OREM, Utah – Senior Tressa Beckel (Waseca, Minn./Wisconsin) (Waseca, Minn.) led five Chicago State players in double figures as the top-seeded Cougars captured an 82-64 win over fourth-seeded and host Utah Valley by a score of 82-64 this afternoon in the semifinals of the 2011 Great West Tournament, held at the UCCU Center.
The Cougars improved their season record to 21-9, while the Wolverines dropped to 8-21 on the year.
Beckel scored a game-high 23 points and shot 9-of-16 from the field while adding nine rebounds, four blocked shots, two assists and two steals for the Green and White. Senior Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) contributed 15 points and a career-best eight steals, while junior Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) also scored 15 points and went 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Junior Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) tallied 12 points and dished out seven assists, and senior Caila Desroches (Long Island, NY/Monroe CC) (Long Island, N.Y.) recorded 10 points, six rebounds and four steals for CSU.
Utah Valley was led by junior Jenna Johnson, who produced a team-best 17 points, while sophomore Sammie Jensen posted a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Chicago State, who advanced to its first conference tournament final, will take on third-seeded North Dakota in tomorrow's championship game with a start time of 5 p.m., central time. The game will be shown live online by heading to www.uvu.edu/uvutv/ and clicking on UVU Athletics.
~CSU~
