OREM, Utah (Jan. 9, 2010) – Chicago State women's basketball had all five of its starters score in double figures as it captured a 77-53 victory over host Utah Valley Saturday afternoon at the McKay Events Center in the inaugural Great West Conference game. The Cougars improved their season record to 6-11 (1-0), while the Wolverines saw their record fall to 3-14 (0-1).
The visitors posted an early 12-6 lead within the first four minutes of the game with six points coming from junior Caila Desroches (Long Island, NY/Monroe CC) (Long Island, N.Y.) during the run. A 12-4 run later propelled CSU to a 24-10 advantage at the 10:44 mark following a three-pointer from senior Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.). UVU then came back with a 13-8 scoring drive to pull within nine points at 32-23 after jumper from senior Julie Smith with 4:30 remaining in the stanza. The Cougars closed the half by scoring nine of the final 13 points in the final 3:36 to head into the half ahead by a 41-26 margin.
The second half began with CSU recording a 13-3 run in a five-plus minute stretch to increase its lead to 52-29 with 14:51 left in the game. Sophomores Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) and Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) each scored four points during the run. Smith scored eight points as part of a 10-0 run that helped slice the home team's deficit to 52-39 at the 11:22 mark. The Wolverines would go no closer than 13 points the rest of the way as CSU outscored the home team by a 25-16 margin down the stretch for the win.
Desroches paced Chicago State with a season-best 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Marlowe tallied 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting and dished out a career-high eight assists, while Dockery added 12 points with six assists, five rebounds and a career-best five steals. Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) also recorded 12 points and grabbed a game-high six caroms, and Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) finished with 10 points.
Utah Valley was led by Smith's game-high 24 points and 11 points from sophomore Erika Newbold. Senior Asumi Nakayama posted a game-high 10 assists and senior Blake Reynolds added eight points for the Wolverines.
The Cougars open a conference Texas two-step in Houston on Thursday, Jan. 14 against Houston Baptist at Sharp Gym with a start time of 5:35 p.m.
~CSU~
