CHICAGO – Four players scored in double figures as Chicago State women's basketball posted a 62-53 victory over Austin Peay in the consolation game of the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday evening at UM's BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla. The Cougars improved to 3-4 on the year while the Lady Govs dropped to 2-4.
CSU jumped out to an early 16-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game that culminated with a jumper from Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) at the 10:12 mark. Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) and Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) each produced five points during the game-opening run. Austin Peay then posted a 13-4 run of its own over seven minutes to cut its deficit to 22-20 on a pair of free throws from Emily Pollock with 2:38 left in the half. The Cougars finished the half by tallying eight of the half's final 11 points, including four points from Dixon, to head into the locker room with a 30-23 halftime lead.
Baskets by Dixon and Nicole Clark (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) (West Bloomfield, Mich.) gave in the opening 1:06 of the second half handed Chicago State a 34-23 advantage. The Cougars later took their biggest lead of the game at 41-28 on a pair of Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) free throws with 15:31 left in the game. A quick 9-0 run over three minutes brought Austin Peay to within 41-37 at 12:18 after a three from Whitney Hanley, but an 11-4 scoring run in a eight-plus minute stretch, highlighted by seven points by Jael Peña (Harlem, N.Y.), helped CSU hike its advantage to 52-41 at 3:24. After the Lady Govs used an 8-2 run that closed their deficit to 54-49 with 1:37 remaining in the contest, Pena and Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) combined to score eight points of the final 12 points for Chicago State to close the game.
Dixon led Chicago State with a game-high 15 points and went 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) nearly tallied her first collegiate triple-double as she posted 14 points with a pair of career highs with eight steals and seven assists en route to claiming all-tournament team honors. Clark recorded 13 points and nine rebounds, and Peña finished with 13 points and three steals for the Cougars.
Hanley tallied 11 points and two steals to pace Austin Peay on the night. April Thomas contributed 10 points and Nicole Jamen recorded a game-high 10 boards to go with eight points. Pollock finished with four assists for the Lady Govs.
CSU returns to the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center on Tuesday to host SIU Edwardsville in a midday contest beginning at 12 noon.
~ CSU ~
