HOUSTON – Sophomore Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) tallied her first collegiate double-double with career highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds in leading Chicago State to capture a 71-57 win over host Houston Baptist in a Great West Conference contest this evening here at HBU's Sharp Gym. The Cougars improved their season record is 7-11 (2-0), while the Huskies saw their record fall to 2-14 (0-4) on the year.
The visitors broke an early 7-7 tie in the first half with a 9-3 scoring drive over a near four-minute stretch to capture a 16-10 lead with 12:20 left in the stanza after junior Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) scored on a fast break layup following a steal. CSU then scored 16-9 run over a span of eight and a half minutes to increase its leading margin to 32-19 following a layup by senior Laureen Pierson (Dayton, OH/Northmont) (Dayton, Ohio) at 1:59.
After HBU scored four straight points over a minute to cut its deficit to nine at a 32-23, senior Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) drained a three with 1.5 seconds left to send the Cougars into intermission with a 35-23 lead.
A 15-2 run in the opening seven minutes of the half helped CSU increase its leading margin to 50-25 after Marlowe completed a conventional three-point play at the 13:53 mark. The Huskies utilized a 28-15 scoring drive in a span of nine-plus minutes to close within 65-53 with 1:33 left in the game that included six points from freshman Brittany Barton and four points by sophomore Taniqua Hollis. The visitors finished the game by hitting six-of-eight at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Junior Caila Desroches (Long Island, NY/Monroe CC) (Long Island, N.Y.) also recorded a double-double for Chicago State with 10 points and a season-best 11 rebounds, while Pierson added 10 points. Sophomore Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) posted an all-around effort with nine points, a career-high eight rebounds and tied with Marlowe for game high honors with five assists.
Barton and Hollis led Houston Baptist with 10 points in the game. Freshman Destini Texada added nine points with a game-high 12 rebounds, while sophomore Racquel Jones also scored nine points for the Huskies.
CSU continues its Great West Conference weekend slate through Texas with a Saturday afternoon battle versus Texas-Pan American in Edinburg starting at 2:15 p.m.
~CSU~
