By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Jeryn Reese (Mansfield Senior/Mansfield, Ohio) produced her fourth double-double over the past five games to lead the No. 10 Owens Community College women's basketball team to a 68-65 win over Cincinnati State Technical and Community College this afternoon.
With the win, Owens is now 15-6 overall and 6-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They have won five straight and hold at least a two-game lead on every other team in the conference.
In the first quarter, Owens couldn't get much of anything going offensively as they finished 5-for-20 from the field and committed five turnovers.
Reese's layup with 6:18 left in the quarter gave Owens a 5-4 lead, but Cincinnati State's Chloe Baird scored five straight points as her team led by as many as six before closing the quarter with a 17-13 lead.
Baird then spurred a 5-0 run to open the second, but Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) scored five straight points, including the first 3-pointer of the game for Owens. Dameras Whitlock helped Cincinnati State calm the run as her jumper gave her team an eight point lead with 4:01 left.
Fueled by the offense of Reese and the defense of Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.), Owens closed the half on an 11-0 run to take a 30-27 lead.
Reese scored seven of her team's 11 points during the run and assisted on a layup from Gulley, while Gulley had three steals in three minutes down the stretch before picking up her third foul.
Owens led at the half despite shooting just 12-for-47 overall and 1-for-12 from 3-point range over the first 20 minutes.
In the third quarter, Reese scored her team's first four points, which was followed by a 3-pointer from Gulley and a layup from Ingram to give Owens a 39-29 lead with 6:24 left. Reese assisted on Gulley's 3-pointer, as well, but picked up her third foul with 5:36 left and sat the rest of the quarter.
Cincinnati State took advantage of that and closed the quarter on a 9-0 run. Gulley's layup with 3:26 left allowed Owens to open up a 44-34 lead, but they didn't score the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, Cincinnati State got points from four different players and trailed by just one entering the fourth.
Reese re-entered in the first minute of the fourth quarter and promptly buried a jumper to push the lead to three. Cincinnati State's Kianna Delas, who scored three points in the 9-0 stretch to close the third quarter, answered with a layup to tie the game at 47 with 8:15 left.
Reynolds then made one of the game's biggest shots by draining a 3-pointer with eight minutes left. Her team never trailed again.
Following a Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) jumper with 6:20 left, Ingram converted a 3-point play for a six point lead. Gulley hit another 3-pointer to make it 62-53 with 4:08 left, and then she converted a 3-point play for a 65-56 lead with 3:31 left.
Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) made one of two at the free throw line with 2:02 left for a nine point lead, but Samia Carter spurred a 7-0 run with five points as Owens led by just two with 43 seconds left.
After Owens came up empty on a possession, Cincinnati State's Montrail Roberts missed a jumper in the paint with 12 seconds left. Reese rebounded and made one of two at the free throw line to push the lead to three.
Following a timeout, Baird missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the corner. Reese rebounded the ball and held it until time expired.
Owens finished 25-for-83 (30.1 percent) from the field and 4-for-21 (19 percent) from 3-point range. They also went 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) from the foul line. Cincinnati State wasn't able to get anything going from long range either and finished 3-for-13. They also shot just 20-for-32 from the free throw line.
Reese led Owens with a season-high 25 points in 26 minutes. She added 17 rebounds (nine offensive), three assists and one steal. Ingram also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, and Gulley tallied 13 points, seven steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Cincinnati State was led by Roberts, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Baird added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Delas had 10 off the bench.
With the loss, Cincinnati State fell to 14-7 overall and 5-2 in OCCAC play.
Owens will be back in action on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. matchup against Cuyahoga Community College (4-2 OCCAC).
Notes
After scoring in single digits in six of seven games from Dec. 2-30, including a scoreless game on Dec. 30 vs Palm Beach State, Reese has scored at least 10 over the past five games. She is averaging 19 points and 15.2 rebounds during that stretch.
Reese and Ingram are now tied for first in the conference in rebounds at 14.2 per game.
Ingram has reached double figures in rebounding eight times over the past 10 games. Six of those games were double-doubles.