Jan. 21, 2012

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Chicago State, NJIT and Utah Valley all stole victories as the road team on Saturday in Great West Conference Women's Basketball games. Chicago State outlasted Houston Baptist, 79-66, NJIT nips Texas-Pan American, 41-40, and Utah Valley rallied past North Dakota, 58-54.

Utah Valley 58, North Dakota 54

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Utah Valley began Great West Conference play with a bang Saturday afternoon, knocking off North Dakota at UND's Betty Englestad Sioux Center, 58-54. UVU trailed by as many as 10 in the second half before taking control after a 16-6 run late in the frame.

After a 10-5 North Dakota (9-10) run midway through the second half put the home team ahead 41-31 at the 12:45 mark, Sammie Jensen led the Wolverine (9-9) comeback effort, scoring back-to-back buckets to spark what would become a 16-6 run to give UVU its first lead of the game.

The rally featured nine points from Jensen, three of which came when she buried an NBA-range three as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 46 with 5:46 to play. A free throw from Alle Finch just seconds later would cap the run and give the Wolverines their first lead of the game, 47-46. Abbie Beutler also scored five points during the stretch.

Despite surrendering the lead, UND fought back, jumping ahead after Charnise Mothershed broke a 51-all tie with a step-back three at 2:54. But that was the last point North Dakota would get, as another jumper from Jensen cut the deficit to one, then Finch buried another pair of freebies to recapture the lead at 55-54. Beutler went 1-of-2 from the line to make the score 56-54 with 1:16 left, and UND failed to convert two chances to overcome the deficit, missing a three on one possession and missing the front end of a one-and-one on the next. Jensen would close out the game at the foul line, dropping in two free throws to seal the result.

Jensen led the way for the Wolverines with her ninth double-double of the year, scoring 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and grabbing 10 boards. Beutler also finished in double figures, scoring 11 in her first game back after missing the last three with an injury, and Finch added 10 points with six rebounds. Whitney Jenkins and Erika Newbold pieced together nice games as well, the former scoring seven points in the final eight minutes of the first half, and the latter finishing with six points and a game-high three blocks.

Charnise Mothershed was the lone player for North Dakota in double figures, scoring 11 points.

Chicago State 79, Houston Baptist 66

HOUSTON, Texas- Houston Baptist had three players finish in double figures and a career night from Joselyn Pugh, but the Huskies could not overcome a 21-point deficit late in the second half in a hard-fought 79-66 loss to visiting Chicago State Saturday evening from Sharp Gym.

Pugh led HBU (1-17, 0-2 GWC) with 17 points, surpassing her previous career mark of 14 point set against Utah Valley on Feb. 5, 2011. She went 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. She also tied a team high with seven rebounds, joining Devyn Weymouth, who finished with 15 points. Brittany Barton finished with 11 points. Weymouth (9-of-10) and Barton (6-of-6) combined to go 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. The Huskies shot 86 percent from the line, including an astounding 92 percent (12-of-13) in the second half.

The conference's second-leading scorer, Janay Dockery, led Chicago State (3-16, 1-1 GWC) with 30 points, as she hit six of the team's seven three pointers. Paris Williams finished with a double-double of 18 points and 19 rebounds, while Natalie Marlowe scored 10 points and dished out eight assists for the Cougars.

Chicago State came out firing to start the game, outscoring the Huskies 17-7 in the first five minutes. The Huskies cut it to within five points, 22-17, as Weymouth scored four-straight points before CSU's Jasmine Collins made a free throw to give the Cougars a 22-16 lead with 9:11 remaining in the first half.

The Huskies scored four-straight points - two free throws by Weymouth and a layup by Pugh - to cut the deficit to two, 22-20, with 8:19 remaining, but CSU outscored the Huskies 15-5 to lead at the half by 12, 37-25.

Weymouth led the Huskies in the first half with eight points, followed by Barton with seven. Pugh was tops on the glass with four rebounds. Dockery led all players with 16 points, while Williams nearly had a double-double in the first 20 minutes, scoring eight points and grabbing 10 boards.

The Cougars started the second half on a 12-2 run to lead, 49-27, in the first three minutes. The Huskies cut the deficit to 17 on three occasions in a span of a minute, but CSU's Tierra Williams hit a three to lead by 20, 56-36, prompting an HBU timeout.

With the Cougars leading 58-36, HBU used a 7-0 run to trail by 15, 58-43, with 9:42 left in the game. Pugh had five points and a rebound in that span.

Chicago State used a 9-3 run to lead by 21, 67-46, with 7:20 remaining in the game, before HBU went on a furious comeback, outscoring the Cougars 20-12 in the final minutes, but it was too little too late. The Huskies came as close as 11 points, 77-66, with 36 seconds remaining.

NJIT 41, Texas-Pan American 40

EDINBURG, Texas - A layup by Rayven Johnson with 7.4 seconds remaining lifted NJIT past Texas-Pan American, 41-40, in Great West Conference women's basketball action Saturday evening at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

Texas-Pan American led the Highlanders all the way until 7.4 seconds was left on the clock when Johnson scored the game-winning basket giving the visitors a 41-40 lead. Johnson collected herself at the top of the key, drove down the right lane and missed her first shot, but the determined junior guard pulled down the rebound and went up strong scoring on her second attempt.

With six seconds left on the clock, Texas-Pan American's Bianca Torre dribbled the length of the floor to the baseline attempting to put up the last second shot but dished off to an open Donna Jackson in the paint. Jackson's jump shot hit the front of the rim as time expired.

NJIT (8-11 overall, 2-0 in Great West) has won its last three out of four contests and second straight with Saturday's victory. The Highlanders opened Great West Conference play on Thursday at Houston Baptist with a 69-52 win.

The Highlanders were paced by Johnson, who posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The junior scored 12 of her team-high 13 points in the second half. Classmate Melanie Griffin put together a strong performance with 10 points, five rebounds and game-high five assists.

Freshman Nicole Maticka added eight points and five rebounds while junior guard Kimberly Dweck chipped in seven points. Sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo grabbed eight rebounds and game-high three blocks in 27 minutes of action off the bench.

Texas-Pan American (8-11, 1-1 in Great West) had only one double-figure scorer in the game, led by a game-high 14 points from Torre. Jackson finished with nine points and seven rebounds while senior forward Adanna Opara grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for the Broncs.

Trailing 26-15 at the half, NJIT opened up the second period on a 13-4 run. The Broncs scored four points in the first 2:10 and went scoreless over the next 8:15. The Highlanders rally started at the 18:06 mark by Johnson on a traditional three-point play and ended on a jumper from Griffin at 12:38, for the first tie of the contest, 30-30.

The Broncs scored the next four points taking a four-point lead, 34-30, on a short jumper by Opara. Neither team scored for the next 4:12 until Johnson broke the ice with a layup with 5:25 left to go.

Torre put her team up five by knocking down a three-pointer just under the 5-minute mark, 37-32, but on the next play down the court, NJIT's Denisa Domiterova sank her only points of the contest at the 4:39 mark from behind the arc trimming the lead down to two, 37-35. Torre answered with her fourth three of the contest 21 seconds later pushing the Broncs lead back up to five, 40-35, with 4:18 left to go.

Over the next 3:04, neither team could buy a basket until Maticka scored on a put back off a missed layup at the 1:14 mark, 40-37. Torre, who was fouled in the backcourt by the Highlanders, stepped up to the free throw line with 30 seconds and missed the front end of a one-and-one. NJIT's Griffin grabbed the rebound and dribbled the length of the floor scoring with 23 seconds remaining, 40-39.

NJIT has now had six regulation games decided by four points (or fewer) in regulation, plus one overtime game. The Highlanders are 6-1 in close games with the only setback at the buzzer against Longwood, 72-71, on January 14.

--GWC--