Saturday was not a day for the faint-hearted in Horizon League women’s basketball play as in the four League games, three were one possession games with less than 10 second remaining in regulation.
In the first conference game of the day, the visiting Milwaukee Panthers held a 38-24 lead at halftime, but Cleveland State kept chipping away eventually tying the game at 66. Milwaukee re-took the lead 68-66 with less than 30 seconds remaining, but CSU’s Kiersten Green hit a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining on the ensuing possession to give the Vikings their first lead since the 17:12 mark of the first half and ultimately was the winning basket in a 70-68 Cleveland State victory.
In the second game to go final Saturday, Youngstown State appeared to have a signature victory over #12/11 Green Bay as the Penguins held a 65-57 lead over the Phoenix with 42.5 seconds remaining. But Green Bay, specifically guard Adrian Ritchie, did not give up, as Ritchie scored Green Bay’s final nine points of regulation as the Phoenix ended the second half on a 9-1 run to force overtime at 66. In overtime, Green Bay scored nine of the first 10 points, extending their run to 18-2, as the Phoenix never looked back, defeating Youngstown State, 77-72.
In the final game, Butler went 6:51 late in the second half, from the 7:25 mark to :34, without making a field goal, but the Bulldogs were able to do enough defensively to hold off the Flames, 51-48. UIC trailed by five, 48-43, with 27 seconds remaining, but the Flames made two free throws and after Butler made answered with one free throw, UIC’s Emily Kobel connected on a three to cut Butler’s lead to 49-48 with 15 seconds remaining. Devin Brierly made two free throws to end the scoring.
In the only League game not to go down to the wire on Saturday, Valparaiso dispatched Loyola, 69-46, behind Tabitha Gerardot’s 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field.
Butler 51, UIC 48
Sophomore Sarah Hamm scored 18 points to lead three Bulldogs in double figures as the Butler women's basketball team won 51-48 over UIC. The win was important for Butler in that it brought the team to within a half-game of fourth place in the Horizon League standings.
Junior Becca Bornhorst had her second career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. SeniorDevin Brierly added 12 points including two free throws with 12 seconds left that provided the final margin.
Shameia Green led UIC with a game-high 21 points. Jasmine Bailey, the team's leading scorer was pressured all night into 2-for-6 shooting and 10 turnovers.
UIC (16-10, 9-6) had its chances down the stretch to win the game, but missed its opportunities. With Butler up 45-41 with 2:38 left, the Flames missed a wide-open lay-up. The score was 46-42 when sophomore Jenna Cobb drove for a coast-to-coast pull-up jumper to put BU ahead 48-42 with 34 seconds left.
The Flames extended the game with fouls and made it interesting, with Emily Kobel hitting a deep 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it 49-48. Brierly was then fouled and hit both foul shots. UIC threw the ball away with its final possession.
The Bulldogs trailed 20-15 in the first half as both teams struggled to find smooth offense. Like it did against Loyola, Butler smother UIC with pressure-packed defense.
Butler answered with the next five points to make it 20-20. The Bulldogs then got a jumper by Cobb and a 3-pointer by sophomore Mandy McDivitt to lead 25-23 at halftime.
Butler (12-13, 8-6) pressured UIC into 29 percent shooting and 25 turnovers on the night. Hamm, Cobb and McDivitt each had three steals for Butler. UIC shot just 19 percent from beyond the arc, and the game for Butler was won on the defensive end.
BU will have its final road trip of the season when it goes to Wisconsin next weekend. Butler has Milwaukee Thursday, Feb. 23. UIC is off on Thursday, and is in action next on Saturday, Feb. 25 when it hosts cross-town rival Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Cleveland State 70, Milwaukee 68
Kiersten Green converted a three-pointer with just seven seconds left on the clock to give Cleveland State its first lead of the second half and the Vikings held on to defeat the Milwaukee Panthers, 70-68 Saturday afternoon. With the win CSU is now 10-16 on the season and 5-10 in Horizon League play, while the Panthers fall to 7-18 overall and 3-11 in the league.
Saturday's win also gave Cleveland State head coach Kate Peterson Abiad her 116th career victory, giving her the most wins in program history.The Viking offense was led by the trio of Shalonda Winton, Honesty King and Cori Coleman, who combined for 55 points on the evening including a 30-point effort from Winton. Along with her 30 points, Winton also tallied a career-high 18 rebounds, notching her 13th double-double of the season. King added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Coleman tallied 12 points, three assists and two steals.
After going into halftime down by 14 (38-24), the Vikings slowly climbed their way back into the contest coming within single digits (50-43) for the first time since the beginning of the first half at the 10:51 mark.
The two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes until CSU was able to post six straight points with six minutes left to play. With the run, the Vikings were able to close the gap to five points with baskets from Winton, Coleman and Imani Gordon.
After King made a three-pointer at the 4:24 mark to bring the Vikings within four (59-55), she forced the Panthers into a turnover, which Coleman converted into a layup to bring the score to 59-57 Milwaukee. The teams traded baskets once again until Winton tallied her third three-pointer of the game bringing the Vikings within one (63-62) with 2:46 left to play.
Following a Winton layup that tied the game at 66-66, Milwaukee was able to convert a layup of their own to take a two-point lead with just 25 seconds left to play. Out of a Cleveland State timeout, Green nailed a three-pointer giving the Vikings their first lead of the contest since the 17:12 mark of the first half and King forced Milwaukee into their 12th turnover of the game giving CSU possession of the ball with only two seconds remaining.
As a team, Cleveland State shot 41-percent from the floor (26-62), including a .444 clip from behind the arc (8-18). The Vikings recorded 16 assists on their 26 field goals and committed a season-low 12 turnovers.
The Vikings will hit the road next week for two contests at Detroit and Wright State. CSU will play at Detroit on Thursday, before playing at Wright State on Saturday. Milwaukee returns home, hosting Butler on Thursday.
Green Bay 77, Youngstown State 72 (OT)
The No. 11/12Green Bay (23-1, 13-1 HL) women’s basketball team overcame a nine-point deficit with 59 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and capture a 77-72 win over Youngstown State (10-16, 4-11 HL) Saturday at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio.
Junior Adrian Ritchiescored eight points in the final 59 seconds of regulation, including a three pointer and three free throws following a foul on a three-point attempt to force overtime. It was the second overtime game for the Phoenix this season, a game that also included Ritchie on the final play.
Green Bay drew up the same play as it did in the final seconds against Georgia Tech Nov. 26 in the San Juan Shootout in which Ritchie sank a three from the same spot as she did against Youngstown State.
Neither team led by more than seven in the second half until the Penguins built their lead to nine following a 12-4 run that began with 3:14 to play in regulation.
Senior Julie Wojtaposted her third consecutive double double performance with 18 points and 15 rebounds while dishing out a game-high six assists. Lydia Bauer added 14 points while tying a career-high nine rebounds.
In the opening half, Youngstown State took a two-point lead at the 15:29 mark after Melissa Thompson sank a three from the left corner for the 9-7 advantage. With a 12-11 Green Bay lead, Hannah Quilling drained a deep three from the left wing to boost the Phoenix lead to four (15-11).
Green Bay’s largest lead of the half came off a jumper down low from Stephanie Sension to give the Phoenix the 17-12 advantage with 9:04 to play.
The Penguins would not go away as they continued to drive on the Phoenix and dial in from long distance, taking a one-point lead (20-19) with 7:13 to play in the first half off a three from Kenya Middlebrooks. Youngstown State’s Brandi Brown later hit a layup down low for the 22-19 advantage before Bauer sank one of her two three pointers of the contest from the left wing to tie it 22-22 with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Middlebrooks sank consecutive three pointers to boost the Penguins lead to eight (30-22), part of an 8-0 run by the Penguins as they held the lead for the final six minutes of the half. Green Bay outscored Youngstown State 10-4 in the final 3:48 of the opening half to cut the Penguins lead to two (34-32) at the break.
Green Bay shot 52 percent (12-of-23) from the field in the first half and 40 percent (4-of-10) from three point range. The Penguins were 6-of-10 from beyond the arc while scoring 14 points off Green Bay’s eight turnovers.
Youngstown State opened the half on a 7-2 run, building its lead to 41-34 at the 16:33 mark.
Wojta sparked a 13-1 run with a steal and bucket to make it 41-38 with 14:16 to play. Following a timeout by the Phoenix, Wojta then drained a three from the top of the key to make it a one-point game (42-41) before Sension gave Green Bay its first lead of the half with a bucket down low. Wojta scored nine of Green Bay’s 13 points in the run before it came to a stop with a jumper from Brandi Brown.
With 7:24 to play, Brown drained one of her three three pointers from the right wing to give the Penguins the 49-47 advantage. Ritchie sank a three from the left wing with 5:04 to play to give the Phoenix the one-point, 50-49 lead before the Penguins answered with a three from Melissa Thompson.
Freshman Megan Lukan gave the Phoenix its final lead in regulation (55-54) on a three-point play with 2:55 remaining before Brown sank a three from the right corner to take back the lead (57-55). Middlebrooks sank her fifth three of the contest to boost the Penguins lead to five with less than two minutes to play.
The Phoenix was forced to foul and save time on the clock, resulting in four consecutive free throws by the Penguins to take the nine-point lead with 59 seconds to play in regulation.
Green Bay outscored Youngstown State 11-6 in overtime play, including five points from Bauer which gave the Phoenix the eight-point lead (75-67 with 37 seconds to play.
Youngstown State had four players score in double figures including Middlebrooks who led the way with 22 while Brown poured in 21 and grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds.
Green Bay finished the contest shooting 41 percent while going 26-of-62 from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line sinking 17-of-21 attempts from the charity stripe.
Green Bay is back in action on Thursday when it hosts Valparaiso. Youngstown State plays Thursday at Wright State.
Valparaiso 69, Loyola 46
Valparaiso made 12 of its first 16 shots from the floor on Saturday afternoon to build an early lead that the Crusaders would never relinquish on their way to a 69-46 victory over Loyola (Chicago) at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Tabitha Gerardot scored a game-high 20 points, making 9-of-10 shots from the floor while playing all 40 minutes. Ashley Varner added a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. The fifth-year senior was 9-of-15 from the field as Valpo shot 52.9% for the afternoon.
Trailing 4-3, Varner’s three-pointer gave Valpo the lead for good and jump-started a 13-0 Crusader run that would see the Brown and Gold’s lead remain in double figures for the rest of the contest. She scored seven quick points during the run while Gerardot added four more as the duo accounted for 14 of Valpo’s first 16 points in the game.
The run extended to 23-4 as Gerardot added four more quick points and was in double figures just 10 minutes into the game. The Crusaders had a 26-8 advantage at the 9:58 mark.
The lead grew to 23, 40-17 by halftime as Laura Richards drained a triple just before the break.
Valpo extended its lead to 27, 57-30, at the 10:40 mark of the second half before Loyola went on its only run, a 12-1 spurt, to close within 16. The Crusaders scored 11 of the final 15 points in the game and atoned for a 30-point loss in the first meeting between these two schools in Chicago.
The Crusaders held Loyola to just 32.1% shooting for the game. The Ramblers entered the game as the league’s top three-point shooting team at 38.4% but made just 3-of-20 (15%) on the afternoon.
Lange pulled down 10 rebounds while Richards added nine points offensively for the Crusaders and handed out eight assists while committing just one turnover.
Simone Law led Loyola (11-15, 6-9 Horizon) with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Valparaiso (8-17, 4-10), winners of three of its last four games, will take to the road on Thursday, traveling to Green Bay, Wis to take on the league-leading Phoenix. Loyola is off until Saturday when it plays at UIC.
Tags: Butler - Women's Basketball · Cleveland State - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball
