CHICAGO – Chicago State women's basketball needed overtime to break a two-game losing streak as it captured through slipped past visiting Southern Illinois by a score of 71-68 this afternoon at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars improve to 5-6 on the year while SIU's record dropped to 2-4.
The Salukis jumped out to an early 9-2 leading margin in the first three-plus minutes of the game in which sophomore Katrina Swingler scored four points during the run. A layup by freshman Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) and a conventional three-point play by freshman Jael Peña (Harlem, N.Y.) closed SIU's advantage to 9-6 with 15:19 left in the stanza, but a 12-6 scoring run later hiked the visitor's lead back to 21-13 on a layup from senior Jasmine Gibson at 8:39. The Cougars scored seven quick points in over a minute to close within 21-20 at the 7:03 mark that was culminated with a jumper by freshman Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.). SIU then recorded an 11-2 run over four and a half minutes to claim its biggest lead of the half at 32-22 on a three from senior Kaci Bailey. The home team closed the half by scoring nine of the last 11 points that included four points from Peña to head into intermission down by three points at 34-31.
CSU continued its run at the start of the second half by scoring 16 of the stanza's first 23 points in six and a half minutes to gain a 47-41 lead on a three from sophomore Courtney Walton (Sun Prairie, Wis.) at 13:22. Swingler scored six points as part of an 11-2 SIU run over three minutes to hand the visitors a 52-49 lead at 8:44 after a layup from freshman Olivia Lett. The Cougars posted seven straight points in just a minute to reclaim the lead at 56-52 after junior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio) recorded a three-point play at the 7:25 mark, but SIU scored seven straight points in four minutes to post a 59-56 lead on a layup by senior Erica Smith with 4:29 left in the game. The Cougars then reeled off a 5-0 run in the final three minutes of regulation to gain a 62-59 lead until Smith drained a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Layups from Marlowe and senior Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) propelled the home team to a 66-62 lead with 3:20 left in the extra session. The Salukis then scored six straight points in over two minutes to capture a slim 68-66 advantage after freshman Alex Hart knocked down a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left in the game. After sophomore Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) tied the game with a basket at the 46-second mark, Pena went 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch to give CSU the win.
Peña and Marlowe led CSU with 15 points while Peña added a game-high six assists and Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) recorded 13 points. Dixon contributed 12 points with a game-high seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Pierson finished with eight points and added three assists for the Cougars.
Swingler paced Southern Illinois with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and Gibson contributed 13 points. Smith posted 12 points to go along with a pair of game highs with six assists and five steals.
Chicago State heads to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a mid-week road contest at Western Michigan with a start time of 6 p.m., central.
~ CSU ~
