CHICAGO – Senior Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) tallied game highs of 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead Chicago State to a 69-56 home win over SIU Edwardsville this afternoon at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The CSU Cougars evened their record to 4-4 with the win, while the SIUE Cougars dropped to 1-6 on the year.
SIUE claimed an early 11-7 leading margin in the first four-plus minutes of the game on a jumper from freshman Kate Affourtit and a layup by senior Jessie Stapleton. An 8-0 run over a two-minute span brought CSU a 15-11 advantage after Dixon nailed a three at 13:08, but back-to-back layups from Stapleton knotted the score at 15-15 with 12:34 remaining in the stanza. The CSU Cougars then scored 15 of the next 25 points over eight minutes to hike the lead to 30-25 with five minutes to go before a three-pointer by freshman Melia Duncan closed SIUE's deficit to 30-28 at 4:44. CSU tallied six of the final 10 points of the half to enter halftime with a slim 36-32 advantage.
CSU began the second half by scoring five of the first eight points with three points coming from sophomore Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) to increase its lead to 41-35 at 15:36. SIUE then recorded a quick 4-1 scoring drive to pull within 42-39 on a layup from junior Ashley Bey with 13:32 left in the game. The CSU Cougars would later tally six of the next eight points to increase its advantage to 48-41 on a three-pointer from sophomore Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) at 10:53, but SIUE recorded seven straight points over a span of 1:48 to even the score at 48-48 on a three by senior Brittany Imig. A 23-8 run in the last nine minutes, highlighted by 12 points from Dixon, provided the game's final margin in favor of CSU.
Junior Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting and tied with Dixon for game-high honors with four steals. Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) nearly recorded a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio) added five points, five caroms and two steals for the CSU Cougars.
Bey paced the SIUE Cougars with 16 points, including 10-of-14 from the free throw line, and four assists. Stapleton finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards, while Imig also tallied 11 points and senior Jenny Wuest posted a game-high three blocks.
Chicago State returns to action on Dec. 10 when they travel to Eastern Michigan with the tip-off set for 6 p.m., central time.
~ CSU ~
