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CHICAGO – Sophomore forwards
Paris Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) and
Jasmine Collins (Richton Park, Ill./Rich South) (Richton Park, Ill./Rich South) led four Cougars in double figures with 15 points each as the Chicago State women's basketball team closed out a nail-biter with Great West Conference opponent NJIT to claim their first conference victory of the season 58-57 at the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday (Jan. 19) night.
After trailing by two at halftime, Chicago State went on a 12-2 run midway through the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 53-41 with 7:55 left. But NJIT proved to be battle tested and quickly responded with a 15-3 run which tied the game at 56 with 2:28 left. Collins went on to make two free throws for Chicago State with two minutes remaining which later proved to be the difference.
Defensively, Chicago State saved their best sequence for the final 1:41 as NJIT made just a single free throw and missed all six shots down the stretch.
NJIT had an opportunity to win it late, however. Alyssa Albanese went to the line with four seconds remaining in the game and a chance to tie or give NJIT the lead. She missed the front end of a one-and-one causing a mad scramble for the ball. The Highlanders' Uju Nwankwo came up with the ball but her wild last second attempt missed everything and went out of bounds. The Cougars safely inbounded the ball to run off the final second of the game.
“We have been trying to preach all season about intensity and playing hard,” head coach
Angela Jackson said. “I thought for the first time we played hard for 40 minutes. We have a young team and we still have things that we need to work on.”
Williams compiled her first double-double of the season by pulling down a season-high 11 rebounds, five coming on the offensive glass, along with her 15 points.
“She was a monster on the boards,” Jackson said. “She was huge down the stretch getting us offensive rebounds .”
Sophomore
Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) dropped 11 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Jones was also a terror on the defensive end nabbing five steals. Sophomore
Tierra Williams (Detroit, Mich./Lathrup) (Detroit, Mich./Lathrup) provided steady play off the bench as she tallied 10 points in just 24 minutes of action.
Chicago State improves to 2-17 overall and 1-1 inside the GWC, while NJIT falls to 8-13 and 1-1 in the GWC. Chicago State's homestand will continue on Thursday (Jan. 24) evening when the Cougars host CSU Bakersfield. Tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Please note some printed schedules listed Thursday's start time for 2:00 p.m., however the correct time is 7:00 p.m.
