By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Port Huron, MI - The Owens Express women's basketball team held off a second half rally by homestanding St. Clair County Community College, topping the Skippers, 71-65 Tuesday night.

In the win, Aja Hall (Fostoria/Fostoria, Ohio) continued to inch up the career scoring list.

The sophomore now has 661 career points and moved into 19th place on the career scoring list. She passed Michelle Vorst (648), Brittany Darling and Sparkle Williams (654) and her cousin Tia Simms (659) with her 14 points. She has 189 points this year and is averaging 21 points per game through nine games. Next on the scoring list is Becky Knannlein, who sits at 668 points, followed by Sarah Clark with 689.

The Express held a 17-point lead with 11:19 remaining in the second half, but the Skippers chipped away to make it close. With 3:03 remaining, St. Clair County had cut its deficit to three, but back-to-back layups by Hall and Emma-Jean Ricketts (Anthony Wayne/Waterville, Ohio) helped make sure St. Clair wouldn't get any closer.

Both teams ended up being very close statistically. Owens was 27-for-66 overall from the field compared to 23-for-66 for St. Clair County. Owens was 8-for-20 from 3-point range compared to 7-for-20 for St. Clair County. The Express shot 9-for-16 from the foul line compared to 12-for-18 for the Skippers. Owens outrebounded St. Clair County 45-43, had the same amount of turnovers (19) and the same amount of blocks (7). The Express did have five more assists (19-14) and four more steals (11-7).

Ricketts led the Express in scoring with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. She went 5-for-6 from the foul line while also adding six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block. Mackenzie Heacock (Arlington/Arlington, Ohio) tied Hall for second on the team in scoring with 14 points, while adding five rebounds and two assists.

Uniqua Mitchell (Martin Luther King/Detroit, Mich.) produced the best all-around game statistically for the Express as she had eight points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and three steals. Hailey Galvan (Archbold/Archbold, Ohio) also added three blocks for the Express.

Nikki Heim led St. Clair County with 17 points, which included four 3-pointers. Cianna Peterson and Heidi Highstreet each scored 14 to complement Heim.

Owens is now 7-2 this year. The Express travel to Glen Oaks Community College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup.