By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Cleveland, Ohio---Denissa Sly (Northmont/Englewood, Ohio) scored 15 points to lead seven players in double figures as the No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team remained undefeated with a 103-55 win over Cuyahoga Community College on the road this evening.
With the win, Owens is now 22-0 overall and 9-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will be back in action on Saturday at home against Hocking College starting at 1 p.m. Cuyahoga fell to 15-5 overall (6-3 OCCAC).
Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.), who had previously broken the program's career steals record, had seven tonight to break the program's single season record previously held by Lakyn Gulley (103, 2015-16). Bethea now sits at 108 this year.
Tonight's game was essentially over after a first quarter in which Owens outscored Cuyahoga 38-11. In those opening 10 minutes, Owens shot 13-for-14 from the field, including a 4-for-4 performance from 3-point range, and made all eight of its free throws. Meanwhile, the Owens defense held Cuyahoga to a 3-for-17 performance from the field and forced nine turnovers.
Owens led from start to finish. Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) scored the game's opening basket, and five minutes later Sly got a steal and dished to Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio) for a layup and an 18-5 lead.
Sly converted a pair of free throws with 2:12 left in the quarter to give Owens a 20-point lead. Owens closed the quarter on a 12-1 run, which included two free throws from Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll/Hammond, Ind.) to finish the half.
Mossing added a jumper with 6:21 left in the half to give Owens its first 30-point lead at 51-19. Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) and Bethea each hit shots over the next minute to keep the lead at 31.
A three-point play from Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) with 2:36 left pushed the lead to 32. In the final 20 seconds, Pennington made two more free throws, picked up a steal and hit a layup on another steal and assist from Bethea just before the buzzer to give Owens a 61-25 lead at the break.
Pennington made a layup with 5:49 left in the third as Owens took its first 40-point lead. A layup from Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio) put Owens on the brink of the century mark with 3:18 left, and Mossing's layup with 2:46 left made it 101-51.
Owens led by as many as 52 following a layup from Sly with 1:53 left before Cuyahoga scored the game's final four points.
Outside of her 15 points, Sly added four assists, two steals and two rebounds for Owens, which shot 38-for-66 (57.6 percent) from the field. Roseboro finished second in scoring with 13, while adding four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Pennington added 12 points and five assists. Frost, Reese and Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) each had 11 points, and Bethea chipped in 10 points and five assists along with her seven steals.
Outside of those players, Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) had five points and four assists, Mossing had nine points and two steals, and Kaylah Ivey (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) had six points, a game-high 12 rebounds and two blocks.
Cuyahoga, which finished 20-for-75 (26.7 percent) from the field, 1-for-22 (4.5 percent) from 3-point range and 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the foul line, was led by Darian Carter's 17 points and 11 rebounds. Daesia Avery added 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals before fouling out late.
NOTES
Owens has now won 36 straight regular season games dating back to Jan. 6 of last year, and the team also pushed the program's regular season conference winning streak to 42, which dates back to Feb. 8, 2014.
Reese now sits at 785 career points after tonight. She passed Bridget Buss (779, 2004-06) and is now 11 points from passing Tammy Murphy (795, 1996-98) for 13th place on the career scoring list.
Owens now leads the nation in the following team stats - points per game, total rebounds per game, offensive rebounds per game and total field goals made.