OREM, Utah – Five players scored in double figures as Chicago State women's basketball opened the 2009 NCAA Division I Independent Tournament with a 74-39 victory over Savannah State Thursday evening at The McKay Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The second-seeded Cougars improved to 15-12 on the season, while the fifth-seeded Lady Tigers fell to 8-21.
CSU jumped out to a commanding 20-4 advantage in the first eight minutes of the game with six points coming from sophomore Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.). After senior Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) canned a jumper at the 10:05 mark to increase the Cougars' advantage to 22-6, Savannah State responded by scoring 17 of the half's final 27 points in the final 10 minutes thanks to nine points from senior Lashara Smith as CSU entered intermission with a 32-23 leading margin.
The second half began with the Cougars scoring 16 straight points in the first six minutes of the stanza which increase their lead to 48-25 with 14:05 minutes left in the game following a steal and fast break layup from freshman Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.). A second 16-0 run that lasted over a nine-minute stretch handed CSU its biggest advantage of the game at 70-32 with 2:13 left in the contest. The Lady Tigers would get no closer than 34 points the rest of the way.
Dixon finished with game highs of 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven assists to lead Chicago State. Waldon recorded 13 points, while sophomore Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) notched a double-double of 12 rebounds and 11 points, and junior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio) posted a double-double of her own with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Marlowe tallied 10 points with a game-high three steals for the Cougars.
Savannah State was paced by Smith's 12 points and four assists, while sophomore Courtney Long added 10 points. Freshman Raven Fields contributed with nine rebounds and eight points.
The Cougars are back in action Friday evening at The McKay Center against Texas-Pan American on the second day of the Independent Tournament with the opening tip set for 5:30 p.m., central time.
~ CSU ~
