By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Kalamazoo Valley Community College, the nation's 12th ranked team, had no answer for Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) in the second half of a 77-70 win for the No. 9 Express women's basketball team today in the finale of the Turkey Shootout in the SHAC.
In the second half alone, Carter scored 22 of her season and game-high 28 points, while shooting 7-for-10 overall, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line. For the game, Carter finished 9-for-17 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 8-for-9 from the foul line. The sophomore point guard added two rebounds and two assists in the game.
The Express opened the game with a follow-up jumper in the paint from LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) before KVCC answered with six straight points. Following an Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Detroit, Mich.) lay-up for the Express, KVCC scored four more points to take a 10-4 lead with 15:35 left in the first half.
Shortly thereafter, the Express took control of the game and never trailed again. KVCC's Kelsey Adamski made a jumper with 13:36 left in the half that gave her team a 12-8 lead. Starting with a 3-pointer from Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.), the Express then went on a 13-0 run that gave them a 21-12 lead with 8:48 left in the half.
The run, which was capped by back-to-back layups from Eboni Adams (Maple Heights/Cleveland, Ohio), was followed by a mini-run from KVCC that cut the Express lead to 26-22 with 3:28 left in the half. Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.) responded with a 3-pointer, which was followed by a 3-point play from Carter and a jumper from Wright that gave the Express a 34-24 lead at halftime.
In the second half, thanks to plenty of clutch shots and free throws from Carter, the Express pushed their lead to 66-51 with 6:43 left. During the half's first 13 plus minutes, the Express never trailed by fewer than seven points, but KVCC didn't quit as they went on a 12-3 run that cut their deficit to 69-63 with 2:47 left in the game.
Carter answered with a drive in the paint, where she was fouled and converted two free throws to quiet KVCC's momentum.
In fact, the Express did not score a field goal over game's final 6:43 following Carter's jumper that put the Express up 15. After their lead was cut to six, the Express finished 8-for-12 from the foul line to close out the game.
Carter wasn't the only one scoring for the Express as Wright (13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal) and Maura Hackney (11 points, four rebounds) also hit double-figures.
Hackney, a freshman forward, helped the Express bench outscore KVCC's bench 23-13 as she set a new season-high in scoring for herself. She finished 5-for-8 from the field, while three of her rebounds came on the offensive end.
Tunstall continued her streak of at least three offensive rebounds in every game as she totaled nine rebounds (five offensive), along with four points and one steal in 20 minutes before fouling out.
Motley, who continued her strong play recently, had a team-high five assists, along with seven points, six rebounds and four steals. She finished an efficient 2-for-3 overall (1-for-1 from 3-point range) and 2-for-3 from the foul line.
Adams, who struggled from the field (3-for-15), still produced seven points, seven rebounds (three offensive), two assists, two steals and a team-high four blocks.
KVCC's Brooke Martin did her best to try and keep up with Carter in the second half as she had 12 points and four rebounds in the half alone. She finished with a team-high 14 points, along with Mallory Sewell. It was Sewell who controlled play for KVCC early in the game.
Also scoring in double figures for KVCC was Adamski (12) and Allison Kirk (11). They were led in rebounds by Sewell with 10.
As a team, the Express were outshot from the field as they finished 25-for-72 (34.7 percent) compared to 25-for-58 (43.1 percent) for KVCC. The Express out-performed KVCC from the 3-point line, however, as they were 7-for-20 (35 percent) compared to 1-for-6 (16.7 percent) for KVCC. The two teams were pretty comparable from the foul line - 19-for-29 (65.5 percent) for KVCC and 20-for-27 (74.1 percent) for the Express.
With the loss, KVCC dropped to 6-2, while the Express improved to 11-1. With the win today, the Express have now won 11 straight after a season-opening, two-point loss on the road to Kirkwood Community College.
During their win streak, the Express have knocked off No. 10 Monroe College, No. 12 KVCC and No. 18 Lake Michigan College. They will next play, at home, against Kirtland Community College on Dec. 7 at 3 p.m.
Notes
Carter is now averaging a team-high 17.8 points this year, while shooting a team-high 41.7 percent from the field. She has scored in double-figures in every game this year, while today was her fourth game with at least 20 points in a game. Today was also her third game this year in which she shot 50 percent or better from the field.
Motley set season-highs today in steal and assists, while coming one short of tying her season-high in rebounds.
Adams quadrupled her season block total today. In fact, all five of her blocks came this weekend. She played a season-high 31 minutes today, and she produced her seventh game this year with at least two steals.