By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) led seven players in double figures as the No. 3 Owens Community College women's basketball team routed Lansing Community College 107-55 in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC) on Tuesday to earn head coach Michael Llanas his 300th career victory.
With the win, Owens has now won 20 consecutive regular season games dating back to January of last season. They are also 60-1 at home since February of 2012. Llanas, who was already the program's all-time wins leader, improved to 300-96 overall in 12 plus seasons. He is averaging nearly 25 wins per season in his career and has led the program to at least 25 or more wins in each of the past seven seasons.
Owens is now 6-0 overall this year, and they have won those games by an average of 49 points per contest. They will be back in action against No. 15 Schoolcraft College at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday at home.
Early on Tuesday night, both teams traded baskets, which led to a 9-9 tie with 5:22 left in the first quarter. A 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) then gave Owens a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Kamryn Troike (St. Wendelin/Fostoria, Ohio) and Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) combined for the final eight points of the quarter as Owens took a 32-17 lead. They scored 23 points over the final five minutes.
Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio), who started the second quarter with a jumper, buried a 3-pointer to give Owens a 25 point lead with 5:59 left in the half. Lansing answered Mossing's 3-pointer with a jumper from Kelsey Finch, but Owens responded with a 12-0 run to take a 58-23 lead with 2:49 left.
Kaylah Ivey (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) capped the run with a layup. Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) then closed the half with a 3-pointer via a Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) pass to give Owens a 34-point margin.
A 13-2 run to open the second half pushed the lead to 45. During the run, Owens shot 3-for-4 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line. The lead would then rise to as many as 47 on a Mossing steal and fast break layup with 3:10 left, but Lansing closed the quarter on a 6-0 run.
Finch opened the fourth quarter with a layup before Owens went on a 9-0 run to push the lead up to 48 with 6:21 left. Cowan capped the run with her third 3-pointer of the game.
Two minutes later, Williams made a layup as the lead jumped to 51. Denissa Sly (Northmont/Englewood, Ohio) made a 3-pointer from the left corner to put Owens over the century mark.
Haley Pickard (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) made one of two free throws with 58 seconds left to make sure every Owens player had at least one point for the fifth time in six games this year. All but one player scored in the other game.
Reese led Owens with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while adding six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Bethea, Williams and Roseboro each added 12 apiece on a combined 13-for-23 shooting, while Cowan added 11 points. Troike and Mossing each had 10 apiece, as well.
Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll Institute/Hammond, Ind.), who finished just two points shy of becoming the eighth player in double figures, tied Roseboro and Bethea for the team-high in steals with three. Troke had a team-high four blocks, and Bethea had a team-high five assists. Troike also led the team in rebounds with eight.
Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio), who missed the team's last game against Grand Rapids due to the flu, returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday. She finished with just two points, but also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
As a team, Owens finished 36-for-69 (52.2 percent) from the field and 11-for-25 (44 percent) from the 3-point line. They also made 24-for-30 from the foul line.
Notes
Reese now has 566 career points. She has passed Jolene Brooks (535, 1996-99), Erin Gallagher (536, 2000-02), Sierra Harley (541, 2014-15), Melanie Schroeder (551, 2006-08), Sarah Moore (556, 2003-06) and Melanie Bouchard (557, 1999-2001) on the career scoring list over the past week. She is currently three points away from passing Tatyana Reynolds (568, 2014-16) for 33rd on the list.
Mossing's 10 points represents a season-high...Cowan continued her streak of scoring in double digits to open her collegiate career to seven straight...Roseboro reached double digits for the first time since the season opener on Nov. 1 when she scored 13...Troike recorded her third double digit scoring game this year, and she has done so in 15 minutes of less in each of those games...Williams recorded a new season-high in scoring, topping her 11-point effort on Nov. 18...Bethea now has at least six points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in all but one game this year. She tied her season-high in assists.
Owens now has 10 players averaging at least six points per game this year, and Mossing is 0.3 points per game away from becoming No. 11.
As a team, Owens set a new season-high for 3-point field goal percentage at 44 percent on Tuesday, topping the previous high of 38.9 percent on Nov. 9. They also recorded the team's second highest free throw percentage and field goal percentage this year.
Owens is now averaging 94.3 points per game this year, while holding opponents to just 45.3 per contest.