Box Score
Post-Game Interview with Mary Gleason (video)

HOUSTON – Houston Baptist played 40 full minutes in a total team effort, as the Huskies defeated visiting Chicago State, 92-57, Thursday night from Sharp Gym.

HBU led Chicago State at halftime, 53-34. The 53 first-half points were the most since the Huskies led Bacone, 53-35, on March 1, 2007, when the Huskies were still part of the NAIA. The win was the first conference victory since a 71-66 triumph over NJIT on Feb. 17, 2011, and the 35-point win was the largest margin of victory in a Great West Conference game.

HBU (6-22, 1-6 GWC) was led by Shanice Steenholdt with 33 points, 27 of which came in the first half. She also grabbed a game-high six rebounds. Rachel Arthur scored 17 points. Maisie Elston came off the bench to score nine points, tying her career high of three 3-pointers. Wiebke Bruns had six points, four rebounds, six assists, and six steals.

Jasmine Collins led Chicago State (4-24, 2-5 GWC) with 16 points, while Paris Williams added 11 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

HBU started the game on a 15-7 run in the first 3:10, prompting Chicago State to take an early timeout. The Huskies made three 3-pointers in that span.

The Huskies increased their lead to 12, 22-10, following a trey by Elston, with 14:05 left in the first half. After a pair of free throws by P. Williams made the score 22-12, the Huskies used a 16-5 run to lead the Cougars by 21, 38-17, with 6:31 remaining in the opening half.

CSU tried to battle back, outscoring HBU 7-0 to trail by 14, 38-24, at the 4:48 mark, but the Huskies went back up to a 17-point lead after a layup by Bruns and a pair of free throws by Steenholdt sandwiched a free throw by Tierra Williams.

CSU came as close as 13 twice – the latest coming at the 3:07 mark with the score 44-31 – but the Huskies used a 9-3 run to close out the half and lead the Cougars at the break, 53-34.

Steenholdt had a huge first half, scoring 27 points and grabbing five rebounds. She went 10-of-13 from the floor, was 1-for-1 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe in 18 minutes. T. Williams led CSU with eight points.

HBU continued to put the pedal to the metal to start the second half, outscoring the Cougars 10-4 in the first three-and-a-half minutes to lead by 30, 68-38. The Cougars battled back to cut the deficit to 24, 68-44, but the Huskies answered with another run to take a 74-44 lead with 12:43 remaining in regulation.

The program record of 40 points – set by Steenholdt last season – was in jeopardy of being broken, but Steenholdt, who had 33 points at the time, picked up her fourth foul at the 11:02 mark and sat out the remainder of the contest.

HBU led by as many as 36, 90-54, following a jumper by Meghan Shank with 4:43 left, then again following a layup by Joselyn Pugh with 3:35 remaining.

HBU closes out the regular season hosting NJIT on Saturday, March 9 at 2 pm. Senior Pugh will be honored prior to the game.