Box Score
CHICAGO, Ill. – Houston Baptist got its 11th double-double on the season by
Shanice Steenholdt, but the Huskies couldn't overcome converting 30 turnovers in a 73-62 loss at Chicago State Saturday afternoon from the Jones Convocation Center.
"Give credit to Chicago State for playing so hard," said head coach Mary Gleason. "They forced turnovers and we gave them opportunities to score. I'm proud of our team for the pressing efforts to cut the Chicago State lead, but we dug ourselves too big a hole."
Steenholdt led HBU (4-16, 0-2 GWC) with 18 points and was tied for the game high of 10 rebounds with
Ashleigh Nwanguma.
Rachel Arthur scored 11 points, as she and
Tayler Jefferson went a combined 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Nwanguma had eight points, 10 boards, and two blocks for the Huskies.
Paris Williams led Chicago State (3-18, 2-1 GWC) with 19 points and was second with five rebounds. Tierra Williams came off the bench to score 18 points and was tied for the team high of six rebounds with Chanel Wilson-Stewart.
HBU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after a
Wiebke Bruns layup and a
Rachel Arthur trey just 1:20 into the contest. Chicago State got to within one, 5-4, but HBU increased its lead to 11-4 following a jumper by
Erin McGarrachan and a pair of Nwanguma layups with 12:52 to go in the first half.
Chicago State tied the game at 11-all with a pair of jumpers and a three-pointer by T. Williams.
After a pair of
Devyn Weymouth free throws put the Huskies back on top, 13-11, with 11:36 remaining, CSU used an 11-0 run to take a 22-13 lead, before Arthur's trey snapped the run and made the score 22-16 with 7:53 to go in the first half.
With the Cougars leading HBU 28-22, HBU used its defense to muster a comeback, scoring four-straight points all coming off of CSU in-bounds passes to make the score 28-26 and forcing CSU to call a timeout at the 2:48-mark.
HBU got as close as 30-28 with 1:25 remaining in the opening half, following an
Ekemini Essien layup. CSU closed out the first half with a 6-0 run to lead the Huskies at the break, 38-28.
Steenholdt led the Huskies in the first half with eight points, followed by Arthur and Nwanguma with six each. Nwanguma had seven rebounds, five on the offensive end. Turnovers plagued the Huskies in the first half, with 22 turnovers resulting in 18 CSU points. P. Williams led all players with 14 points, followed by T. Williams with 12.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the second half and, with CSU leading 45-34, the Cougars used a 5-0 run to lead the Huskies 50-34 with 13:49 remaining in the second half.
Chicago State led by as many as 17 before the Huskies made a valiant comeback late in the game. Down 67-50 with 4:40 remaining, HBU used a 10-2 run to trail the Cougars by just nine, 69-60, with 2:47 left in regulation. But the Huskies could get no closer, as CSU closed out the final minutes outscoring the Huskies 4-2 for the final score of 73-62.
HBU will return home for the next two games, the first being the Pink Out Game against conference rival Utah Valley on Sat., Feb. 2 at 6 pm. The game is part of the Kay Yow Fund and is meant to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. Fans wearing pink to the game get free admission.
