Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 29)
Wright State 84, Chicago State 62
Akron 91, Youngstown State 75
Drake 79, Milwaukee 57
Miami (Ohio) 91, Cleveland State 80
Minnesota 79, Oakland 43
Western Michigan 72, Valparaiso 50
Saturday, Dec. 28
UIC 80, Denver 68
Wright State 84, Chicago State 62
Up just four at the half, the Wright State women's basketball team exploded for 48 points the final 20 minutes in pulling away for an 84-62 win at Chicago State Sunday afternoon.
Chicago State led 22-19 on the fourth three-pointer of the first half by Tierra Williams at the 6:14 mark, only to see the Raiders regain the lead on a Kim Demmings jumper and a KC Elkins three. The game was then tied on two occasions before WSU went in front for good at 32-26 on back-to-back Elkins triples, the second with 2:09 remaining.
Wright State took a 36-32 lead into the break as the Raiders shot 34 percent in the opening 20 minutes, including four of 14 from three-point range, while the Cougars shot 41 percent overall and were five of eight from behind the arc.
Three consecutive layups from Ivory James and a Demmings basket pushed the advantage into double figures to start the second half and Demmings later capped off a 21-4 run with seven points to make it 57-36 with 12:40 remaining.
Chicago State would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way as WSU extended the margin to as much as 27 twice in the final six minutes.
Both teams shot the ball well in the second half as the Raiders hit for 49 percent while the Cougars were at 55 percent. Wright State, though, finished with 28 more attempts for the contest thanks to a 44-36 rebounding edge, including 20-8 on the offensive end, and by forcing 28 turnovers while committing 12. WSU led 35-11 in points off of turnovers and 25-3 in second-chance points.
The Raiders came one point shy of having all five starters score in double figures as Demmings led the way with 21 points and added seven steals while James had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, Tayler Stanton and Tay'ler Mingo 10 points each and Elkins had nine points. Mingo dished out seven assists.
UIC 80, Denver 68
Home for the first time in five weeks, the UIC women's basketball team (9-2) won its ninth consecutive game Saturday (Dec. 28) with an 80-68 victory over Denver (1-11). Rachel Story scored a game-high 23 points to lead five UIC players in double-figures.
The Flames' 9-2 record matches the 1976-77 and 1977-78 squads for the best eleven-game start in program history. It is also the first nine-game win streak since Jan. 11-Feb. 13, 2007 in the midst of a program-record 11 consecutive victories. Four of the nine victories have been over 2012-13 WNIT participants (Idaho State, Miami Ohio, Texas Southern and Butler).
UIC never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 15 (61-46) with 6:51 left in the game. The Flames forced a season-high 22 turnovers and scored 28 points off Denver’s miscues.
UIC held a 40-35 advantage on the boards and improved to 9-1 this season when out-rebounding its opponent. The Flames also shot a season-high .839 from the line (26-of-31) and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.
Story, The Horizon League’s Player of the Week, was 7-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. She also knocked down 3-of-7 shots from three-point land.
The Flames are undefeated (9-0) with Story in the lineup this season. Story owns three straight 20-point efforts, five this season and 16 in her UIC career. She has been in double-figures in 12 straight contests dating back to last season.
Senior Emily Kobel had 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and entered the UIC record books. She made 3-of-8 shots from beyond the arc and her 108 career made three-pointers now rank tenth all-time in program history. It was Kobel’s fourth double-digit effort this season and first since Nov. 20 at SIUE.
Redshirt senior Katie Hannemann had 13 points and nine rebounds for her ninth double-figure performance this season. She was a season-high 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Redshirt sophomore Ruvanna Campbell collected her team-high tenth double-digit effort with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. She also contributed six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Sophomore Terri Bender continued her solid all-around play with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. She was in double-figures for the first time since Nov. 23 against Miami and the fourth time this season. Bender owns 18 steals over the last five games (3.6 steals per contest).
Akron 91, Youngstown State 75
The Youngstown State women's basketball team trimmed a 15-point deficit down to four in the second half but couldn't keep up with Akron down the stretch in a 91-75 loss on Sunday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Akron scored 13 straight points late in the first half and led by 15 at halftime. Behind Heidi Schlegel and Kelsea Newman, Youngstown State got back to within four with 10 minutes remaining. The Zips scored 36 points over the final 10 minutes, and a 7-0 run that started with seven minutes remaining allowed them to pull away from the Penguins.
Schlegel matched her career high with 27 points, and 19 of those came in the second half. Newman added a career-high 16 points off the bench, and Jenna Hirsch scored all 14 of her points in the second half after foul trouble limited her to eight minutes in the first half.
Hanna Luburgh scored 21 of her 25 points in the second half, including 19 in the final 10 minutes, for Akron. Kacie Cassell scored a career-high 20 points for the Zips, who shot 55.6 percent.
Schlegel made her first three field-goal attempts of the game, and YSU led 7-5 after four minutes. Akron forced the Penguins' leading scorer into some tougher looks, and she did not make a field goal the rest of the half. Karen Flagg's free throw put the Penguins up 8-5, and they led by three again after a Touvelle 3-pointer at the 14:58 mark made the score 11-8.
The lead changed hands four times over the next 4:21, and Latisha Walker's bucket put YSU up 16-15 at the 10:37 mark. Cassell's third 3-pointer of the half on Akron's next possession put the Zips up 18-16, and they did not trail again.
Touvelle hit a deep 3-pointer from the left wing to stop a scoring drought of nearly four minutes for YSU, and Newman followed with a triple to tie the score at 22 with 6:08 left. Akron scored the next five points to go up 27-22, and Flagg's three-point play made the score 27-25 at the 4:22 mark. That was YSU's last field goal of the half, and Akron went on its 13-0 run to go up 40-25.
Schlegel scored the first six points of the second half to get YSU within nine and force an Akron timeout. A Newman 3-pointer at the 13:42 mark cut the deficit to 51-45, and she hit another triple two minutes later to get the Penguins to within 55-51.
Akron scored nine of the next 11 points to go up 64-53, but two Schlegel free throws capped a 7-2 Penguins run that made the score 66-60 with 7:19 left. Akron scored the next seven points to go up by 13, and YSU got no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Schlegel was 7-for-15 from the field and 13-of-14 from the free-throw line for her 27 points. Liz Hornberger had seven assists but was 0-for-7 from the field, and Flagg had a game-high nine rebounds. The Penguins held a 40-27 edge on the glass.
Drake 79, Milwaukee 57
Drake University started the second half with a big scoring run to take control of the game in claiming a 79-57 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center.
The Panthers (3-9) looked to have regained momentum of the contest with a strong finish to the first half, only to see the Bulldogs (6-5) open the second half with an 18-4 scoring run to push their advantage to 59-37 with 11:47 to play.
"Today we played a very good Drake team that takes pride in moving the ball well," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We really struggled to get into a flow on offense, taking incredibly quick shots, and we lacked the defensive intensity needed to be in this game."
Milwaukee never gave up down the stretch, but could not get any closer than 11 after Drake built that lead, helped along by making 10 of its first 15 attempts from three-point range in making 50 percent of its shots from the floor overall on the day.
Sophomore Avyanna Young recorded her second-straight double-double and fifth of the season, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way.
Junior Ashley Green had 11 points and senior Angela Rodriguez was also in double-figures with 10, but the Drake defense held that duo out of the scoring column after halftime.
"We knew they could shoot the three well and they capitalized on every defensive mistake we made," Rechlicz said. "Going into preparation for our next game against Omaha, we have to learn to be tougher, play through being tired, and take pride in our defensive system."
Kyndal Clark led four Bulldogs in double-figures with a game-high 19 points.
The first half saw the Panthers fall down by as many as 14, but they battled all the way to the horn. The team finished the half by scoring 10 of the final 14 points in the contest, with a Green three-pointer at the buzzer trimming the deficit to eight points at 41-33.
Drake did not miss often from distance, going 7-of-11 on three-pointers to pull away in the middle of the period. In fact, UWM led 10-8 at the 15:26 mark on a fastbreak layup by Young before the Bulldogs took over.
That started them on a 20-5 run that turned the game. They would lead 28-15 at that point and, after trading baskets for a stretch, led by as many as 14 at 37-23 before Milwaukee would respond in the final four-plus minutes.
Miami (Ohio) 91, Cleveland State 80
Despite a career-high performance from Cori Coleman, the Cleveland State women's basketball team fell at Miami University Sunday afternoon, 91-80. The Vikings now stand at 5-7 on the year, while Miami improves to 4-7.
Coleman led the Vikings with 27 points – including a career-high tying five three-pointers – while Adesuwa Aideyman added 15 points and Kiersten Green tallied 10 points. Imani Gordon was just shy of the double-digit mark, posting nine points, while Brooke Smith tied her career-high with seven.
As a team, the Vikings knocked down 13 three-pointers – which ties the season-high – while it also ranks fifth all-time in program history for three-pointers made in a single game. This also marked the sixth time this season that CSU has tallied at least 10 three-pointers.
In the closing seconds of the first half Coleman and Aideyman hit back-to-back three-pointers, bringing the Vikings within seven (39-32) heading into the halftime break. Over the final 58 seconds of the first half, CSU outscored Miami 6-2 with points from Coleman, Aideyman and Olivia Voskuhl.
The Vikings continued this momentum through the opening minutes of the second half, going on a 7-4 run to come within four points at the 43-39 mark with 16:49 left to play. Miami responded with an 8-0 run of their own over the next 3:08 though, extending their lead to double-digits at the 51-39 mark with 13:24 left in the contest.
The RedHawks were able to hold a double-digit lead over the next six-minute span, until the Vikings went on a 9-3 run to close the gap to single digits at the 7:19 mark. This run – which included four points from Smith, three from Green, and two from Khayla Livingston – put the score at 66-58 Miami. The RedHawks were once again able to extend their lead to double-digits on the following possessions, but a 6-2 CSU run that ended with a Livingston three-pointer brought the Vikings within six (74-68) with just over four minutes left in the contest.
The two teams then traded baskets over the next 2:54, until Miami was able to close out the contest on a 9-7 run, earning the 11-point victory.
Cleveland State tallied a .419 clip from the floor (26-62) against Miami, including a .382 clip from behind-the-arc (13-34). The Vikings tied their season-high with 19 assists against the RedHawks, including six from Green and five from Aideyman.
Minnesota 79, Oakland 43
Victoria Lipscomb led Oakland with 10 points and three assists, but the Oakland women's basketball team (4-8) fell in the final game of 2013 to Minnesota (11-3), 79-43, Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena. UM is the third Big Ten opponent and seventh BCS opponent this season.
Bethany Watterworth added six point for Oakland on 2-of-5 shooting, while Kim Bee and Elena Popkey tied for the team-high with seven rebounds. Oakland scored a season-low 43 points and shot a season-worst 28.1 percent (16-57) from the field.
Oakland held the game to single-digits until UM went on a 14-3 run in the final five minutes of the opening half as the Golden Gophers led 39-20 at half. Minnesota shot 56.7 percent (17-30) from the floor and scored 22 points in the paint in the opening period. Bee led with five point and six rebounds in the half.
The Golden Gophers started on fire in the second half as they went on a 23-7 run to go up 62-27 and finished the game shooting 56.1 percent (32-57) in the game. Lipscomb scored seven of her 10 points in the second half and Watterworth added all six of her points. UM's Amanda Zahui B. led all scorers with 25 ponts on 11-of-15 shooting.
Western Michigan 72, Valparaiso 50
Senior Charae Richardson dropped in 18 points versus Western Michigan Sunday afternoon, but the Broncos utilized a 19-2 run to open the second half to seal a 72-50 victory at the ARC.
Injuries have played a major factor thus far for the 2013-14 Valpo women's basketball team. And just as one Crusader was getting back onto the floor, another was relegated to the bench. Junior Jessica Carr made her season debut Sunday just as sophomore Lexi Miller is dealing with the after effects of a concussion sustained earlier this week. Carr missed the first ten games as she recovered from hand injuries suffered in an automobile accident this past September.
Head coach Tracey Dorow refuses to use injuries as an excuse, though.
"We simply have to play better as a team. I thought we had some good practices these past two weeks, but for whatever reason it's not translating onto the court during games," Dorow said.
The first ten minutes of the game saw multiple lead changes. Richardson accounted for eight of the Crusaders' first nine points of the tilt.
Valpo took a 16-15 lead on Carr's first shot of the season, a three-pointer from the top of the key. The trey represented the last time the Crusaders were in front, however.
Western Michigan responded with a 17-4 surge thanks in large part to three jumpers from Marquisha Harris. Six of her eight points came during the nearly seven-minute run.
The Broncos took a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
Turnovers on back-to-back possessions in the opening minutes of the second half allowed the Broncos to extend the margin to 17. A flurry of offensive rebounds then pushed the game wide open as Western Michigan held a 58-29 advantage with 12 minutes to play.
Liz Horton's ninth three-pointer in the month of December drew the Brown and Gold to within 17 again, but that was as close as it would get as Western Michigan downed Valpo 72-50.
For the Broncos, it was their third win over a Horizon League team in as many games. Valpo was held to 50 points on its home floor for the second straight game.
Richardson finished the afternoon 7-of-14 from the field and grabbed a team-best six rebounds. The fifth-year senior has recorded at least 16 points in three of her last five games.
