Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 15)
Wright State 79, Xavier 54
Eastern Michigan 104, Detroit 96
Marquette 71, Milwaukee 52
#rv/rv Michigan State 80, Oakland 62
VCU 76, Cleveland State 75
Wichita State 63, Green Bay 58
Wright State 79, Xavier 54
Three Raiders scored in double figures and two others added nine each as the Wright State women's basketball team rolled to a 79-54 win over Xavier Sunday afternoon at WSU's Nutter Center.
An Ivory James three gave WSU the lead for good at 11-9 with 15:11 to play in the first half, but the advantage was just 27-20 until the Raiders closed out the period with a 10-2 run over the final 4:41, the final five coming from Tay'ler Mingo, to go up 37-22 at halftime.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, but Wright State had 10 more attempts thanks to an 8-4 edge in offensive rebounds and a 14-8 turnover differential. WSU was also five of 15 from three-point range and four of five at the line compared to one of four from behind the arc and one of three at the line for the Musketeers.
Xavier cut the deficit to eight on two occasions in the second half and trailed 55-46 with 11:23 to play before the Raiders broke the game open with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes. Wright State gradually built on the margin the rest of the way.
WSU shot 43 percent from the floor overall, including 10 of 25 from three, and hit 11 of 15 foul shots while Xavier shot 41 percent for the game, but was just two of 14 from behind the arc and eight of 13 at the line. The Raiders led 25-16 in points off of turnovers as they forced 24 while comitting 18.
Mingo led Wright State with 24 points and seven assists while James had 15 and Tayler Stanton 11 points and seven boards. Kim Demmings had a near double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds while Breanna Stucke also had nine points off the bench.
Eastern Michigan 104, Detroit 96
Junior Ellisha Crosby poured in a career-high 33 points as offense was never a problem in the contest, but a high-paced Eastern Michigan attack was too much to overcome as the Titans fell, 104-96, to the Eagles on Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall on Sunday on Alumni Day.
Crosby also grabbed 10 rebounds for her team-leading fifth double-double of the year. Senior Senee Shearer tallied 28 points - the sixth-straight game she has had 20 or more - and tied her career high with seven rebounds, while freshman Reyna Montgomery scored a season-best 11 points and senior Megan Hatter recorded 11 points and eight rebounds.
At the half, members of the past Detroit women's teams came together for a team picture as they were honored on Dick Vitale Court and after the game, the prized alums from year's past gathered in the Titan Club to share some memories.
Detroit (3-8) trailed by as many as 14 in the second half, but the Titans were able to cut it to six on four occasions. The first time, it was with the long ball as back-to-back 3-pointers by Shearer made it 66-60 with 16:10 left. The Eagles then ran their lead back to 14, 86-72, but the duo of Shearer and Crosby combined for eight-straight points and UDM was down 86-80, with 8:36 remaining.
EMU (7-1) answered with eight in a row to push it back to 14, 94-80, but Crosby again ignited a run with seven points and a free throw in the mix from Montgomery cut the deficit to six, 94-88, with just over four minutes remaining. A minute later, Montgomery went inside for a layup to once again make it a six-point game, 96-90, but that was as close as the Titans would get in their comeback attempt.
Sophomore Tayelor McCalister ended the game by filling the stat sheet with eight points and career highs with eight assists and eight rebounds. Freshman Haleigh Ristovski had seven boards and three assists and sophomore DaVonna Bradford finished with five points and three caroms.
UDM shot 43.5% from the field hitting 37-of-85, while EMU was at 47.1% connecting on 40-of-85 attempts. Detroit was outrebounded by just one, 49-48, and both teams recorded over 20 assists in the contest.
The first half saw seven lead changes and six ties as it was a sprint from the start as both teams combined for 24 shots in the first 4:30 of play. The game began with Shearer tallying a three and after Crosby added a free throw, EMU came back with a 12-2 run to take a 12-6 lead.
The Eagles stayed in front for most of the first half and had an 18-13 lead with 13:30 left, when an 8-3 spurt by the red, white and blue tied it at 21-all. Crosby had all eight points in that charge with three baskets and two free throws.
The game was then tied at 23-23 and 25-25 when the Titans briefly jumped back in front, 27-25, on a layup from Crosby followed by Shearer who nailed a three and Crosby hit a jumper with 8:22 left in the stanza.
The Titans then had one more lead in the half as they erased a four-point EMU advantage with a trifecta from Hatter, and then off a steal from McCalister, she was able to locate Shearer cutting to the basket for the 37-36 score at the 6:40 mark.
The lead was short lived as a 13-2 run by Eastern Michigan put the Titans in a 49-39 hole as UDM went into the half down by seven, 56-49.
Marquette 71, Milwaukee 52
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team shot a season-low 27 percent from the field and could not recover, falling to Marquette University by a score of 71-52 Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers (2-8) and Golden Eagles (7-2) were playing for the first time since 2009, renewing the cross-town rivalry in front of a crowd of 787 at the Klotsche Center.
The teams also chipped in to help out during the holiday season. Head coaches Kyle Rechlicz and Terri Mitchell coached barefoot to help support the "Shoes for Africa" cause and players each donated a pair of shoes as starters were announced.
"I just wanted to say what a great opportunity it was for us to do the `Shoes for Africa' game against Marquette," Rechlicz said. "They are an amazing team and we knew that coming in to the game. Our goal was to keep them under 70 points - we actually did a pretty good job of that."
Milwaukee's game plan to limit Katherine Plouffe and Katie Young - who came in leading the team at 19.5 points per game and second at 14.1 ppg - worked well. Plouffe had just two points at intermission and finished with seven. Young went 1-for-7 from the floor and had just three points.
"We also wanted to keep their top two scorers under 10 points each and we were extremely successful in that as well," Rechlicz said. "The problem is that we couldn't hit our shots. I think we worked so hard on defense, that some of our normal players missed a lot of shots."
The Panthers were off all day. UWM once again made 10 three-pointers, but needed 37 attempts (27 percent) to get there and ended up going just 18-for-66 from the floor on the day.
Senior Angela Rodriguez paced the team with a game-high 19 points, finishing with six rebounds and five assists (just one turnover). Junior Ashley Green was the only other Panther in double-figures with 12.
Apiew Ojulu led four Golden Eagles players in double-figures with 18 points.
Up 13 at intermission, Marquette went on an 11-3 run to start the second half to make it 50-31 on the scoreboard. The closest the Panthers would get the rest of the way was 14 points.
Milwaukee hit just 26.7 percent (8-of-30) in the first 20 minutes and found itself trailing, 39-26, at intermission.
Marquette jumped out quickly, hitting close to 70 percent of its shots in grabbing a 12-4 lead. The Golden Eagles would continue to build, eventually taking a 25-12 advantage at the 11:01 mark.
The Panthers would use the three-ball to get back into it, hitting three in a row to make up a 9-0 run. A pair of three's by Rodriguez and one by Green trimmed the deficit down to four at 25-21, only to see Marquette stop the momentum and build it back to double-digits.
Michigan State 80, Oakland 62
Elena Popkey led with 15 points and six assists as four Golden Grizzlies reached double-figure points but the Oakland women's basketball team (2-7) fell at Michigan State (6-4), 80-62, Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center. OU drops to 0-4 on the road this season.
Bethany Watterworth made her first start since March of 2012 and scored 12 points to move into eighth all-time with 1,555 career points. Victoria Lipscomb scored 10 of her 12 points in the opening half and Olivia Nash had all 11 points of her points in the second half.
The Golden Grizzlies trailed 27-26 at the half but led by as many as 10 points in the opening period. Oakland used a 10-0 run led by Kim Bee with four points as she finished the half with eight of her team-high 10 rebounds. The Spartans had 10 turnovers in the opening half and OU capitalized with eight points.
Michigan State came out on fire in the second half as it began the half on a 25-8 run. Annalise Pickrel hit three 3-pointers in the first four minutes and finished with 20 points while Aerial Powers ended the game with a game-high 21 points and adding 11 rebounds. The Spartans outscored the Golden Grizzlies 53-36 in the half while shooting 56.7 percent (17-30) from the floor.
VCU 76, Cleveland State 75
Despite four players scoring in double-figures for the third time this season, the Cleveland State women's basketball team fell in the final seconds at VCU, dropping a 76-75 contest to the Rams. The Vikings are now 4-5 on the season, while VCU improves to 8-1 overall.
Imani Gordon led the Vikings with 19 points, while Cori Coleman and Kiersten Green each added 13 and Haley Schmitt tallied 12. Khayla Livingston was also one-shy of her career-high, adding eight points for the Vikings. Gordon was just shy of a double-double, adding a team-high nine rebounds, while Green added eight boards and seven assists.
After VCU was quickly able to get out to an 11-5 lead early on in the first half, CSU responded with a 10-2 run, including a pair of three-pointers, that gave CSU a 15-13 lead – its second of the contest. The Rams were able to extend their lead once again at the 26-15 mark, before the Vikings were able to chip away at the lead, and a Brooke Smith three-point play brought the Vikings within one (29-28) with 4:44 left to play in the half. VCU then closed out the half on a 10-4 run, putting the halftime score at 39-32.
To open the second half, VCU outscored the Vikings 7-3, before Coleman and Schmitt converted back-to-back three-pointers, putting the score at 46-41 with 16:57 left to play. Over the next 7:41 VCU was able to control the contest, until the Vikings gained their first lead since the 11:46 mark of the first half with a Livingston layup at the 9:16 mark. Livingston's layup put the score at 62-61, Cleveland State, but it wouldn't last long as the Rams responded with four-straight points to regain control of the contest.
The Vikings then responded with a 5-0 run of their own, gaining their largest lead of the contest at 68-65 with 6:03 left to play. Over the next minute, VCU went on a 5-0 run to regain control of the contest, before a pair of Gordon free throws tied the score at 70-70 with 4:32 remaining.
A VCU three-pointer on the next possession gave the Rams a 73-70 lead, which they then added to with a free throw at the 1:55 mark to gain a four-point advantage (74-70). A Schmitt three-pointer on the ensuing possession – her fourth of the contest – brought the Vikings within one point (74-73) with 1:40 left in the contest.
After a few empty possessions from both teams over the next 1:22, Coleman was able to once again give CSU a one-point lead after converting a pair of free throws, putting the score at 75-74. With just eight seconds remaining, VCU was able to convert a layup off of an inbounds play, giving the one-point lead back to the Rams (76-75) with just five seconds left to play. The Vikings were then able to draw up a play for the closing seconds, but were not able to convert, putting the final score at 76-75, VCU.
Wichita State 63, Green Bay 58
A young Green Bay women’s basketball squad showed its resilience in a tough non-conference battle against Wichita State on Sunday afternoon, but each time the Phoenix looked to overcome a second-half deficit the visiting Shockers closed the door as they went on to win, 63-58, at the Kress Center.
Green Bay (6-3) dropped its second-consecutive decision at home this season, losing back-to-back games for the first time since the 2009-10 season and back-to-back home games since the 2008-09 campaign. The Shockers improved to 7-2, extending its winning streak to six games.
Three Phoenix finished with double-digit scoring for the game, led by freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) with a game and career-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. Sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while sister junior Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) chipped in 10 points and a game-best six assists.
It was a close first half, as the lead exchanged hands seven times in the first 20 minutes. Buck started the Phoenix scoring with a three as the Phoenix built to a five-point advantage (8-3) just 16:10 into the contest.
Wichita State responded, eventually tying the game at 11-11 with 14:48 remaining before Green Bay went on a 10-2 run to assume its largest lead of the first half, 21-13, with 9:22 showing on the clock. A feed-in to senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) from Megan Lukan started the run before a flagrant foul from Wichita State’s Michaela Dapprich helped add to the lead. Buck went up for an offensive rebound on the play, and an elbow from Dapprich was deemed a flagrant foul by the officials, giving the Phoenix two free throws and possession of the ball. Freshman Sam Terry (Baraboo, Wis.) stepped to the line and connected on both free throws, and on the ensuing possession Buck found the bucket to put the Phoenix ahead, 17-11.
A Shockers layup broke up the Phoenix scoring, but Ranger then made a fast-break basket before Terry again connected on two free throws to put the Phoenix ahead by eight points, 21-13. Green Bay maintained the eight-point advantage all the way to the 7:15 mark (25-17), but Wichita State slowly chipped away at the lead with a 10-1 run to take back the lead, 27-26, with 3:48 remaining. The lead exchanged hands four times in the final three minutes before WSU’s Michelle Price made the final layup of the opening stanza to give the Shockers a 31-30 halftime lead.
Green Bay went into the half outshooting Wichita State, 43.5 percent (10-23) compared to 37.9 percent (11-29). The Phoenix also owned a 19-17 rebounding advantage and outscored the visitors in the paint, 16-8.
Cold shooting hurt the Phoenix to open the second half, as they were just 3-for-12 (25%) from the field over a span of 12:40. Despite the struggles from the field, the Phoenix remained within two points (49-47) with 8:29 remaining after Kaili Lukan knocked down a pair of free throws. However, back-to-back three’s from WSU’s Marissa Preston and Alex Harden gave the Shockers their largest lead of the contest, 55-47, with 7:20 remaining.
The young Green Bay squad showed its resilience, working its way back into the contest with a layup from freshman Mariah Monke (Fergus Falls, Minn.) and three from Buck to get back to within three points, 55-52, on the next two possessions. But each time the Phoenix threatened, the Shockers found an answer to maintain the lead. A small 4-0 run featuring a basket from Kaili Lukan and two free throws by Ranger got the home team to within a point (57-56) with 2:03 remaining, but Wichita State again shut the door with a jumper by Jamillah Bonner as it went on to win, 63-58.
Green Bay outshot Wichita State for the game, going 17-for-43 (39.5%) while the Shockers were 18-for-49 (36.7%). The Phoenix was also better from three with a 5-for-11 (45.5%) showing compared to 7-for-17 (41.2%) for the visitors. Green Bay also led in rebounding (34-31) and points in the paint (24-14).
