WBB Semifinals Set

Horizon League Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Quarterfinals)
(1) Green Bay 80, (8) Valparaiso 59
(2) Youngstown State 69, (7) Cleveland State 62
(3) Loyola 71, (6) Milwaukee 54
(4) Detroit 72, (5) Wright State 56

The home teams all won on Wednesday night in the Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament to setup a showdown of the top-four seeds in the tournament on Friday at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wis.

The semifinals will begin on Friday evening with third-seed Loyola taking on second-seed Youngstown State. The semifinals conclude with top-seed Green Bay hosting fourth-seed Detroit. The two semifinal winners will faceoff on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT in the championship game, which will be televised on ESPNU.

(1) Green Bay 80, (8) Valparaiso 59
Less than a week after connecting on a career-high five of six attempts from behind the arc, senior Adrian Ritchie was red-hot again from long range as she helped lead No. 20/20 Green Bay (27-2, 16-0 HL) past eighth-seeded Valparaiso (11-20, 5-11 HL) 80-59 in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinal round. With the win, the top-seeded Phoenix will host rival Detroit, the No. 4 seed, in Friday's semifinal round at 7:30 p.m.

In the effort, Ritchie scored a career-high 27 points on 9-17 shooting. The All-Horizon League First Team member hit 7-14 from long range, tying the Horizon League Championship single-game record for 3-point field goals made. Her 14 attempts are also the most ever attempted in a game in program history, breaking Megan Lukan's record of 13 set less than two weeks ago at Detroit.

The Phoenix opened the game on a 9-0 run paced by triples from Ritchie and fellow seniors Lydia Bauer and Sarah Eichler. Another three from Ritchie pushed the lead to 12-2 less than five minutes in, but from there the Crusaders used a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to 12-9.

A layup in the post from Stephanie Sension pushed the lead to 10 points at 23-13, but the Crusaders answered with one of just two triples for the half. Valparaiso finished the first half just 2-12 from behind the arc for a 16.7 percent mark.

Eichler hit a three with just under three minutes remaining in the opening frame, sparking a 7-2 run to close the half. Green Bay took a 37-22 lead into the locker room after shooting 7-14 from long range in the first 20 minutes. In the first half alone, Eichler tied her career high with eight assists. By the time the night was over, the All-Horizon League Second Team member would go on to set a new career high with 11 shares.

The Phoenix held its double-digit advantage throughout the second half, but was unable to put together any significant runs due to a balanced Valparaiso attack. With 5:19 remaining, Bauer found Ritchie in the corner for three, her record-tying seventh of the game.

Redshirt junior Sam Zastrow played nine minutes in the win, tying her career high with five points after making two from the charity stripe to push the lead to 80-57 late in the contest. Despite a Valparaiso bucket with seven seconds remaining, Green Bay's 21-point victory was more than enough to advance to the semifinal round.

Behind Ritchie's career-high 27 points, Bauer added 17 and now has 958 points for her career. Should she join the 1,000-point club this season, it would be the first time in program history three players joined the storied club. Eichler scored nine points to go along with her career-high 11 assists, while the Phoenix's dominant post duo of Sension and Breannah Ranger scored nine points and added seven and eight rebounds, respectively.

Valparaiso was led by All-Horizon League Second Team member Tabitha Gerardot, who had 21 points behind just 5-17 from the field but a perfect 10-10 from the line. Charae Richardson was the Crusaders' next highest scorer with nine points.

(2) Youngstown State 69, (7) Cleveland State 62
Brandi Brown returned from an ankle injury to score 31 points and help lead the Youngstown State women's basketball team to a 69-62 win over Cleveland State in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center.

With the victory, YSU (22-8) advances to the semifinals for the first time since joining the league in 2000-01. The Penguins will play against third-seeded Loyola on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time in Green Bay, Wis. Cleveland State ends the year at 13-17.

The Penguins built a 62-46 lead late in the contest before the Vikings went on a frantic 14-2 run to over the next 3:22 to make things tense. After Shar'Rae Davis split a pair of free throws, the Vikings were able to get within 65-62 on a putback by Haley Schmitt with 18.2 seconds left.

From that point, the Guins converted four straight free throws while the Vikings missed a jumper and had a turnover. YSU ended the contest making 16-of-21 attempts from the free-throw line - all of which came in the second half. YSU did not make a field goal the final 4:17.

For the game, Brown was 11-of-23 from the field, 4-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc and went 5-of-8 from the free-throw line. She finished with 13 rebounds for her 21st double-double of the campaign.

The second-seeded Penguins could not shake the seventh-seed Vikings until the nine-minute mark of the second half.

Leading 48-43 with 8:36 remaining, the Guins poured in 10 consecutive points to go on top 58-43 with 5:21 left. Davis capped the run with a nifty three-point play following a sweet pass from Melissa Thompson.

YSU was able to push the advantage out to 16 points at 3:47 before the Vikings couldn't miss. CSU struggled the entire second half before finding its shooting touch the last four minutes.

Davis scored 18 points and dished out eight assists for the Guins. She was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. YSU shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the field while Cleveland State finished shooting 37.5 percent. The Vikings made 11-of-39 shots in the second half (28.2 percent) and committed 22 turnovers in the contest. Karen Flagg also returned to the lineup for the Penguins scoring eight key points while grabbing six rebounds.

In the first half, the lead changed hands five times before the Penguins were able to wrestle it away for good at the 9:39 mark on a 3-pointer by Brown. Brown's 3-pointer sparked a 10-3 spurt that gave the Guins their biggest lead of the first half.

CSU scored the next six points creeping back with 28-27 on a basket by Winton and following a Flagg jumper for YSU, Kiersten Green made the margin one again. But the Penguins closed the half by scoring seven of the final nine points to take a 37-31 lead at the break.

Cleveland State was giveaway happy committing 13 turnovers. Both teams shot well as the Penguins connected on 45.7 percent (16-of-35) while the Vikings converted 13-of-25 attempts (52 percent). In the first half, Brown had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and drained 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc.

(3) Loyola 71, (6) Milwaukee 54
 After a sluggish first half, Loyola kicked it into gear after halftime, shooting 60% in the second half to turn a one-point halftime lead into a 71-54 victory over Milwaukee in a Horizon League Quarterfinal game tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers (16-14) will face Youngstown State in Friday's semifinals. Milwaukee's season ends with a 9-20 mark.

Loyola got out of the blocks early, using six early points from Simone Law to take a 10-2 lead. Back-to-back layups from Taylor Johnson and another Law basket made it a 16-5 game with just under eight minutes elapsed but Milwaukee began to chip away. An Avyanna Young basket capped a quick 6-0 spurt that made it a five-point game and the Panthers cut it to one (24-23) on an Ashley Green basket with 3:40 to go. Two more hoops from Law bumped the lead back to five but the Ramblers did not score over the final 2:15 of the period with the visitors able to cut their deficit to one (28-27) at intermission. Loyola struggled to find an offensive rhythm, shooting just 31% in the period, but relied on a swarming defense that limited Milwaukee to 34% accuracy, a percentage aided by seven first-half blocked shots.

A steal and layup from Monica Albano opened the second-half scoring but UWM answered with the first made three-pointer by either team to even the game at 30. Baskets from Troy Hambric, Albano and Johnson helped Loyola immediately restore a six-point lead and the margin reached double figures again at 10 (47-37) on an Ayrealle Beavers free throw. Milwaukee managed to get back within seven with 5:50 to go before the home team put it away. Hambric knocked down a 17-footer to kickstart a 10-0 run over the next three minutes that made it a 63-46 game and the Ramblers cruised from there.

Loyola hit 18-of-30 (60%) from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 44% while the Panthers continued to struggle, shooting 26% after halftime to finish at 30% for the game.

Law finished with 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the way, receiving support from Johnson (18 points, seven rebounds) and Hambric, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and tied her career high and Loyola's single-game record with six blocked shots.

(4) Detroit 72, (5) Wright State 56
 Sophomore Shareta Brown set a Horizon League record in hitting 10-of-11 shots for 25 points and senior Demeisha Fambro drained a career-best seven 3-pointers as the fourth-seeded Titans stormed past #5 Wright State, 72-56, on Wednesday night to move into the Horizon League Championship Semifinals.

Detroit (17-12, 9-7 HL) will now face top-seeded and nationally ranked Green Bay on Friday at the Kress Center, while the other HL match-up will have second-seeded Youngstown State taking on third-seeded Loyola.

Brown's 10-of-11 shooting had her at 90.9%, breaking the old record of 83.3% (10-of-12) by Notre Dame's Krissi Davis vs. Loyola in 1989. She would also end the game with six rebounds and tied her career-best with three blocks.

Fambro was 8-of-14 from the field and 7-of-9 from three for a season-high 23 points, her second 20-point game of the season and the fifth of her career. She also handed out a career-best eight assists and had four rebounds, a block, and a steal.

Senior Yar Shayok totaled 13 points, 10 rebounds and tied her career high with five assists, while junior Senee Shearer collected three points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

Wright State (12-18, 6-10 HL) was down by eight, 33-25, early in the second half, but the Raiders came back to take a 39-38 lead with 14:42 left.

That is when Detroit broke the game open with an 11-0 spurt to take a lead it would never relinquish. The run started with a trey from Fambro and then Brown got inside for a layup. A steal by Fambro led to a layup from freshman Rosanna Reynolds and then a steal and bucket by rookie Destiny Lavita-Stephens made it 47-39. After Detroit forced a WSU miss, Reynolds was able to penetrate the lane again and UDM led by 10, 49-39, with 12:10 remaining.

Detroit would later have an 11-point advantage, 52-41, on another 3-pointer from Fambro, but the Raiders cut into that, getting within six on two occasions, the latest at 60-54 with 5:39 on the clock.

UDM then sealed the victory with a 12-2 run down the stretch as the defense forced WSU into 1-of-5 shooting with four turnovers.

The Titans ended the day shooting 50.0% (29-of-58), the seventh time this season they have reached 50.0% from the field, and they also had 23 assists. Detroit tallied nine 3-pointers for the second-straight game and had a season-high six blocks.

The Titans and Raiders tied an NCAA record to start the game as neither team went to the free throw line in the first half, an opening 20 minutes that saw seven lead changes.

Each team exchanged three-pointers to start the contest, but Shayok's jumper at the 13:52 mark had Detroit up 13-10. Wright State then answered with six-straight points to take a three-point lead and then the Raiders led, 18-15, midway through the first half when the red, white and blue went on a 15-2 charge.

Fambro hit three of her triples in that span and her latest put the Titans up 30-20 with 3:19 remaining, but the Raiders trimmed that to 30-25 at the half.

UDM shot 52% from the field in the opening frame, showcasing some great ball movement with 11 assists on its 13 field goals. The Titan defense was also hot early posting a season-high five blocks in the opening 20 minutes of action.