Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 6)
Oakland 75, Manhattan 61
Valparaiso 74, Chicago State 50
Toledo 79, Detroit 70
Valparaiso 74, Chicago State 50
A Valpo team that entered Friday's contest looking to lower opponents' field goal percentage achieved just that as the Crusaders blew past Chicago State 74-50 in the opening game of the Toledo Invite. The Brown and Gold kept the Cougars without a field goal for the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the ballgame. Valpo led by as many as 26 points in a first half that saw the defense yield just six field goals total.
"I'm just thrilled we got our first win. The best part about it was every player in uniform scored and got a rebound. It was a true team effort. We made a lot of big plays together and it was a lot of fun to watch," head coach Tracey Dorow said.
Liz Horton (Cannelburg, Ind./Barr-Reeve) had a flawless first half as the senior scored 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor. Lexi Miller (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) contributed seven points, all from the line. Sophomore Abby Dean (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), who scored the first five points of the game, had eight at the break.
The Crusaders led 36-19 at half as they confined Chicago State to 20% shooting in the first twenty minutes.
Valpo maintained its stranglehold on the Cougars in the second half, opening the stanza on an 18-7 run. Though both were limited to two points in the first half, Sharon Karungi (Kampala, Uganda/[Northern Oklahoma College]) and Jessi Wiedemann (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) erupted for dominating second halves.
Karungi earned her third double-double in the last four games as the junior shot 7-of-9 from the field in the second half. She finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. The board total matched a season-high accomplished at Florida International University.
Wiedemann was a solid 6-for-6 from the charity stripe as she ended the evening with 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and four steals.
Valpo kept Chicago State out of striking distance for the entire second half, leading by no fewer than 18 points at any point.
Dean turned in her fourth game with at least 11 points. The guard represented a fast-break threat all afternoon, keeping a shallow Chicago State bench winded.
Freshman Aliyah Isaac (Richton Park, Ill./Marian Catholic) and Jazmin Taylor (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) both recorded their first points as Crusaders in the 74-50 triumph. Faith Miller's (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) jumper in the paint with five minutes to play put all nine Crusaders in the point column.
Valpo accumulated 18 assists to 14 turnovers Friday while Chicago State recorded seven assists to 20 turnovers. The Cougars shot just 30% from the floor all game.
Oakland 75, Manhattan 61
Kim Bee tallied a double-double with a career-high 18 points, while Amy Carlton also scored a career-best with 16 points as the Oakland women's basketball team (2-6) defeated Manhattan (1-6), 75-61, Friday night in the Athletics Center O'rena. OU improves to 2-3 inside the O'rena this season.
Kim Bee earned her second double-double of the season shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds. Carlton hit a team-best four 3-pointers in the game and Olivia Nash added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting including two triples.
Oakland led 28-23 at the half but trailed by as many as five points before going on a 16-5 run at the end of the opening half. Nash led the Golden Grizzlies with seven point in the half as Bee and Elena Popkey added six points. OU forced 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action and scored 17 points off the turnovers.
The Grizzlies came out on fire in the second half as they went on a 24-8 run to start the half and led by as many as 19 points. Carlton scored all 16 of her points in the second half and Bee added 12 as OU outscored MU 47-38 to close the game. Oakland was also a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the second half. Oakland's bench outscored Manhattan's 30-12 in the game and OU won the rebounding battle 41-39.
Manhattan's Kayla Grimme led the Jaspers with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Allison Skrec and Nicole Isaacs each added 12 points.
Toledo 79, Detroit 70
Four Titans were in double figures and Detroit cut an 18-point second-half deficit down to just five, but just could not get any closer as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team dropped a 79-70 decision at Toledo on Friday night. The game was part of the Toledo Invite as Valparaiso defeated Chicago State, 74-50, earlier in the day.
Senior Senee Shearer led the way with a game-high 24 points. Junior Ellisha Crosby had 16 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists, while both senior Megan Hatter and freshman Megan Galloway added 14 points apiece. Hatter also corralled nine boards and Galloway pulled down eight.
Detroit (2-7) saw Toledo (4-3) extend a 12-point halftime lead out to 18, 63-45, midway through the second half when the Titans started their rally going on a 17-4 charge over the next four minutes.
Galloway began the run with a jumper and then was able to get to the rim for a layup off a nice pass from freshman Reyna Montgomery. After a Toledo bucket, UDM answered with 10-straight points as Crosby connected on a field goal and Shearer went to the hole for a basket and a foul to get the red, white and blue within, 11, 65-54.
On the next possession, Crosby scored and was fouled, making the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play and then off her only steal of the contest, she found Galloway down low for another score and the Titans were down by just six, 65-59, with 6:42 left. The Rockets added a field goal to push it to eight, but Shearer drained one from behind the arc and it was a five-point game, 67-62, with 6:17 remaining.
Toledo responded with back-to-back treys, but two free throws from Hatter and a layup by Crosby had Detroit down by just seven, 73-66, at the 3:54 mark, but UDM could not muster one final offensive spurt.
UDM outrebounded the Rockets, 46-44, and shot well from the line making 15-of-21 (71.4%). Toledo got out to the lead and won in large part to its 10-of-30 effort from three compared to Detroit's 7-of-24.
Sophomore DaVonna Bradford finished with eight rebounds and freshman Lizzy Connors was the only other Titan to score ending with two points and two caroms.
It was a close game at the start with six ties and three lead changes. It was all squared at 9-all nearly seven minutes in when the Titans scored six straight to jump out in front, 15-9. Hatter had two from the charity stripe during that stretch, which also featured a three from Shearer and a free throw from Crosby. UDM later led 17-11 as Shearer hit a jumper with 12:17 on the clock, but the Rockets came back to knot it all up three times, the latest at 21-21.
From there, Toledo ended the half on a 20-8 run to take a 41-29 advantage at the break.
