By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Dayton, OH---The Express women's basketball team went into halftime with a seven point deficit before turning up the pressure in the second half of a 71-55 road win over Sinclair Community College today.
The game started off well for the Express as they jumped out to a 13-5 lead. However, Sinclair went on an 8-0 run to even it up. The Express answered back with four straight to lead 17-13, but the Tartan Pride then went on an 18-6 run to take a 31-23 lead with 2:08 left in the half.
Nandi Taylor then made a jumper out of a timeout, followed by a lay-up byEmma-Jean Ricketts that pulled the Express within four, but Sinclair's Brooke Smith hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left as her team took a 34-27 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Express opened up with an 11-3 run to re-take the lead 38-37 with 16:07 left. Back-and-forth action then had Sinclair up 44-43 with 12:46 left, but that was the last lead they would have.
The Express went on an 11-0 from that 12:46 mark to the 9:03 mark that was capped by a jumper from Danielle Bezeau. Up 54-44, the Express cruised the rest of the way.
Mackenzie Heacock was a big offensive presence in the second half, where she scored 12 of her team-high 15 points. In that half, she went 5-for-7 overall from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
Uniqua Mitchell also had a strong second half with 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting, including a 2-for-4 performance from 3-point range. She finished the game with her second straight double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds), while seven of those rebounds came on the offensive end.
Ricketts added a second double-double for the Express as she finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Taylor added 11 points, five steals, three assists and two rebounds off the bench. Meanwhile, Bezeau continued her nice play with nine points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists and one steal.
In the second half, the Express shot 19-for-38 from the field and 4-for-9 from 3-point range. They forced 16 Sinclair turnovers, while swiping nine steals - led by two apiece from Heacock, Karahn Scott and Taylor.
After scoring in double figures in eight straight and nine of the past 10, Scott was held scoreless. That streak ended today (4 points), but she pulled down eight rebounds.
As a team, the Express shot 31-for-73 overall, 6-for-18 from 3-point range and 3-for-8 from the foul line. They outrebounded Sinclair 46-36, while forcing 28 Tartan Pride turnovers.
Ashley Morrow led the Tartan Pride in scoring with 18 points, while adding six rebounds. Riley Weng (12 points), Carly Montgomery (10 points) and Lianna Innocent (10 points) also scored in double figures. Innocent added a team-high 11 rebounds.
Notes
The Express are now 19-7 overall and 6-2 in the OCCAC. They will travel to Lakeland Community College on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup.
Mitchell is nearing 600 career points. Her 14 points today gives her 203 for this year and 586 for her career. Today was her 14th game in double figure scoring this year, while it was the fourth game in which she had 10 or more rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ricketts now has 423 points this year and 832 for her career. She is five points away from tying Robin Nesper for ninth place on the career scoring list.
Heacock now has 533 career points. She has hit double figures in scoring in eight of the past nine games. Going into today, she was averaging 16 points in the past 10 games.
Scott has 435 career points and 419 career rebounds. She had her streak of four straight double-doubles stopped today.
Head coach Mike Llanas is approaching 200 career wins. Today's victory was No. 196 overall, 84 of which have come in OCCAC play.
The Express, with their 19th win today, puts them one victory away from their 4th straight season of 20 or more wins. It would also mark the sixth season in the past seven in which they accomplished that feat, as well.
Today's win was the third straight for the Express and their fifth in the past six games.