Horizon League Women’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 9)
Detroit 70, Valparaiso 61
#rv/rv Green Bay 64, Milwaukee 49
Loyola 79, Cleveland State 78
Detroit 70, Valparaiso 61
The Detroit women's basketball team used a 33-13 offensive surge in the second half to run its home winning streak to 14-straight as the Titans stormed back from a 12-point deficit for the second week in a row to defeat the Valparaiso Crusaders, 70-61, on Saturday afternoon on Dick Vitale Court.
Junior Senee Shearer hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points. Sophomore Shareta Brown had 12 points and six rebounds, while freshman Rosanna Reynolds ended with nine points, a game-best eight assists, and six boards.
UDM (13-8, 6-3 HL) was down 41-29 early in the second half when the Titans came alive on that 33-13 run over the course of 15 minutes to pull away for the win.
Reynolds started that rally with four quick points and after a Valpo (8-13, 3-5 HL) basket, UDM went on a 9-0 spurt to knot the game at 43-all with 12:45 remaining. Sophomore Audrey Matteson started that with a three and that was followed by layups from senior Demeisha Fambro and Reynolds with Matteson hitting a jumper to tie it up.
The Crusaders jumped out in front by two again, but a pair of free throws by Matteson made it 45-all before freshman Destiny Lavita-Stephens hit one of her two 3-pointers on the day to give Detroit its first lead since midway through the first half.
Detroit would trail one more time as a Valparaiso trey with 7:49 remaining put the Crusaders up, 54-53, but once again, the Titans went on a 9-0 run to take total control with 3:48 on the clock. Shearer started that with a triple, while Brown had four points and Reynolds added a layup. Valparaiso never got it under six points and Detroit cruised the rest of the way for the nine-point triumph.
Fambro ended with eight points and five rebounds, while Lavita-Stephens was 3-of-4 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers tallying eight points. Matteson chipped in seven markers and senior Yar Shayok had six points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks off the bench.
Detroit shot 45.6% from the field and had 18 assists to just 10 turnovers, including just two miscues in the second half.
It was back and forth early on, but Shearer's first three of the game gave Detroit a 10-7 lead and another trey later had UDM up, 15-11, at the 12:25 mark. Valpo then scored five straight for a one-point advantage, but Lavita-Stephens was able to get to the rim to put the red, white, and blue back in front.
Valpo would go on a 16-3 spurt to take a 12-point lead and even after Detroit cut that to five, the Crusaders still led by 12, 41-29, with 18:35 left in the game.
#rv/rv Green Bay 64, Milwaukee 49
The Phoenix was able to push past rival Milwaukee with a 64-59 win in the first of four straight games at home on Saturday night. The win improved Green Bay to 19-2 overall and 9-0 in the Horizon League, while Milwaukee fell to 5-15 and 1-7 in conference play.
Stephanie Sension continued to dominate the post in the win, as she scored the first four points of the game for the Phoenix. Fellow senior Sarah Eichler, who finished the game at 990 career points, completed a three-point play to open a 7-2 lead just over two minutes into the game.
Milwaukee’s Emily Decorah hit her first of five three’s on the night to cut Green Bay’s lead to 9-7 with 16:11 remaining. Decorah tied a career high with five triples on 5-10 shooting, while the rest of her teammates shot just 1-13 from behind the arc.
The Panthers were able to take a 17-14 lead off another Decorah three, But a Sension layup and three free throws from Jenny Gilbertson over two possessions helped Green Bay spark a 15-1 run over a six-minute stretch, giving the Phoenix a 29-18 lead. Milwaukee was able to come back with a 10-1 run of its own, cutting Green Bay’s lead to 30-28 heading into the break.
The Panthers struck first to open the half, knotting the score at 30-30. Lydia Bauer was able to cut Milwaukee’s run with a three, and after a Sension runner Bauer hit another triple to push the lead to 38-33. Both Sension and Bauer each finished with a team-high 14 points, including a 4-of-5 performance from long range by Bauer.
The Phoenix was able to push the lead back to double digits at 45-35 after Adrian Ritchie, while falling to the ground, was able to find an open Gilbertson for three. Gilbertson finished with six points and three rebounds.
During a 16-2 run for the Phoenix, Milwaukee’s Janna Swopshire drove to the basket with 8:27 remaining. Breannah Ranger rejected her shot with a fierce block, and Megan Lukan found Ritchie for the finish, pushing the lead to 52-39. Ranger scored in the post off a feed from Gilbertson with 3:25 remaining to push the lead to 20 at 61-41 heading into the final media timeout.
Milwaukee closed the game on an 8-1 run over the final 2:18, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Green Bay’s double-digit lead. With just 49 points, the Panthers became the 14th opponent in 21 games this season that failed to reach 50 or more points.
In addition to Bauer and Sension with 14 points apiece, Eichler finished with 11 points and was just one shy of her career high with seven assists. Ritchie added nine and both Gilbertson and Ranger had six, while Lukan pitched in three.
Milwaukee was led by Decorah and Ashley Green who each had 15 points. Sami Tucker added seven, while Angela Rodriguez was held to just two points on 1-10 shooting.
Loyola 79, Cleveland State 78
Troy Hambric hit two free throws with :00.1 seconds left for the 17th and final lead change of the afternoon to lift Loyola to a 79-78 win over Cleveland State at Gentile Arena. The win pushes Loyola to 8-13 (3-5 Horizon) while Cleveland State slides back to .500 (11-11, 3-6).
"It is definitely a tough situation," said Hambric. "My heart was racing and I just had to block it all out and focus."
Both teams got off to slow starts with neither team scoring for the first three minutes. Loyola went scoreless for the opening 4:23 before Monica Albano knocked down a three-pointer. Both teams slowly began to settle in and Cleveland State edged out to a 12-9 lead on a Haley Schmitt lay-up with just over nine minutes elapsed. Simone Law scored on a put-back to jumpstart a 9-0 Rambler run that gave the home team an 18-12 lead. Baskets from Taylor Johnson and Lyndsey Booker later gave LU its largest lead of the half (29-20) at the 4:21 mark but the Vikings chipped away as the Ramblers had to settle for a 38-35 lead at halftime.
Cleveland State opened the second half on fire from the three-point line to quickly erase the deficit. A Kiersten Green trey gave CSU a 44-42 lead and Cori Coleman and Albano traded threes later to forge a 49-49 deadlock just over five minutes into the half. Another Green three-pointer capped a 9-1 CSU run that gave the visitors an eight-point lead and Shalonda Winton extended it to 10 (66-56) with another long three. Loyola began to toughen up defensively, immediately cutting the deficit to six after hoops from Hambric and Law, but two Winton charity tosses upped the lead back to eight with 4:48 to go.
Loyola began its charge at that point, cutting the deficit to three after a three-point play by Law and an Ayrealle Beavers basket. After two CSU free throws, Johnson scored and Law followed up a Johnson miss to get the Ramblers within one (72-71) with 2:36 to play. Johnson scored again to give Loyola the lead and the teams traded baskets, essentially, the rest of the way. Johnson knocked down a pair from the line with 17 seconds left to put LU back on top but Winton answered with a tough runner to put the Vikings back on top.
The Ramblers eschewed the timeout and while Johnson's shot missed, Hambric grabbed the offensive rebound and scored while being fouled at the final buzzer. An official review showed her shot came just after the buzzer but the foul call came before time expired. Hambric, who hit a pair from the line with :00.5 left last season to beat San Francisco, calmly hit both to give the Ramblers the win.
Law, who had missed the previous six games, returned with a flourish, leading four Ramblers in double figures with 25 points (11-17 FGs). Johnson added 19 points and nine rebounds while Hambric (12 points, three blocks) and Albano (11) provided additional support. Winton led Cleveland State with 25 points.
