurt with all the points coming from Touvelle and Brown. Two free throws by Rachel Story stemmed the tide before the Guins scored the next eight points on 3-pointers by Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle while Brown converted a fast-break layup.
Four straight points by Amanda Barger, who had not scored in a Horizon League game this season, gave the Guins their biggest lead of the game at 47-26.
In the second half, UIC kept trying to get back in the contest, but the closest it could get was 52-45 at the 14:30 mark. YSU responded by scoring the next five points and only once could the Flames get the deficit under double digits for the remainder of the evening.
In fact, the Guins pushed their advantage back up to 17 with 4:11 remaining in the contest.
The Penguins had nine players account for all 79 points. Besides Brown's 39, Hornberger had 12, Touvelle had 12, Melissa Thompson contributed 10 and Barger had six. Leading the way for the Flames was Story who had 26 while Katie Hannemann finished with 20.
For the game, YSU shot 49 percent connecting on 24-of-49 shots from the field. YSU did not make a 3-pointer in the second half, but finished with nine for the game. From the line the Guins were 22-of-28.
UIC shot 43.1 percent for the contest.
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Loyola - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
