INDIANAPOLIS--Home teams were victorious in quarterfinal action of the Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship. Semifinals will take place Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wis.
#HLWBB Scoreboard (March 12)
(1) Green Bay 72, (9) Valparaiso 55
(2) Wright State 73, (7) Milwaukee 64
(3) Youngstown State 68, (6) Oakland 64
(4) UIC 77, (5) Cleveland State 72
#HLWBB Schedule (March 14)
(2) Wright State vs. (3) Youngstown State 6:00 p.m. ET | HLN
(1) Green Bay vs. (4) UIC 8:30 p.m. ET | HLN
(1) Green Bay 72, (9) Valparaiso 55
In a balanced attack by the Green Bay offense, the Phoenix advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Tournament as it ran past Valparaiso, 72-55, in Wednesday’s quarterfinal game at the Kress Events Center.
All 12 Phoenix played in the game with 10 denting the scoring column, including four in double digits and 33 points from its reserves. It marked the eighth time this season Green Bay had 10 or more players score, as it moved its overall record to 21-8 on the season.
Junior Megan Lukan led the way with 12 points, freshman Mehryn Kraker added 11 while sophomore Ellen Edison and Mariah Monke chipped in 10 points apiece off the bench.
The Phoenix took an early 3-2 lead three minutes into the contest, but three consecutive baskets from deep by Valparaiso’s Jessica Carr gave the visitors an 11-3 lead at the 14:15 mark. Kraker stopped the run with a feed in the lane, but the Crusaders maintained a seven-point lead (14-7) with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
That’s when the Phoenix went on an 11-0 run over three minutes to grab back the lead, 18-14, with 6:42 on the clock. Green Bay stepped up play in the paint and received a lift from its bench players with Monke and Sam Terry combining for all 11 points, including eight by Monke. She started the run with an and-1 play before Terry completed the same play on the next Phoenix trip down the court. After a pair of missed shots for both teams, Monke scored on another layup and then forced a Valparaiso turnover on the other end before transitioning to finish another and-1 play to close the run.
Green Bay grew its lead to as many as ten points (31-21) with 1:39 remaining, but the Crusaders closed on a quick 5-2 run to cut the Phoenix lead to seven points (33-26) at the break. The Phoenix was able to overcome a slow shooting start to the game as it opened just 4-for-17 before finishing 9-for-12.
Valparaiso cut the Phoenix lead to five points, 35-30, three minutes into the second half but a big 14-0 run over 6:20 put the game away for Green Bay. Five different Phoenix scored during the run, kicked off by back-to-back threes from junior Megan Lukan and Kraker. Edison then connected on consecutive jumpers before Megan Lukan hit a pair of free throws before Monke concluded the run with another layup in the paint to put the lead at 49-30.
The lead never got below 15 points the rest of the way as the Phoenix coasted to the 72-55 win.
Green Bay dominated play in the paint, outscoring the visitors 38-8 in the category while also receiving a 33-8 advantage from its reserves and a 28-11 edge in points off turnovers.
The Phoenix finished the game shooting 45.8 percent (27-59) from the field. Valpo was 38.0 percent from the field (19-50) and 44.8 percent from deep (13-29) fueled by a game-high 18 points by Carr, who finished 6-for-11 from long range.
Senior Breannah Ranger contributed a game-best seven rebounds, while Megan Lukan totaled a game-high five assists and three steals in addition to her team-leading 12 points.
Green Bay will continue to serve as hosts for the Horizon League Tournament, next facing No. 4 UIC on Friday evening in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. UIC advanced with a 77-72 win over No. 5 Cleveland State this evening. Semifinal one will feature No. 2 Wright State and No. 3 Youngstown State with tip set for 5 p.m.
(2) Wright State 73, (7) Milwaukee 64
The Wright State women's basketball team shot just 31 percent for the game, but hit 25 of 29 foul shots in holding off Milwaukee 73-64 in the Horizon League Quarterfinals Wednesday night at WSU's Nutter Center.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 9-3 lead and held a slight advantage for most of the first half until a three-point play by Kim Demmings gave the Raiders what turned out to be the lead for good at 20-18 with 5:46 remaining in the period.
WSU extended the margin to seven with five more in a row and was still up seven on a KC Elkins jumper at the 2:37 mark, only to see UWM score the final five points of the half, four by Ashley Green, to make it 27-25 at the break.
Both teams found the offense hard to come by in the opening 20 minutes as Wright State shot 24 percent and Milwaukee 25 percent..
A Demmings jumper in the paint and two Ivory James foul shots started the scoring in the second half and the Raider lead went up to 39-29 on a Demmings layup at the 13:39 mark. Milwaukee closed to within three on four different occasions, but WSU maintained the edge and eventually pushed it back up to double figures at 66-55 on another Demmings basket with 2:23 left.
The Panthers would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as four Tay'ler Mingo foul shots and two from Demmings in the final 37.6 seconds sealed the victory.
With the win, WSU ties the 1986-87 squad (24-6), the final season for the program in Division II, for the most victories in a season in school history.
Both teams shot better in the second half as Milwaukee shot 52 percent to end up at 38 percent overall while Wright State shot 41 percent to finish at 31 percent. The Raiders, though, led 40-28 in points in the paint, 10-5 in points off of turnovers and made 25 of 29 free throws, 22 of 24 in the second half, compared to 12 of 19 for the Panthers.
Demmings, who earlier this week was named the Horizon League Player of the Year, led WSU with 25 points, 16 of those coming in the second half, while Mingo, who was selected to the All-Defensive Team, added 24 points, 20 after hafltime. James, who joined Demmings on the First Team, posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Second Team All-Horizon League performer Angela Rodriguez paced Milwaukee (8-22) with 17 points in her final collegiate game while Avyanna Young (14 points, 18 rebounds) and Ashley Green (12 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles.
Wright State (24-8) now advances to the semifinals on Friday, March 14, against #3 Youngstown State who defeated Oakland 68-64 in another quarterfinal matchup, at 6:00 Eastern at the Kress Center on the Green Bay campus. The other semifinal at 8:30 Eastern will have the top seed Phoenix facing #4 seed UIC. The two semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on Sunday, March 16, at 1:00 Eastern, again at the Kress Center, with an automatic bid to the NCAA on the line.
(3) Youngstown State 68, (6) Oakland 64
Senior Melissa Thompson's three-point play with 36 seconds left in regulation broke a 64-64 tie and lifted the Youngstown State women's basketball team to a 68-64 win over Oakland in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Horizon League Championship on Wednesday evening at the Beeghly Center.
The Penguins forced two missed 3-pointers by Oakland and senior Heidi Schlegel came down with a defensive rebound sealed the victory with a free throw with seven seconds remaining.
Youngstown State improves to 15-15 overall and will play No. 2 seed Wright State, Friday, March 14, in Green Bay, Wis. The start time has yet to be determined. Oakland finished the season with an overall record of 13-17.
Schlegel led the Penguins with her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She also dished out five assists. Thompson scored 15 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Senior Liz Hornberger, who tied the YSU all-time 3-pointers made record with 198, added 11 points.
Hornberger hit her career-tying 3-pointer to give the Penguins a 38-31 lead with 17:14 to go. Then Penguins surrendered 16-7 run as the Golden Grizzlies to a 47-45 lead midway through the second half. It marked Oakland's first lead since 10-9 at the 12:57 mark of the first half.
The Penguins used their own 10-2 run over the next two minutes to regain a 55-49 lead after two free throws by Hornberger, a jumper and two free throws by Latisha Walker and a layup by Schlegel.
Oakland knotted the game at 61-61 after a 3-pointer by Victoria Lipscomb and took a 64-62 lead after a Bethany Watterworth layup.
Schlegel made a pair of free throws with 1:25 left to tie the game and Thompson came down with a defensive rebound off a Lipscomb miss to set up her game-winning shot.
Neither team got off to a crisp starter but the Golden Grizzlies managed to jump out to a 10-7 lead nearly seven minutes into the game. The Golden Grizzlies missed nine of their first 10 shots, while the Penguins committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game.
The Penguins used a 9-0 run on a jumper by Flagg, a 3-pointer by Hornberger and two jumpers by Schlegel to take a 16-10 lead midway through the half.
After Oakland cut the deficit to three, 20-17, with 5:31 left, Thompson made two straight layups and another by Schlegel pushed the lead to nine, 26-17, at the 3:16 mark.
Hornberger nailed her second 3-pointer of the half to give the Penguns a 10-point lead and another layup by Thompson pushed the advantage to a first-half high, 12 points, 31-19, with 1:43 left.
Oakland scored the final four points of the half as the Penguins took an 31-23 lead into the lockerroom at the half.
For the half, Youngstown State shot 45.2 percent, but committed eight turnovers. Oakland made just 23.1 percent from the floor before halftime.
(4) UIC 77, (5) Cleveland State 72
The UIC women’s basketball team (22-8) never trailed Wednesday night (March 12) and the fourth-seeded Flames defeated No. 5 seed Cleveland State (14-16) in the Quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament by a final score of 77-72.
UIC advances to the Semifinals and will play at No. 1 seed Green Bay (21-8) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Phoenix defeated No. 9 Valparaiso 72-55 at home Wednesday night. The first semifinal will feature No. 2 Wright State and No. 3 Youngstown State with tip set for 5 p.m.
UIC out-rebounded CSU 40-28 and is 22-3 when winning the battle on the boards. The Flames had 44 points in the paint, grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points.
UIC scored the first 15 points of the game before a 19-7 CSU run narrowed the Flames’ lead to 22-19 with 5:02 left in the first half. Imani Gordon’s layup with four seconds left cut the UIC advantage to 32-28 before Rachel Story banked in a three-quarter court shot at the halftime buzzer. The Flames were up 35-28 at the break and improved to 20-1 this season when leading at halftime.
UIC came out strong early in the second half and led 56-44 on Ruvanna Campbell’s free throw with 10:27 remaining. The Vikings scored 21 out of the next 31 points and narrowed the Flames’ lead to 66-65 on Haley Schmitt’s layup with 4:35 on the clock.
Two jumpers from Katie Hannemann and a layup by Campbell kept the Flames in front but the Vikings responded with buckets each time and trailed 74-72 with seven seconds left. Story was sent to the line and sank the first before her second attempt got stuck on the back of the rim. UIC held the possession arrow and Emily Kobel sealed the victory with two more free throws.
Story led the Flames with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting. She hit 3-of-8 three-point attempts, including a three-quarter court bank shot at the halftime buzzer. She is 10-of-26 from beyond the arc over the last three contests.
It is Story’s third straight 20-point game and her 13th of the season. Story owns 971 career points and needs 29 more points to become the 20th member of the 1,000-Point Club.
Campbell picked up her 12th straight double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. She also added four assists, three steals and two blocks.
Campbell is averaging 16.3 rebounds over the last three contests. She owns 22 double-doubles this season. Her 367 rebounds are the second most in a single season in program history.
Hannemann contributed 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. She passed Taylor Foulks (2009-13) into 16th place in program history with 1,029 career points.
Sophomore Terri Bender scored 11 points for her fourth double-digit effort in five games. She also had seven assists and is dishing out 5.6 assists per contest over the last five games.
Tags: Cleveland State - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball · Milwaukee - Women's Basketball · Oakland - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball · Youngstown State - Women's Basketball
