By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Springfield, Ohio---Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) scored 19 points as the No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team decimated Clark State Community College 106-17 in record breaking fashion to clinch the conference championship outright for the fifth straight season.
With the win, Owens is now 29-0 overall and 15-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will host a tough Cincinnati State team (24-5, 13-2 OCCAC) next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the regular season finale.
Owens clinched the OCCAC championship outright with the win, and it's the fifth straight year they've done so. In fact, with a win next Saturday, Owens would have three straight seasons with a perfect conference record. They've won 43 straight regular season games dating back to Jan. 6 of last season and 49 straight regular season conference games dating back to Feb. 1, 2014.
The 17 points allowed broke the previous record of 23, which was set on Jan. 11 of this season in a 108-23 win over Lorain County. Defensively, Owens held Clark State to a 6-for-39 (15.4 percent) finish from the field, including a 2-for-22 (9.1 percent) performance from 3-point range. They forced 38 turnovers and held large advantages in paint points (54-6), points off turnovers (58-2), second chance points (29-2) and bench points (45-0).
Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) scored nine of her 11 points in the first quarter as Owens opened up a 19-2 lead through the first six minutes. Reese hit a mid-range jumper with 1:29 left in the quarter to give Owens a 20-point lead, and she hit another jumper in the final minute for a 21-point lead.
Kaylah Ivey's (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) three-point-play, and Brenda Pennington's (Bishop Noll/Hammond, Ind.) jumper pushed the lead to 31 three minutes into the second quarter.
After Clark State's Danyah Barnes banked in a 3-pointer with 6:54 left in the half, Owens went on a 15-0 run that featured points from six different players and six points from Denissa Sly (Northmont/Englewood, Ohio). Up 43, Owens was merely able to outscore Clark State 4-3 the rest of the half to take a 56-11 lead.
In the first half, Owens outscored Clark State 23-0 off turnovers and 18-0 in the paint.
After Clark State's Taylor Johnson scored on a layup to open the second half, Owens scored the next 15 points to open up a 71-13 lead. Reese scored five straight points, and then Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) powered her way to a pair of baskets down low to open the run.
Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio) followed with a layup, and then Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio) drained a 3-pointer before Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) hit a free throw to close the run.
Clark State's Chelsea Daniels ended the run with a jumper with 3:36 left in the quarter, and Owens outscored Clark State 15-1 the rest of the quarter. In fact, following the basket from Daniels, Owens scored 35 of the game's final 37 points.
Reese closed the third quarter with her second 3-pointer as she made multiple 3-pointers in a game for the first time in her career. In the fourth, the lone point Owens allowed came on a free throw from Barnes with 6:28 left.
Owens outscored Clark State 50-6 in the second half. On top of that, they scored more points in each quarter than Clark State did the entire game.
Nobody for Clark State scored more than six points. They were led by Johnson, who totaled six points and four rebounds. Barnes added five points.
Outside of Reese, who also had eight rbounds, three assists and three steals, Bethea and Ivey had 14 points apiece. Ivey also had 12 rebounds to pick up a double-double, while Cowan finished with 11 points and four steals. Sly added 10 points to finish as the fifth and final player in double figures.
Frost and Roseboro each added nine points as everyone scored at least five points for Owens. Defensively, Bethea had a team-high six steals, while Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) had five, along with a game-high two blocks.
NOTES
With her game today, Reese now has 889 career points, which vaults her past Niccole Brown (885, 2003-05) and into eighth place on the career scoring list. Next up on the list is Stacey Weiland (908, 2002-04).
On top of that, Reese now has 652 career rebounds, which is 12 shy of breaking Tammy Murphy's (663, 1996-98) career mark.
Ivey's double-double was her eighth of the season, and it was the 13th time she has recorded at least 10 rebounds in a game.
Owens now has 12 games with at least 100 points this year, which extends a single season record, and they have done so in three consecutive games for the second time this season.