No. 9 Valparaiso 94, No. 4 Detroi 91 (OT)
No. 9 Valparaiso upset No. 4 Detroit in overtime of the opening game of the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship, 94-91 on Thursday at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wis.
Valparaiso exploded from the offensive end in the first quarter, outscoring the Titans 27-17 en route to a 48-40 lead at the halfway mark. The Crusaders were 10-for-13 from three-point range (.769) while Detroit ruled the boards with a 23-11 advantage.
The Titans rallied a comeback in the second half led by junior Haleigh Ristovski who finished with a double-double with a game-high 26 points, 11 rebounds and tied a Horizon League women’s basketball championship record of seven triples.
Valparaiso’s Jasmyn Walker posted a team-high of 23 points and seven rebounds as freshman Meredith Hamlet contributed 21 points in the victory.
Valparaiso will face the winner of No. 8 Cleveland State vs. No. 5 Northern Kentucky in the second round tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. ET.
No. 5 Northern Kentucky 71, No. 8 Cleveland State 59
No. 5 Northern Kentucky took care of business in the second game of the first round of the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon as the Norse defeated No. 8 Cleveland State 71-59.
Guided by their defensive efforts, the Norse got off to a quick start outscoring the Vikings 25-7 in the first 10 minutes of action. Cleveland State, however, would start to mount a comeback in the second frame to enter halftime with a 12 point deficit.
The squads remained even in the second half but Northern Kentucky’s lead was too much to overcome for Cleveland State. The Norse outrebounded the Vikings 38-29 and shot 41 percent from the floor while Cleveland State shot 40.4 percent.
The Norse were led by Kasey Uetrecht with a team-high 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Teammate Rianna Gayheart also produced a strong outing with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Khayla Livingston posted a game-high of 18 points for Cleveland State as fellow Viking and Freshman of the Year Ashanti Abshaw tallied a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Northern Kentucky will face Valparaiso in the first game of the second round tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. ET.
No. 3 Wright State 71, No. 10 UIC 55
Behind Player of the Year Kim Demmings’ game-high 30 points, the No. 3 Wright State Raiders advance to the second round after defeating No. 10 UIC, 71-55.
The Raiders jumped out to a quick lead in the contest with a seven-point edge in the first 10 minutes and didn’t look back the final 30 minutes as the team led by as much as 17 points in the contest.
UIC edged the Raiders in rebounds 41-32 in the game but the Flames came up short on all three-point attempts while Wright State hit five. Both squads were close in field goal percentage as UIC shot 39.3 percent for the game and the Raiders shot 42.3 percent.
Along with Demmings, Symone Simmons put the ball through the net for Wright State accumulating 13 points while Lexi Smith led the team in rebounds with eight.
Ruvanna Campbell notched a double-double for UIC with 15 points and 13 rebounds. In the ballgame, the senior became the Horizon League women’s basketball all-time leading rebounder in a career with 1,827 boards. Brittany Byrd scored a team-high 17 points and went 7-for-16 from the field.
Wright State will face the winner of No. 6 Youngstown State and No. 7 Oakland tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET.
No. 6 Youngstown State 65, No. 7 Oakland 63
Youngstown State senior Janae Jackson stole the show Thursday night at the Kress Center as the No. 6 Penguins held on to defeat No. 7 Oakland, 65-63. Jackson posted a double-double of a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds including the game-winning put back.
The Penguins got off to a strong start in the first quarter and led by eight points at the half over the Golden Grizzlies. Neither team shot particularly well the first 20 minutes, with both teams hovering around 30.0 percent from the floor.
Oakland picked up the pace immediately in the third quarter to mount its comeback and eventual four-point lead at the start of the final frame. Senior Elena Popkey led the Golden Grizzly offense with 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting as teammate Taylor Gleason also collected double-digit points with 10.
The contest saw seven lead changes and seven tied scores, mainly all coming in the second half. Both teams were neck-and-neck on the boards with Oakland just edging Youngstown State 47-45. However, in the end it was the Golden Grizzlies’ free throw shooting that served as a catalyst to the loss as they went 6-for-18 (.333) from the charity stripe in comparison to the Penguins’ 10-for-13 (.769).
Youngstown State takes on No. 3 Wright State tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET in game two of the second round.
Tags: Horizon League - Women's Basketball
