Miami University
Chicago State
RedHawks Top Chicago State, 74-60
12/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio--Senior forward Lillian Pitts recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 15 points and 11 rebounds, while junior guard Courtney Osborn tied a school record with a career-high 13 assists as the Miami University women's basketball team downed Chicago State, 74-60, on Wednesday evening at Millett Hall.
The RedHawks picked up their fifth-straight win to improve to 9-3 on the season, while the Cougars dropped to 1-13. Miami also improved to 8-0 at home this season and has won nine straight at Millett Hall dating back to last season.
Senior guard Maggie Boyer posted her sixth career 20-point effort and first of the season with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including four triples. For the game, the RedHawks shot 44.9 percent while limiting to Chicago State to just 38.6 percent shooting, including 32.3 percent in the first half.
Miami used a 16-2 run from the 14:40 mark to 8:16 to play in the opening half to pull out to a 17-point lead, 26-9. Sophomore guard Hannah Robertson ignited the scoring flurry with a pair of layups, while Boyer drained back-to-back 3-pointers to further spark the run. The RedHawks continued to lead by 17 points, 28-11, with 7:11 to play, but the Cougars rattled off six unanswered points to close within 11 points with 5:36 remaining, 28-17.
Miami again extended its lead to 17 points with 12 seconds left in the half off a sophomore guard Haley Robertson layup to give Miami a 41-24 advantage. A foul with a second left sent Chicago State to the line, and Janay Dockery sunk both charity tosses to put the score at 41-26 heading into the half.
Another pair of Boyer 3-pointers, two junior forward Kirsten Olowinski layups and a 3-point play by Pitts made up a 13-2 Miami surge to open the second half and hand the RedHawks a 26-point lead with 17:04 to play, 54-28, their largest advantage of the night.
Chicago State used a 13-4 spurt over a 5:11 stretch to cut the RedHawk lead to 17 points with 11:21 remaining, 58-41. Miami pushed the lead back to 20 but the Cougars further cut the gap to 12 points with 2:08 to play, 72-60, after Dockery scored six points as part of a 10-2 run starting with just under five minutes to play. CSU did not score again, however, as Pitts added a pair of free throws in the closing minutes for the 74-60 final.
Olowinksi added 14 points and eight rebounds for the `Hawks while Osborn finished with seven points in addition to her school record for assists. Hannah Robertson tied a career-high with seven assists. Dockery led the Cougars with 23 points.
Miami returns to action at Robert Morris at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2.
