Toledo, Ohio---Sierra Harley (Africentric/Columbus, Ohio) scored a season-high 24 points, while Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) made some key second half baskets to lead the No. 5 Owens Community College women's basketball team to a 90-79 win over Roane State Community College tonight.
With the win, the Owens women picked up its 15th straight win on the season and improved to 15-1 overall, while Roane State, a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I team, fell to 11-5 overall.
Early on, Owens struggled to find itself offensively, but a pressing defense helped them to only a one point deficit at 10-9 with 14:14 left. However, Harley hit a straightaway 3-pointer to start a 12-0 run that gave her team a 21-10 lead with 10:58 left. Reynolds capped the run with a 3-pointer from the right corner.
Later, a small run from Roane State pulled them within six at 27-21, but Owens closed the half by outscoring their opponent 22-4.
At the break, Owens dominated statistically despite seeing the lead change eight times. They had more points in the paint (28-14), more points off turnovers (18-4) and more second chance points (14-2). Additionally, the bench held a 19-8 advantage over Roane State in scoring.
In the second half, though, Roane State came out like a different team. They were efficient offensively while cutting the lead to 17 with 16:40 left and nine with 10:58 left.
Harley, however, hit a lay-up from the left side, and Reynolds followed with a 3-point play and Owens eventually pushed its lead up to 18 with 8:23 remaining.
Following a mid-range jumper in transition from Demy Whitaker (Notre Dame Academy/Toledo, Ohio) that put her team up 85-63 with 4:07 left, Owens emptied its bench and Roane State closed the game on a 16-5 run.
In the second half, Roane State picked up its bench scoring and out-paced Owens 32-19 in that category. Moreover, they outscored Owens 13-4 in points off turnovers. The second half also saw many fewer second chance points for Owens (3), although Roane State only had two.
Harley, who struggled offensively at the beginning of the game, ended up 9-for-15 from the field while totaling reaching her season-high in scoring, while adding seven assists and three steals. Tonight marked the third straight game that she scored 20 or more points, and it was the sixth time this year she achieved that mark.
Reynolds finished 6-for-7 from the field to finish with 14 points off the bench. She totaled nine points during a five minute stretch in the middle of the second half when Roane State was continually cutting into its deficit.
LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.), who nearly had a double-double in the first half, added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Whitaker had 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and one steal.
Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio), who struggled from the field (2-for-9), contributed in other ways. She finished with five points, seven rebounds, four steals, three blocks and one assist.
Cayla Oglesby led Roane State with 22 points and seven rebounds. Shauntae Brown, who terrorized the Owens defense in the second half, finished with 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Sydney Marek was the third player in double figures as she totaled 10 points and five rebounds.
Owens will be back in action on Saturday at Sinclair Community College. The conference opener is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio.
Notes
Since Feb. 2, 2013, the Owens women's basketball team is 53-5 overall including postseason games. In that stretch, the team has accumulated a 9-game winning streak, an 8-game winning streak, a school record 19-game winning streak and a current 15 game winning streak.
With tonight's win, the Owens women have also won 37 straight regular season games at home. They will take a seven game regular season conference winning streak into their next game Saturday.