Hall Makes History As The No. 8 Express Defeat Cuyahoga 72-56, Set Up Showdown With No. 2 Cincinnati State

Aja Hall became only the 10th Express women's basketball player to score 800 career points in tonight's win over Cuyahoga. She finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Photo by Seth Foley
Aja Hall became only the 10th Express women's basketball player to score 800 career points in tonight's win over Cuyahoga. She finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Photo by Seth Foley

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, OH---The No. 8 Express women's basketball team overcame a sluggish start, led Cuyahoga by 17 at the half, and cruised to a 72-56 win in the SHAC tonight while Aja Hall (Fostoria/Fostoria, OH) made history.

The sophomore forward became only the 10th Express women's basketball player to eclipse the 800 career point mark as she finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in 28 minutes. She was 7-for-14 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line. The one three pointer she made came late in the second half and pushed her past Tammy Murphy's 795 point mark and into 10th place on the career scoring list. She now has 803 points.

Aside from Hall, Emma-Jean Ricketts (Anthony Wayne/Waterville, OH) had 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals, while Hailey Galvan (Archbold/Archbold, OH) had a nice game with 10 points, five rebounds and five blocks.

Kieona Foster (Shawnee/Lima, OH) gave another all-around performance with eight points, three rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Owens shot 26-for-61 overall including 5-for-12 from three point range, while Cuyahoga shot 21-for-66 overall including an 0-for-6 performance from the three point line. Additionally, Owens shot 15-for-19 from the foul line, while Cuyahoga shot just 14-for-23.

The Express were outrebounded by Cuyahoga 44 to 42 overall (23 to 16 on the offensive glass), and had more turnovers (25 to 24), but had higher totals in assists (21 to 12), blocks (7 to 6), steals (15 to 12), points in the paint (34 to 32), points off turnovers (25 to 24), second chance points (9 to 7) and bench points (22 to 18).

The score was tied three times and the lead changed twice. Owens held their largest lead of 22 with 4:46 remaining in the first half, while Cuyahoga had their only lead with 17:11 remaining in the first half at two points.

Cuyahoga was led by Jene'A Purdue and Danielle Williams. Purdue had 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block, while Williams had 12 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists. Wyanna Leygion added nine points and eight rebounds.

The No. 8 Express (17-3, 3-0 OCCAC) will now take on No. 2 Cincinnati State (16-0, 2-0 OCCAC) on Saturday in the SHAC beginning at 1 p.m.