CHICAGO – Senior Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) and sophomore Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) each recorded 17 points, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in guiding host Chicago State to a 68-47 win over North Carolina Central Saturday afternoon at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars, which opened a three-game homestand with the win, improved their season record to 9-8, while the Lady Eagles fell to 4-13 on the year.
The home team coasted to an early 10-2 lead in the game's opening four minutes that culminated with a three-pointer from freshman Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) at the 16:16 mark. CSU later used back-to-back layups from sophomore Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) to claim a 14-3 advantage with 13:52 left in the stanza.
The Cougars followed that by outscoring the visitors by a 27-12 margin over 13 minutes to take their biggest lead of the game at 41-15 at the 2:15 mark behind nine points from Waldon and eight points from Dixon during the run. The Lady Eagles scored six of the final eight points of the half in the final two minutes, but CSU enter the half ahead by a 43-21 margin.
NCCU began the second half by producing a 6-2 scoring drive to pull within 45-27 after junior Jori Nwachukwu split a pair of free throw at the 17:23 mark, but CSU tallied 10 of the next 18 points in an eight-plus minute stretch which hiked its lead to 62-37 at 8:44 that ended with a layup from junior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio). The visitors would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Freshman Jael Peña (Harlem, N.Y.) also scored in double figures for Chicago State as she recorded 12 points, while Marlowe finished with career highs of six rebounds and four assists to go along with eight points in her first collegiate start. Pierson also contributed eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and Waldon finished with eight rebounds.
Nwachukwu paced NCCU with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while freshman Chasidy Williams posted a game-best 10 boards and added nine points. Freshman Blaire Houston recorded seven points and four assists for the Lady Eagles.
The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17 when they welcome future Great West Conference foe NJIT to the Jones Convocation Center with a start time of 2 p.m.
~ CSU ~
