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CHICAGO – Despite a career-high 26 points from sophomore
Tierra Williams (Detroit, Mich./Lathrup), Chicago State women's basketball fell 63-55 to Utah Valley on Saturday (Feb. 23) at the Jones Convocation Center.
Caneka Davis (Chicago, Ill./Walther Lutheran) and
Jazzmyn Harvey (Chicago, Ill./Bellwood) were honored as part of Senior Night festivities.
Williams added four rebounds and a steal with no turnovers to her line. Her 26 points are the most a single player has scored against Utah Valley in Great West Conference play this season.
“Tierra did exactly what she's been doing in practice,” Chicago State head coach
Angela Jackson said. “She has stayed aggressive and played hard on both ends of the court.”
Utah Valley held a slim lead for the majority of the first half. A trey by senior Davis tied the game at 21 with 5:47 left in the first half. Sophomore
Paris Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) converted a transition basket following a steal with 3:29 left to put CSU up 24-23. A minute and a half later
Tierra Williams (Detroit, Mich./Lathrup) added a 3-pointer and the Cougars held a 29-26 edge. But the Cougars wouldn't lead at the break. Player of the Year favorite Sammie Jensen was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound with less than one second remaining in the half. She made a pair of free throws to put Utah Valley up 30-29 as the half ended.
The score remained close in the second half until Utah Valley used an 11-2 run to build a nine-point lead (57-48). Taylor Huber had five points in the run for the Wolverines. A 3-pointer from
Tierra Williams (Detroit, Mich./Lathrup) later pulled the Cougars to within six, at 59-53, with three minutes to play. However a Huber 3-pointer on the other end gave the Wolverines some breathing room down the stretch.
“I thought we had some good stretches (tonight) but the stretch that meant the most, the last three minutes at the end of the game, we just didn't do a very good job executing both offensively and defensively,” Jackson said.
Jensen, the second leading rebounder in the nation with an average of 13.9 per game, finished the game with 21 rebounds and 18 points. She had a double-double at halftime.
Sophomore
Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) finished with a career-high 11 assists for the Cougars.
Chicago State tied a season-low with nine turnovers in the game. The win gives Utah Valley a share of the GWC regular season title thanks to a 6-1 GWC mark and a 12-14 overall record. Chicago State falls to 4-22 (2-3 GWC).
The Cougars finish the regular season with three GWC road games. First up is a contest at NJIT on Saturday (March 2). The Cougars defeated NJIT in the previous meeting between the two clubs.
