Two overtime games and another contest that was still a one possession game with less than 10 seconds remaining highlighted a busy Saturday afternoon in Horizon League women’s basketball.
Milwaukee-Wright State and UIC-Youngstown State both needed extra time to determine a winner as the two home teams (WSU and YSU) both made late runs to force an extra period. WSU continued its run into overtime as they were able to outlast the Panthers to improve to 5-1 in conference play. Youngstown State used a 10-2 run to force overtime, but could not keep the momentum in overtime as UIC jumped out to a quick six-point lead in overtime and eventually took an 11-point lead in the period before finishing the game with a 77-68 win.
In Saturday’s other close game, Valparaiso was able to hold off a late Butler run to win, 58-53. The Crusaders were up two with eight seconds remaining and after hitting one free throw to extend their lead to three, Valpo was able to rebound the ensuing missed free throw to keep the ball away from Butler and then knocked down two more free throws to clinch the win.
Green Bay and Loyola were also victorious on Saturday as the two programs both won road games in similar fashion. Both teams jumped out to halftime leads and then held their opponents at bay throughout the second half to both win comfortably.
Green Bay 68, Detroit 59
No. 14/12 Green Bay (15-0, 5-0) held off a late second half charge by Detroit (8-10, 4-2) as it set a program-record 35 consecutive regular season wins with its 68-59 win over the Titans Saturday at Calihan Hall.
Four players scored in double figures for the Phoenix with Adrian Ritchie leading all scorers with 20 points while Lydia Bauer added 16, Julie Wojta 15 and Sarah Eichler 13. Both teams scored 28 points in the paint as Green Bay was outrebounded 43-32 by the Titans.
Detroit’s largest lead of the game came in the opening half at the 14:39 mark when Megan Hatter drained a three from the left wing to give the Titans the 7-5 lead.
Stephanie Sension scored back-to-back buckets with less than eight minutes to play to give Green Bay the 18-14 lead before the Titans answered with a three to cut the lead back to one. Green Bay built a five-point lead (22-17) with 5:58 to play whenBauer sank a jumper for the Phoenix from the left wing.
With 2:46 remaining in the opening half, Ritchie drained a three pointer from the right wing to boost the Phoenix lead to 27-20. Hannah Quilling found Ritchie for Green Bay’s final bucket of the half with 1:00 remaining, giving the Phoenix a 29-20 lead, its largest of the half.
Ritchie and Bauer led all scorers with nine points each in the opening half while Wojta lead the way on the boards with six rebounds. Green Bay scored 14 of its first half points in the paint as it shot 41 percent from the field (12-29) while scoring a season-low 29 points against a league opponent in the opening half. Wojta opened second half with back-to-back buckets down low to give the Phoenix the early nine point lead (33-24) of the half. At the 15:27 mark, Ritchie made a beautiful cut to the basket as Quilling dished her the ball for the 10-point lead (37-27). Eichler later drained a three from the top of the key for the 40-27 advantage, part of an 8-0 run for the Phoenix.
Green Bay’s defense held the Titans scoreless for six-and-a-half minutes before Shareta Brown took it to the hole, drawing a foul on Eichler while converting the three-point play to cut the Phoenix lead to 12 (42-30). Wojta answered with a three from the left wing to boost the lead back to 15 with 11:21 to play.
Detroit went on an 8-2 run, cutting Green Bay’s lead to 10 (48-38) with 8:16 remaining before the Phoenix drained back-to-back threes from Wojta and Bauer to boost its lead to 55-38 with 7:33 to play. The Titans full-court defensive pressure closed the gap to seven (55-48) with a bucket down low from Jalesa Jones with 4:53 remaining, part of a 12-2 run by Detroit.
With 2:31 to play Ritchie took a charge on the defensive end, giving the Phoenix momentum and forcing the Titans to foul but still managing to come within nine down the stretch.
Green Bay shot 42 percent in the contest, going 24-of-57 from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line (15-of-19). Detroit freshman Shareta Brown led the Titans with a double-double performance scoring 19 points while leading all players with 15 rebounds. Demeisha Fambro was the only other Titan in double figures finishing with 18 points.
The Phoenix return to action Thursday, January 21 when they host Youngstown State while Detroit is in action on Saturday, January 21 when it hosts Wright State.
Loyola 85, Cleveland State 67
Sophomore Troy Hambric scored a career-high 26 points and Lisa Samplawski scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half as Loyola (8-9, 3-3) opened a 28-point halftime lead and cruised to an 85-67 win over Cleveland State (7-9, 2-3) Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
Samplawski came out hot, burying three-pointers on Loyola's first two possessions. After Cleveland State pulled within a point, the Rambler defense took root, holding Cleveland State to one field goal over in a 9:49 span as the LU offense found its rhythm. Samplawski and Hambric combined for 19 points in a 31-5 run that gave the Ramblers a commanding 39-12 lead at the 7:35 mark. Monica Albano added a pair of threes in the run and Loyola led by as many as 30 (48-18) in the period before settling for a 49-21 lead at halftime. The Ramblers blistered the nets at a 58% clip in the half while holding the home team to just five baskets (5 of 27, 19%).
Loyola led by as many as 32 in the first eight minutes of the second half, beating the Vikings full-court press for layups, before Cleveland State used the free throw line to pull within 15, however, the outcome was never in doubt.
Hambric was terrific, finishing 12-of-19 from the floor en route to her career-high 26 points. Samplawski, a late insertion into the starting lineup, finished 7-of-8 (3-3 3FGs) and equaled her season-high with 19 points. Simone Law racked up her second double-double of the weekend, and fifth of the season, with 14 points and 10 boards while Abby Skube had another solid game off the bench, narrowly missing a double-double with nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
Cleveland State was led by Shalonda Winton who led all players with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Takima Keane had 14 points and Honesty King chipped in 11 for the Vikings who only shot 30.2 percent for the game, including just 18 percent in the first half when they fell into a big hole they couldn’t climb out of.
Loyola returns home this week for a pair of games starting with a Thursday evening game against Valparaiso. Cleveland State is also in action Thursday as the Vikings travel to Wisconsin to face Milwaukee.
UIC 77, Youngstown 68 (OT)
In their first overtime win in more than five years, the UIC Flames (10-7, 3-3) held strong in the extra period and outscored Youngstown State (8-8, 2-3), 14-5, in the final five minutes to capture the 77-68 Horizon League road victory.
UIC junior Taylor Foulks made good on 7-of-8 from three-point range and totaled a season-high 23 points to pace all Flames scorers. Senior Jasmine Bailey dropped in her seventh 20-point performance of the year with 22 points and posted a career-high eight assists, while seniors Shamiea Green andKiara Strickland added 15 and 12 points, respectively. Those four combined for 72 of the UIC’s 77 points.
Foulks’ seven three pointers was one off the program record of eight in which she tied last season in a home win versus Cleveland State.
Eight combined turnovers plagued both offenses in the opening four minutes as Youngstown State held a slim 5-3 lead with 15:52 on clock.
After the first media timeout, YSU’s Brandi Brown drilled back-to-back treys within a 40 second span, bringing the Penguin lead to 11-3. From there the Flames rallied and administered a 12-0 run with seven points coming from Bailey, giving UIC the 15-11 edge with 8:53 remaining in the half.
In the last five minutes of the first half, Foulks took control of the game by collecting eight points, including two deep threes. She led all players at the break with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc as UIC possessed a 30-24 halftime advantage. Brown paced the Penguins with 12 points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
UIC held strong in the opening minutes of the second half and amassed its first 10-point lead at the 11:30 mark on a three-ball from Green.
The Penguins got the score to within six, 59-53, using a 6-2 run with 3:22 on the clock. On the next possession Green drove the lane and drew the foul, but missed both foul shots.
With the score at 61-54, YSU’s Brown corralled an offensive rebound and muscled in a layup, making the tally 61-56 with 1:25 left in the game.
Over the next 70 seconds, YSU put together an 8-2 spurt and brought the score to within one, 63-62, propelled by back-to-back threes as 15.9 seconds remained in the game.
The Flames committed a turnover on the ensuing possession and YSU’s Kelsea Fickiesen headed to the charity stripe for two foul shots. The freshman hit one-of-two from the line, knotting the score at 63-63.
UIC came up short on the opposite end and the game was sent into overtime.
In overtime, Foulks displayed tremendous poise by hitting back-to-back threes, which gave UIC the 69-63 lead with under three minutes to play. The Flames kept applying the offensive pressure, scoring 14 points in the extra stanza compared to the Penguins five.
The win was UIC’s first overtime win in five attempts with their last OT victory coming on Nov. 19, 2006 at Eastern Illinois.
Brown led the Penguins 25 points and also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Monica Touvelle was the only other Penguin in double figures, scoring 19 points.
The Flames return home on Thursday for a match up with Butler. Youngstown State also plays Thursday as the Penguins travel to Green Bay to face the No. 12/14 Phoenix.
Valparaiso 58, Butler 53
Valparaiso (5-11, 1-4) made a season-high eight three-pointers and the defense came up with key stops down the stretch as the Crusaders defeated Butler (6-10, 2-3) 58-53 on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center for the Brown and Gold’s first victory of the season in Horizon League play.
Valpo shot 40.4% from the floor in the victory, including a blistering 57.1% over the final 20 minutes. The Crusaders also connected on 8-of-20 (40%) from three-point range after making just 2-of-33 from beyond the arc in their previous two games combined.
The Crusaders trailed by seven, 42-35, with 11:10 to play before battling back. Six straight points cut the deficit to one and Tabitha Gerardot tied the game at 45 with a free throw at the 4:48 mark. After a defensive stop, Gina Lange connected on a triple try to give Valpo the lead, one the team would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Lange would hit two free throws to increase the advantage to five with two minutes to play, butSarah Hamm scored a three-point play in the paint to cut the lead to two. On Valpo’s next possession, Ashley Varner drilled a three from the right side as the shot clock expired to push the lead to five with 1:27 to go.
The Crusaders forced a miss on the other end and Laura Richards grabbed the rebound and was fouled. After she made two the lead was seven with 58.6 second to play.
Cobb scored down low and after a Valpo turnover, Mandy McDivitt made her sixth three-pointer of the game for Butler to cut the Crusader advantage to two with 16.0 seconds to go. Richards was fouled with 8.2 seconds left and made the first free throw. She missed the second, but grabbed her own rebound, her career-high 11th of the game, and was fouled again. She made the final two to finish the game 7-of-8 from the stripe and secure the win for Valpo.
The Crusaders jumped out to a quick 7-2 advantage and still led by four with eight minutes remaining in the first half before Butler scored eight straight points to take the lead 19-15. Valpo battled back though and the two sides went into the locker room tied at 21.
The Brown and Gold scored the first five points of the second half before Butler went on a 14-2 run over six minutes to build a seven-point advantage, only to see Valpo rally.
Varner led the Crusaders with 13 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds as the Crusaders finished the game outboarding the Bulldogs 34-29. Gerardot and Ashley Timmerman both added 12 points, Timmerman’s all coming from long range. Lange and Richards both finished with nine points. Richards added eight assists and four steals in 39 minutes in addition to her career-high 11 boards.
McDivitt led Butler with 18 points, making 6-of-10 from three-point range, while Hamm added 12 points.
Valparaiso will take to the road next week for a pair of games in Chicago beginning on Thursday evening when the Crusaders travel to Loyola. Butler is also in Chicago for two games next week as they start their Chicago weekend with a game Thursday night at UIC.
Wright State 75, Milwaukee 72 (OT)
Kim Demmings scored 38 points, the fourth-most in Wright State single game history and the most by a Horizon League player this season, as the Wright State (12-6, 5-1) women's basketball team rallied for a 75-72 overtime win over Milwaukee (4-11, 0-5) Saturday afternoon at WSU's Nutter Center.
It was a seesaw affair in the early going as the Raiders scored the first nine points, only to see the Panthers answer with 10 straight, followed by WSU tallying eight in a row to go up 17-10. A Molly Fox jumper made 26-20 before Milwaukee closed the period with a 12-2 run, capped off by an Alex Klawitter three in the final seconds, to lead 32-28 at the break.
A 7-0 run put Wright State back in front 41-37 six minutes into the second half, but the Panthers responded with six in a row to regain the advantage and Milwaukee looked to be in control as an Angela Rodriguez jumper made it 65-57 with 2:18 left.
Demmings, though, started the Raiders on their comeback with a three and a pair of layups from the freshman guard cut the deficit to one with 29.5 seconds to play. Ashley Green put the Panthers up three with two foul shots at the 27.3-second mark and Milwaukee had the ball in the closing seconds, but a turnover set the stage for Demmings as she forced the extra period by swishing a triple from the left wing before time expired.
Two Demmings free throws and a Fox basket gave WSU the lead for good in overtime, but the Panther's Kiki Wilson trimmed the margin to one at 73-72 with two foul shots with 2:25 left. Neither team scored, though, until Sarah Hunter made two at the striple at the 23.8-second mark.
Milwaukee had two chances down the stretch, but came up empty on two shots on its next possession and after Hunter missed a one-and-one with five seconds left, a three attempt by Wilson went off the rim.
The shooting percentage were nearly similar as Wright State shot 44 percent overall, including seven of 19 from three-point range, while Milwaukee was at 43 percent for the game and was 11 of 32 from behind the arc. WSU led 28-14 in points in the paint and 26-16 in points off of turnovers while the Panthers led 13-6 in second-chance points.
Demmings' 38 points are the most by a Raider since Tiffany Webb set the program record with 49 at Butler on January 16, 2003. WSU Hall of Famer Jodi Martin scored 45 points against Capital on January 5, 1980 and also had 39 at Xavier on December 16, 1980. Fox added 17 points and eight rebounds for WSU.
Tucker finished with 23 points to lead the Panthers, while Green had 11 andJanna Swopshire a near double-double of 10 points and nine boards.
Wright State now hits the road for three straight games, starting with a visit to Detroit on Saturday, January 21. Milwaukee returns home after being on the road this past week and hosts Cleveland State on Thursday, January 19.
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Loyola - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball
