YSU Remains Unbeaten; Green Bay, UIC and Wright State Also Post Saturday Wins

INDIANAPOLIS--Youngstown State's 87-71 win over Milwaukee pushed the Penguin's record to 4-0 in league play which marks the best league start in program history. Green Bay, UIC and Wright State also notched wins on Saturday.

Youngstown State 87, Milwaukee 71
A solid overall 40-minute effort by the Youngstown State women's basketball team kept them unbeaten in Horizon League play following an impressive 87-71 win over Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

Four Penguins scored in double figures as Heidi Schlegel had 20, Liz Hornberger had 17, Monica Touvelle finished with 14 and Karen Flagg chipped in 11. The win was the fourth straight Horizon League win for the Guins who are now 8-9 overall and 4-0 in HL play. Milwaukee falls to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in league action.

The Penguins connected on 11 3-pointers in the contest and were 21-of-32 from inside the 3-point arc, which included 36 points in the paint. They had 20 assists on their 32 buckets. For the game the Guins shot 51.6 percent while UWM made 28-of64 (43.8 percent).

YSU never trailed in the contest and the game was tied just once, the last time coming just 3:50 into the contest at 7-7. From that point it was all Penguins.

After the game was tied at seven, the Guins scored the next five points and never looked back following a 3-pointer by Hornberger and layup by Latisha Walker. The Panthers crept within one on three occasions, but could never wrestle the lead from the Guins.

At halftime the Guins led 45-37 thanks to a 54.5 percent shooting effort from the field.

In the second half, YSU came out quickly and surged to a 14-point lead at 51-37 following a Jenna Hirsch 3-pointer. However, UWM answered with 10 straight points to get within 52-47. But the Guins stablized things and went up by 11 just over 1:14 later on a Flagg basket.

Milwaukee kept its deficit under double digits just twice after Flagg's bucket with 15:02 remaining. The last was at 60-51 but a 3-pointer by Touvelle increased the lead to 12, Hirsch followed with a fast-break layup and Schlegel added a layup of her own to make it a 16-point contest.

The biggest leads of the contest for YSU was 20 on three occasions - 79-59, 81-61 and 83-63.

Green Bay 90, Cleveland State 72
An all-around commanding performance by the Green Bay women’s basketball team got the Phoenix back on the right track as it posted one of its best offensive performances en route to a 90-72 triumph over Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.

The Phoenix (9-7, 2-2 Horizon League) tied its highest offensive output of the season with 90 points as 10 of the 12 players that took to the court finished with at least a point, including four in double-digits. Sophomore Kaili Lukan recorded her third 20+ point performance in four conference games with 23 points and also dished out a career-high eight assists.

As a team, Green Bay had 22 assists on 30 total field goals and dominated the boards, 39-19. The Phoenix finished the game shooting 54.5 percent (30-55) and rebounded from its struggles from behind the arc going 43.5 percent (10-23) for the game, including 63.6 percent (7-11) in the first half.

“It feels good for the team to find its stride offensively,” head coach Kevin Borseth said. “We came out with a lot of energy and put a lot of points on the board against a good Cleveland State team, it is just a great feeling.”

Freshman Tesha Buck scored the first points of the game for the Phoenix, giving Green Bay a lead it wouldn’t relinquish the remainder of the game. Overcoming poor shooting that hindered the team the last two games Green Bay made five of its first six field goals as it jumped out to a nine point advantage (15-6) 5:26 into the contest. All five starters scored for the Phoenix during the run, capitalizing on play inside the paint and from behind the arc.

Leading 24-18 with 9:06 remaining in the first half, Green Bay broke the game open with a 10-0 run over the next 2:03 to jump out to a 16 point advantage (34-18). Kaili Lukan started with a fast break layup from freshman Mehryn Kraker before Buck connected on back-to-back threes and Taylor Thomas hit a nice backdoor pass from Lukan.

Cleveland State (8-9, 3-1 Horizon League) ended the run with a three from Kiersten Green (34-21) before the Phoenix used an 8-0 run to assume its largest lead of the first half, 42-24, with 3:35 on the clock. It was again a variety of Phoenix to score during the run that featured layups by Kaili Lukan and Thomas and a three from freshman Sam Terry. Green Bay maintained its double-digit advantage at the break, as it entered halftime with a 46-34 lead.

“Today we just came out with a lot more confidence and were able to work the ball inside and out,” sophomore Taylor Thomas said. “We really focused on making the extra pass and getting the ball into the post and that really sparked our offense. It was a great game and will be great to help build our confidence going forward.”

Green Bay was a hot 58.6 percent (17-29) from the field and 63.6 percent (7-11) from deep in the first 20 minutes and also dominated the boards with a 21-9 advantage. Subbing heavily, 11 of the 12 Phoenix players took to the court, with eight players denting the scoreboard as the team received 14 bench points.

“We get a lot from players when we substitute,” Borseth said. “ Like [Taylor] Thomas today, she had a great night after having worked so hard in practice lately. Being able to reward those kids who work so hard really helps the team on many levels.”

The Vikings made it interesting to start the second half, going on a 10-4 run over the opening 2:18 to get back to within six points, 50-44. However, the Phoenix settled down and got back in stride as it went on a 14-4 run during the next 5:22 to go back up by 18 points (64-46) with 12:20 remaining as it cruised to the 90-72 victory.

“This was a big win. We just needed to get back on track,” Borseth said. “When you win it can be easy, but when you lose you can learn a lot. I told the players they have to experience this to appreciate what winning is all about and today was a good game for our season.”

In addition to Kaili Lukan, senior Breannah Ranger (13), Buck (11) and Megan Lukan (14) finished with double-digit scoring. Thomas was also impressive for the Phoenix adding a career-high nine points and five rebounds, whileKraker posted a career-high seven rebounds.

Moreover, the Phoenix won the battle in the paint, 36-20, and points off turnovers, 15-13. The team also had its best free throw shooting performance of the season going 20-for-24 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.

Cleveland State was led by Imani Gordon with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Wright State 79, Valparaiso 65
Kim Demmings tied a season high with 31 points as the Wright State women's basketball team won 79-65 at Valparaiso Saturday afternoon.

Two Ivory James foul shots at the 14:39 mark of the first half gave the Raiders the lead for good at 7-6, but the margin was just four until an 8-2 WSU run, a run that included threes from James and Demmings, made it 31-21 at the five-minute mark.

Wright State led 37-29 at the break despite Valparaiso shooting 58 percent compared to just 39 percent for the Raiders.  WSU, though, was seven of 19 from three while the Crusaders missed all five of their three-point attempts.

The Raiders led by double figures most of the second half, with the biggest lead being 62-46 following a James three-point play with 6:13 to play.

Valparaiso shot 54 percent overall compared to 39 percent for Wright State, but the Raiders were 10 of 30 from three and 25 of 34 at the foul line while the Crusaders were one of nine from behind the arc and 14 of 19 at the stripe.  WSU led 28-9 in points off of turnovers and 16-9 in second-chance points in finishing with a 37-25 rebounding advantage, 19-5 on the offensive end.

Demmings led all scorers with 31, tying her season high that she reached in the season opener at Southern Illinois.  It marks the ninth time in her career that she has scored 30 or more points in a game.

James added 15 for the Raiders while Tay'ler Mingo had 10 as did KC Elkins off the bench.

Sharon Karungi paced Valparaiso (2-14, 0-3 Horizon) with 19 off the bench while Jessi Wiedemann had 12, Charae Richardson 11 and Jessica Carr 10.

UIC 78, Oakland 65
The UIC women's basketball team (13-4, 2-2 HL) evened its conference record Saturday with a 78-65 road win over Oakland (7-10, 2-2 HL) at the Athletics Center O’rena. Rachel Story scored a game-high 25 points to lead four Flames in double-figures.

UIC’s 13-4 overall record is the program’s best start in the Division I era (1980-present). Ruvanna Campbell grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to go along with 16 points. The last UIC player with at least 20 rebounds was Dejeanette Flournoy (23) on Dec. 14, 2003.

Katie Hannemann also picked up a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Campbell and Hannemann both collected double-doubles for the third time this season (Idaho State and SIUE).

“Today’s win was a solid team effort in a challenging environment,” said UIC head coach Regina Miller. “Oakland’s gym offers a few challenges for opposing shooters and we struggled the last time we played here in 2011. We shot much better in the first half but Ruvanna and Katie’s effort on the offensive glass allowed us to retain the lead after halftime.”

UIC out-rebounded Oakland 57-36 and collected a season-high 24 offensive rebounds. The Flames had 18 of their 24 offensive rebounds in the second half. The 57 rebounds are also a season high and the most since Dec. 14, 2012 against Roosevelt.

All of UIC’s 28 points in the paint were second-chance points. The Flames are 13-1 this season when winning the battle on the boards. 
The Flames were 26-of-40 from the charity stripe, the seventh time this season UIC has made 20-plus free throws. UIC held Oakland to 32 percent shooting (22-of-68) from the field.

UIC took control of the contest early and never relinquished the lead. The Flames held their biggest lead of the game at 35-17 on Gisselle Truiett’s jumper with 3:56 left in the first half. Oakland went on an 8-0 run to end the half to narrow the UIC lead to nine at 37-28 going into the locker room.

Olivia Nash’s three-pointer with 10:24 remaining in the game got Oakland within five at 54-49. The Golden Grizzlies pulled within 68-62 with 1:51 left but the Flames pulled away with eight straight free throws and strong defense.

Campbell’s performance was her League-leading tenth double-double of the season. Her 21 rebounds are fifth the highest nationally in a single game this season and the fourth best in program history. Campbell collected nine offensive rebounds, including seven in the second half.

Story was 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. All six of Story’s free throws in the second half came with less than 1:19 left on the clock. She also tied her season high with four steals.

Story has been in double-figures in 18 straight contests dating back to last season. Story now owns seven 20-point performances this season and 18 in her UIC career.

Hannemann picked up her fifth double-double this season and the tenth of her career. Bender also contributed six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

UIC hosts Valparaiso on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET. On Thursday, Oakland travels Cleveland State at 7:00 p.m., Wright State faces Milwaukee at 8:00 p.m. and the night cap pits Detroit at Valparaiso at 8:05 p.m. Green Bay returns to action next Saturday as it hosts Wright State at 2:00 p.m. All games are available live on HLN.