CLEVELAND – Senior Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) led five players in double figures by tallying a game-high 15 points as the Chicago State women's basketball team defeated host Cleveland State, 68-50, this morning in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational at the Wolstein Center.
Chicago State improved its record to 24-9, while Cleveland State closed out its season at 21-12
The Vikings captured a 21-12 lead in the game's opening 10 minutes with five points coming from junior Takima Keane and four points from sophomore Shalonda Winton. Chicago State received eight points from Waldon as part of a 19-5 run in the final nine and a half minutes of the stanza to head into intermission with a slim 31-26 lead.
The Cougars opened the second half with a key 11-3 scoring drive in the first three minutes that would increase their lead to 42-29 at the 16-minute mark and would not relinquish the advantage for the rest of the game.
Senior Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 12 points in the second half, and added seven rebounds. Senior Tressa Beckel (Waseca, Minn./Wisconsin) (Waseca, Minn.) contributed 12 points with eight rebounds and a game-leading five blocked shots, while junior Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) also posted 12 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Green and White.
Junior Janay Dockery (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) produced 10 points, a career high-tying eight steals, six assists and six rebounds.
Cleveland State was led by junior Destinee Blue, who tied Waldon for game high scoring honors with 15 points, while senior Shawnita Garland added a double-double of a game-leading 13 rebounds and 10 points.
Chicago State advances to the WBI semifinals next week against the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal contest between third-seeded Cal State Bakersfield and seventh-seeded South Dakota with a date, location and time to be determined.
~CSU~
