Box Score MACOMB, Ill. – Junior Tiana Thomas posted a season-high 13 points in leading the Chicago State women's basketball team here tonight at Western Hall as it dropped a 71-54 decision to host Western Illinois.
Thomas shot 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-6 from downtown, while adding three assists and three steals to lead three players in double figures for the Cougars.
Western produced a 13-2 lead in the opening three minutes of the first quarter with Taylor Higginbotham scoring five points during the run. Freshman Tyeshia Bowers, redshirt sophomore Ines Mata Boix and Thomas all combined to help the Green and White score 27 of the next 50 points in a 13-plus minute span over two quarters to pull within nine at 46-37 going into intermission.
After Thomas canned a three at the 9:06 mark of the third quarter to pull the visitors within four at 36-32, the Leathernecks would go on a 26-9 scoring drive over a 12-minute stretch to hike their lead to 62-41 with 7:34 left in the fourth quarter. CSU would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Bowers finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals on the evening. Mata Boix tallied 10 points, dished out a career-best six assists and added three steals for Chicago State.
Higginbotham and Morgan Blumer each recorded a game-high 17 points to lead Western Illinois.
The Cougars open the month of December at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center on Friday night with an inter-city battle against Loyola with a start time of 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network.
