By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) had 19 points, while Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) had a triple-double as the No. 6 Express women's basketball team upended Edison Community College 80-57 in the SHAC tonight.
The Express offense played somewhat sloppy as they produced 24 turnovers, and Edison's Brooke Richards had a game-high 23 points, but the Express made enough plays to pull out their 18th straight win.
In doing so, this year's squad tied the 2009-10 team for the longest winning streak in program history. They will look for No. 19 on Saturday in a tough road matchup against Columbus State Community College at 1 p.m.
Tonight's game saw the Express gradually increase their lead in the first half. Carter hit a running lay-up from the right side and Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) hit a lay-up to give the Express an early 4-0 lead.
Later, the Express stretched their lead to eight on a Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.) jumper with 11:05 left. After a lay-up from Richards, the Express went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-11 lead with 7:46 left. They would take a lead of the same margin into the break, up 35-22 as Eboni Adams (Maple Heights/Cleveland, Ohio) hit a 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired.
Richards opened the second half with four of her team's first six points to pull the Chargers within 37-28 at the 18:29 mark. However, Wright buried back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Express up 43-28 moments later.
From there, Edison never pulled closer than 12, while the Express stretched their lead to as many as 23.
Richards, despite her game-high 23 points, took 24 shots to get her total while finishing 8-for-24 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
Carter had a solid all-around game with a team-high 19 points, as well as six rebounds, five assists and one steal. Adams was just behind her with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and one block.
Tunstall added 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
It was Wright, however, who had the best all-around game. The sophomore guard/forward had 13 points, a team-high 10 rebounds, a team-high 10 assists and one steal. She finished 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-7 from 3-point range.
LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) led the Express bench in scoring with seven, while adding seven rebounds and one assist.
As a team, the Express shot 33-for-75 (44 percent) from the field, compared to a 22-for-74 (29.7 percent) performance from Edison's offense. The Chargers also struggled from 3-point range as they finished 1-for-9, while the Express finished 6-for-18 (33.3 percent). Both teams finished 80 percent from the foul line.
One of the big differences in the game, aside from shooting percentage, was the rebounding advantage the Express held. They had 59 total rebounds (18 offensive) compared to 38 rebounds (13 offensive) for Edison.
Aside from Richards, Tori Purk tallied a double-double for Edison with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She had almost half (six) of her team's 13 offensive boards.
The Express improved to 18-1 with the win. Their only loss was a two-point defeat to the current No. 3 team in the nation, Kirkwood Community College, in the season opener. It is their best 19 game start in program history.