Sunday's Women's Basketball Results

Sunday's Women's Basketball Results
Toledo 86, SIU Edwardsville 74
Niagara 71, Akron 60
Kent State 84, UNC Wilmington 71
Cal State Northridge 68, Miami 50

 

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Stories Courtesy of MAC Media Relations Offices

Toledo 86, SIU Edwardsville 74
EDWARDSVILLE, IL - Toledo buried a season-high 13 three-point field goals and registered an 86-74 victory at SIU Edwardsville (2-10) on Sunday at the Vadalabene Center. With the double-digit win, the Rockets' run their winning streak to a season-high five straight and improve to 8-2 on the season.

UT shot a sizzling 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from beyond the arc and had five different players knock down treys in the non-conference triumph. Sophomore Clare Aubry paced the attack with a career-high five triples and finished with a team-high 17 points off the bench. Junior Jessica Wiliams had three three-pointers and tallied 11 points, sophomore Courtney Ingersoll buried two treys and registered 10 points, while senior Allie Clifton made one trey and scored 10 points. Senior Tanika Mays also notched double figures with 16 points, but the 2008-09 second-team All-MAC honoree did not have a three-point field goal.

"I'm proud of our players," Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop said. "We found a way to win on the road. We received good efforts from a lot of different players. I thought Clare, Tanika, Allie and Melissa each played real well. It is nice to know when our opponent takes away one of the players (Naama Shafir), that other players can step up. Our team rallied today and found a way to pull out the road victory."

The Rockets started quickly and hit three triples in the first three-plus minutes to jump out to a 14-3 lead at 16:12. Williams, Shafir and Aubry each made threes in opening stages to help the visitors establish control. Shafir also had two three pointers in the contest and tallied eight points with a game-high eight assists.

"I thought we moved the ball side-to-side very well and got some open looks as the result of that," said Cullop, whose team has now made at least 10 triples in a game three times this season. "Fortunately for us, we were able to stick some shots."

UT continued to shot the lights out from deep and another trey from Williams, as well as one from Clifton made the score 22-9 at 11:27.

The Cougars then went on a 15-7 run over the next five minutes to close the gap to 29-24 with 6:29 remaining. SIUE's Ashley Bey fueled the rally with six points to make it a two-possession contest.

UT's Cullop called a pair of timeouts fairly close to each other to try and stall SIUE's momentum, and the tactic worked to perfection. The Rockets' defense limited the Cougars to only eight points for the remainder and the half, while the offense caught fire and took a 42-32 bulge at the intermission. Williams and Aubry each hit triples down the stretch to make it a double-digit difference at the break.

Toledo's Mays started off the second half on fire on the low block and scored five quick points to help push the lead to 51-36 at 15:09.

Moments later, Ingersoll buried a trey and scored five-consecutive points to make it an 18-point contest, 56-38, with 12:49 left.
SIUE made one final push to cut the margin to 12 points, 63-51, before back-to-back three-pointers from Ingersoll and Aubry sealed the non-conference victory.

Toledo finished the game shooting an impressive 58.0 percent (29-of-50) from the field and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the free-throw line. The Rockets also had a 32-26 edge on the glass and dished out a season-high 24 assists. Junior Melissa Goodall paced the visitors on the boards with a game-high 10 caroms.

Bey led the Cougars with a game-high 21 points, while Raven Berry had 20 points and eight boards.

"Ashley is a fantastic point guard and she did a fantastic job against us," Cullop said. "I also thought Raven had an impressive game."

The Rockets return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 20 when they travel to Bloomington, IN to battle Big Ten foe Indiana. The contest is scheduled for noon in Assembly Hall.

Niagara 71, Akron 60
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. - The University of Akron women's basketball team saw its four-game win streak come to an end after a 71-60 defeat at Niagara Sunday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.

Sophomore Kyle Baumgartner and freshman Rachel Tecca each recorded double-doubles in UA's first defeati n nearly a month. Baumgartner paced the Zips (6-5) with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Tecca chipped in with 11 and 13. It was fifth double-double of Baumgartner's career while Tecca accomplished the feat for the second time in three games.

Akron had no answer for Niagara's Liz Flooks, who led all scorers with 27 points - on 11-for-14 shooting, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. With the win, the Purple Eagles inmproved to 3-8 on the year.

Flooks sparked a hot-shooting Niagara squad that connected on 45.5 percent (25-for-55) of its attempts from the floor and 56.3 percent (9-for-16) from 3-point range. Conversely, UA shot 31.6 percent (24-for-76) from the field and 11.5 percent (3-for-26) from long range.

Akron shot out of the gate by scoring the first seven points of the game, capped by a 3-pointer from Amber Witt that forced an early time out by Niagara. But NU's Kayla Stroman converted a three-point play after the break and sparked an 18-3 run that gave the Purple Eagles a 10-point lead, 18-10, midway through the opening period.

UA responded with a 12-3 spurt of its own, fueled by six points from Kara Murphy, to regain the lead, 22-21, with 7:38 to play, but Niagara scored 20 of the final 28 points of the period to push out to its largest lead, 41-30, at the intermission.

Akron cut the lead to five three times in the second half but could get no closer.

The Zips will take a week off from competition for the holidays before hosting Temple at Rhodes Arena on Monday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m. (EST).

 

Kent State 84, UNC Wilmington 71
KENT, Ohio - The Kent State women's basketball team (6-3) ended a two-game home slide Sunday evening with an 84-71 win over UNC Wilmington.

For the second straight outing, junior Taisja Jones (Dallas, Texas) poured in 25 points, aided by 10-of-11 shooting at the free throw line, to lead all scorers in her first collegiate start. Lorriane Ohdiambo (Nairobi, Kenya) had a double-double with career-highs of 10 points and 15 rebounds, as she also made her first start for the Golden Flashes.

"I thought we matched up better defensively in the second half," said head coach Bob Lindsay. "We made the right decisions off (UNC Wilmington's) press. We did a good job attacking it and finding the open player."

After a seesaw first half that had 12 lead changes and six ties, Kent State took a 35-33 lead into the intermission as neither team lead by more than four in the first stanza. Ohdiambo made good in her first collegiate start, registering nine points and seven rebounds - marks that were career bests at the break.

After the second half started with more of the same with neither team pulling away early, the Golden Flashes changed momentum midway through the stanza. Kent State held UNC Wilmington without a field goal for a seven-minute span in the second half as part of a 25-10 run that gave the Golden Flashes a lead they would not relinquish. Jones and senior Rachel Bennett - who returned after missing last Saturday's game against Temple - each had eight points during the run.

Bennett (Marion, Ohio) finished with 13 points, while Jamilah Humes (Saginaw, Mich.) also chipped in 13 points. Humes added team highs of six assists and five steals.

Kent State finished 25-of-31 from the free throw line; along with Jones' effort, Stephanie Gibson (North Canton, Ohio) was 6-for-6 in the game's final minute at the stripe, while Bennett went 7-of-8.

UNC Wilmington (4-5) was led offensively by Greta Luksyte's 18 points. Martha White and Brittany Blackwell added 14 and 10 points, respectively. Despite entering the game shooting just 28 percent from three-point range, the Seahawks were 8-of-16 from long range.

Kent State will take a nine-day break from game action for the holidays before heading to Hawaii Dec. 29-30 for a pair of non-conference contests against the Rainbow Wahine.

Cal State Northridge 68, Miami 50
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Returning for its first game after final exams, Miami suffered a poor shooting night as it fell to Cal State Northridge, 68-50, Sunday afternoon. The RedHawks fall to 1-9 on the year, while the Matadors improve to 2-6. Courtney Osborn led Miami with 15 points.

The rust from the weeklong layoff was evident early on as Northridge raced to an 11-0 lead. Osborn ended the run with a layup at the 15:38 mark to get the RedHawks on the board. Miami then turned on the defensive pressure, getting several turnovers which led to fastbreak layups for Osborn, Ashleigh Brown and Courtney Reed. A 17-6 run by the RedHawks tied the score at 17 with 11 minutes remaining the half.

A 12-4 run by the Matadors put CSUN in front once again at 29-21. Maggie Boyer hit a three-pointer to break up that stretch. After another Northridge basket, Osborn followed with a three of her own to pull Miami to within four at 31-27. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half with Erin Wisner converting on a free throw with 00.2 seconds remaining to send the RedHawks into the break trailing, 36-30.

Osborn led Miami with 11 points in the first half. The difference between the two teams was the shooting percentage, as Miami hit 34.4 percent of its shots (11-for-32), while CSUN hit 45.7 percent (16-for-35).

Layups by Reed and Osborn cut the deficit to 37-34 early in the second half. Northridge pushed the lead back to five at 41-36, but free throws by Reed and Rachael Hencke, as well as a layup by Reed got Miami as close as it would get at 41-40 with 10:04 remaining.

Northridge pushed the advantage back to 10 with a 9-0 run. Reed and Osborn hit jumpers to close the RedHawks to within seven at 53-46 with 5:40 remaining, but the team's shot went cold from there and the Matadors finished off the 68-50 win.

In addition to Osborn's 15 points, Reed was also in double figures with 12. Miami shot 31.3 percent for the game (20-for-64), compared to 42.6 percent for CSUN (23-for-54). Northridge outrebounded the RedHawks 45-36.

Miami concludes its two-game west-coast trip with a game at Cal State Bakersfield at 4 p.m. (EST).