By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Mt. Carmel, Ill.---Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) poured in a game-high 18 points to lead the No. 16 Owens Community College women's basketball team past Olney Central College 91-61 in the second day of the Wabash Valley Classic today.

With the win, the Owens women improved to 1-1 following their 68-61 loss to NJCAA Division I No. 19 Wabash Valley College last night.

In today's game, Olney Central opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, to which their coach yelled "All day!" He was right, but talking about the wrong team as Owens responded with the game's next 11 points and never looked back.

Six different players combined for that 11-0 run before the first basket by Reynolds, who hit a 3-pointer to give Owens a 14-5 lead with 14:09 left. A ensuing jumper from Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) gave Owens a 12-point lead with 12:53 left.

Later, Owens stretched the lead to 17 on two occasions before taking its largest lead of the half at 49-27 with 1:23 left on back-to-back free throws from Sierra Harley (Africentric/Columbus, Ohio).

In the first half, Owens outscored Olney in the paint by 14, had a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers and got 39 points from its bench.

The closest Olney got in the second half was 19 with 17:49 remaining, and Owens would eventually push the lead to as many as 32 twice down the stretch. The first came on a jumper in the paint by Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) with 4:45 left. The second came on a free throw by Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) with 1:15 remaining.

In the second half, Owens outscored Olney in the paint 22-12 and in points off turnovers 17-8, although Olney held a 23-18 advantage in bench points.

Reynolds got her 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including a 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range. Three others scored in double figures, though, including Harley, Tunstall and Demy Whitaker (Notre Dame Academy/Toledo, Ohio).

Harley finished 6-for-8 from the field (2-for-4 from 3-point range) for 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Tunstall had 14 points, a team-high seven steals, six rebounds, three assists and one block. Whitaker had 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting (2-for-6 from 3-point range), four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Williams had a team-high six assists to go along with eight points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals. LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) just missed her second straight double-double by finishing with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

For the second straight game, Owens struggled from the free throw line finishing 12-for-22 as a team, while Olney kept themselves from getting beat even worse with a great performance from the free throw line (29-for-37, 78.4 percent). Nearly half of their points came from the free throw line.

Shelbi Samsil led Olney Central with 14 points, while Sarah Jones had seven rebounds.

Owens finished 35-for-75 (46.7 percent) from the field and 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) from 3-point range, while Olney finished just 14-for-60 (23.3 percent) overall from the field and 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Olney, who dropped a close game to Dyersburg on Friday, fell to 0-2 with the loss.

Despite Carlisle's Double-Double, No. 16 Owens Falls 68-61 To Wabash Valley In Season Opener

On Friday, Owens scored the game's first five points, held a 21-11 lead in the first half and fought back from an 8-point second half deficit to lead by five with 4:13 left, but Wabash Valley finished the game on a 13-1 run to hand Owens its second straight season opening defeat (Kirkwood, 2013-14).

Carlisle's offensive rebound and put-back gave Owens a 60-55 lead with 4:13 left, but Wabash Valley got a second chance 3-pointer from Carley Childress and another 3-pointer by Ellie Fruit to take a 61-60 lead with 2:15 left.

Harley responded by making 1-for-2 at the foul line to tie the game 12 seconds later, but Wabash Valley scored the game's final seven points - a 3-pointer from Fruit and four free throws.

Fruit hurt Owens all game. The sophomore with a lefty stroke led Wabash Valley back from its 10-point deficit in the first half and finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range.

Wabash Valley also vastly outperformed Owens at the foul line, which was one major storyline in the game. Owens finished just 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) while Wabash Valley was 20-for-30 (66.7 percent). The other major storyline was turnovers as both teams combined for 46 turnovers, led by 25 from Owens. In fact, five players had at least three turnovers for Owens.

Fruit finished with a game-high 18 points and was her team's lone double figure scorer. Meanwhile, three players hit double figures for Owens - led by Harley's 17. She finished 6-for-11 from the field (2-for-4 from 3-point range) and 3-for-4 from the foul line. Additionally, Harley scored the game's first five points.

Whitaker added 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting (3-for-7 from 3-point range), along with five rebounds, a team-high four steals and one assist. Carlisle had 15 points, a team-high 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

Tunstall struggled with foul trouble and from the field. She finished with nine rebounds, but was 1-for-5 from the field and 1-for-5 from the foul line.

The bench for Owens combined for shoot 2-for-17 from the field (0-for-9 from 3-point range) and 1-for-4 from the foul line. 

Zhana Randolph (Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich.), a sophomore guard, was injured early in the second half and did not return. She finished with five points while shooting a perfect 2-for-2 from the field. 

Notes

Owens lost 65-63 to Kirkwood Community College in last year's season-opener, but rattled off 18 straight wins after that.

This weekend marked the first time Owens has faced Wabash Valley or Olney in program history.

Owens is now 1-1 overall heading into next Wednesday's 7 p.m. road tilt at Glen Oaks Community College.

Through two games, Harley leads the team in scoring at 16.5 per game. Whitaker (14/game) and Carlisle (11.5/game) are also averaging double figures. Carlisle is also leading the team in rebounding at 11.5 per game.

You can watch replays, commercial free of each game by visiting www.ihigh.com/owenscc