Wright State and Youngstown State both notched their fourth win of the season, while Valparaiso broke into the win column Wednesday night in Horizon League women’s hoops action.
Butler and Cleveland State were both in close games late in the second half, but neither team was able to pull out a victory.
Wright State 81, Buffalo 54
Behind a school record 14 three-pointers, the Wright State women's basketball team rolled to an 81-54 victory at Buffalo Wednesday afternoon.
The Bulls led 17-16 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half until WSU took the lead for good with a 17-2 run, one that featured threes from Breanna Stucke, KC Elkins and Kayla Lamotte.
The 14 threes eclipse the previous school record of 13 set last January 8 at home against Valparaiso. WSU was 14 of 30 for the game and shot 39 percent overall while Buffalo shot 31 percent and was one of 10 from three. The Raiders outrebounded the Bulls 49-41, including 13-9 on the offensive glass, and led 20-3 in second-chance points.
Lamotte led the way with a career-high 15 points on a five-for-six performance from behind the arc, bettering the 13 she scored at Detroit last February 12. Molly Fox added 12 points and seven rebounds while Elkins hit four threes in scoring 12 off the bench. Altogether, each of the 11 players that Wright State dressed dented the scoring column.
Wright State continues its five-game road swing on Saturday, December 3, with a 2:00 contest at Morehead State.
Youngstown State 80, Western Michigan 55
The Youngstown State women's basketball team used a strong second-half effort to pull away for an 80-55 victory over Western Michigan on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU outscored the Broncos 50-33 in the second half, connecting on 12 of its first 16 shots in the stanza.
Leading the way for the Penguins was redshirt freshman Heidi Schlegel who scored a game-high 15 points. Freshman Kelsea Fickiesen scored 12, Brandi Brown finished with 12 and Macey Nortey had 11 as four players reached double figures. Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle both finished with nine. Brown also had a double-double finishing with 14 rebounds.
In the second half, the Penguins shot 53.1 percent making 17-of-32 field-goal attempts, including a 5-of-13 peformance from behind the 3-point arc. The Penguins broke open the contest with an impressive scoring run from the 14:27 mark to the 9:04 mark. YSU scored 14 of the game's 15 points to seize control of the contest, building a 63-34 lead.
It was the largest margin of victory for the program since beating Buffalo 78-44 on Nov. 21, 2006 at the Beeghly Center. On the night, YSU shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) while holding the Broncos to just 31 percent (18-of-58) from the field.
The Penguins return to action next Tuesday at the Beeghly Center against Bowling Green. Tipoff for the contest is 5:15 p.m.
Valparaiso 80, Indiana-Northwest 47
Valparaiso won its first game of the season Wednesday night defeating Indiana-Northwest 80-47 at the ARC.
The Crusaders scored the first eight points of the game and extended their lead to 26-8 10 minutes into the game. At halftime, Valparaiso held a 41-17 lead.
Tabitha Geradot had 14 points and eight rebounds in the opening frame to lead Valpo.
Valparaiso didn't let off the gas in the second half as they started out on a 15-2 run to extend its lead to 56-19 and never looked back.
Gerardot finished with a team-high 19 points and also had 10 rebounds. Joining Gerardot scoring in double figures were Shaquira Scott with 14, Mallory Ladd with 13 and Gina Lange with 10.
Valparaiso returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Lehigh. Tipoff is schedule for 1:05 p.m. ET.
Akron 84, Cleveland State 74
Takima Keane tied her career-high with 20 points and the Vikings posted 46 points during the second half, but the Cleveland State rally would fall short as CSU dropped an 84-74 decision to Akron Wednesday evening.
After falling behind 31-14 late in the opening period, CSU went on a 14-7 run over the final six minutes to close the gap to 10 points (38-28) before halftime. The CSU defense forced a pair of Zips turnovers to begin the second half and the Vikings were able to trim the Akron lead to single digits (38-33) after posting five straight points.
The two teams traded baskets over the next 1:10 and with back-to-back layups from King and Destinee Blue the Vikings were able to make it a two-point game (44-42) with 14:47 left to play. That would be as close as CSU would get though, as the Zips went on an 11-2 run over the next 3:08 to extend their lead to 11 points at 55-44.
Along with Blue, who tallied 18 points, two other Vikings joined Keane in the double-digit scoring column, as Honesty King finished with 12 and Janelle Adams added 10.
Cleveland State will close out their three-game homestand on Monday (Dec. 5) when they Vikings host Ohio University at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
Bradley 71, Butler 63
Bradley overcame an attacking Butler women's basketball defense and the Braves made the late plays down the stretch to beat Butler in its home-opener 71-63 Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Senior Devin Brierly led Butler with 18 points, six assists and four steals. All 18 of her points came in the second half. Brierly finished 10-for-11 at the free throw line and 4-for-11 from the floor. Sophomore post player Sarah Hamm added 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Forcing turnovers and getting to the foul line kept Butler within striking distance. The Bulldogs were at one point 18-for-20 from the free throw line and finished 21-for-26. Shooting a low percentage, the Dawgs used an attacking, scrappy defense to force 24 Bradley turnovers. It was the fourth time this year Butler has taken the ball away at least 20 times.
The visiting BU team had a 45-28 rebounding edge and forced Butler into .328 shooting from the floor. Butler was also 4-for-21 from 3-point range.
Butler (1-5) played five straight away games to open the season before losing at home to Bradley. The next two games are also away, as BU will travel to Bowling Green and Indiana State in the next week.
Tags: Horizon League - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
