NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Tressa Beckel (Waseca, Minn./Wisconsin) (Waseca, Minn.) recorded a double-double as the Chicago State women's basketball team captured the Great West Conference title with a 66-43 win over host NJIT at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The Cougars improve their record to 20-9 (11-1), winning 20 games for the first time in school history, while the Highlanders dropped to 7-20 (3-9). The GWC title is the first for CSU in the school's Division I-era and the first since winning the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) title in 1985-86.
Beckel produced a game-high 26 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field, including 18 in the first half, and grabbed 11 rebounds for CSU, who posted a 37-12 halftime lead and outrebounded NJIT by a 52-25 margin.
Senior Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) added 17 points with a game-leading four steals, while senior Caila Desroches (Long Island, NY/Monroe CC) (Long Island, N.Y.) produced a game-high 13 rebounds and two blocked shots, and junior Natalie Marlowe (South Milwaukee, WI/South Milwaukee) (South Milwaukee, Wis.) dished out a game-high six assists.
NJIT was led by senior Jessica Gerald's 12 points, while senior Ivana Seric and freshman Kristian Parker each contributed 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field.
The Cougars head out west to Orem, Utah next week as the top seed for the second-annual Great West Conference Tournament, held at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University.
~CSU~
