Hurricanes blow past CSUB women in second half
| Sunday, Nov 15 2009 08:00 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Nov 15 2009 10:55 PM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian CSUB's #24 Phynique Allen takes it down court after a steal from Miami's #42 Shenise Johnson in their game Sunday.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian CSUB's #33 Tamiko Davis reaches for a rebound as Miami's # 1 Riquna Williams brings it down in their game Sunday.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian CSUB's Nikki Leon goes for a layup as Miami's #33 Diane Barnes defends in their game Sunday.
A Hurricane blew into Icardo Center and the Cal State Bakersfield women's basketball team couldn't weather the storm Sunday afternoon.
A one-point game at halftime, Miami sophomore Riquna Williams nailed five 3-pointers during a four minute stretch and the Roadrunners never recovered in a 111-93 loss to the Hurricanes.
"No. 1 (Williams) was a category-5 hurricane," 'Runners coach Tim La Kose said. "She just went ballistic on us from outside and that was the difference in the game."
The 18-point defeat was the worst home loss in CSUB's history, topping a 112-96 loss to Chico State in 2005. It was also the most points given up by the 'Runners since that game.
"It was a one-point game at the half and they were getting most of their points in the paint," La Kose said. "We tried to address that and to minimize those opportunities for them, and when we did that we were successful. That was our mind set coming out of halftime."
Williams obviously had other ideas. She finished with a game-high 30 points, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from long range. She opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the baseline, and then sank another from the opposite baseline a minute later. She followed with a pair of 24-footers from each wing and capped the exhibition with a pull-up 3 to give Miami (2-0) a 69-55 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.
CSUB (0-2) responded with a few runs of its own and eventually cut the Hurricanes' lead to 82-72 on back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Amber Williams with 9:50 to play. Williams was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points.
But Miami had an answer each time, beating the Roadrunners up the floor for transition baskets and following up missed shots thanks to a 54-33 rebounding advantage, including 24 offensive boards.
Miami's other Williams, Shanel, countered with a 3-pointer and Morgan Stroman scored seven straight points inside to help the Hurricanes build their biggest lead, 97-76, with 5:23 left.
"Tonight we scored 93 points which should be good enough to win," La Kose said. "We just have to get stops on the defensive end, and especially rebounds. We just got pounded down there and I think that's a tribute to Miami's size and physicality. They really hurt us inside."
Another Williams, Katie, also had a big game for the 'Runners. The 5-foot-9 senior scored a team-high 27 points, and also had seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. It was the 19th straight game that Williams has scored in double figures. Her backcourt mate, Phynique Allen added 20 points, four assists and three steals, and Kelley Tarver and Nikki Leon score 11 apiece, but it wasn't nearly enough.
"We were just trying to get it back one point at a time, you can't get it back all the time," Katie Williams said. "We just tried to get it back little by little to get back into the game."
Sophomore Shenise Johnson nearly had a triple-double, running Miami's offense to the tune of 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Stroman and Charmaine Clark each scored 17 points.
"Our goal is to become a top Division I program and Montana State (a 78-76 loss Friday) is one of the top teams in the Big Sky (conference) and Miami is from the ACC," La Kose said. "They have two of the top guards in the country. They just crushed Riverside the other night. So we're heading in the right direction. We just have to improve our defense to get to that level."
