By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Piqua, Ohio---Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) poured in 20 points to lead the No. 5 Express women's basketball team to an 86-67 win over Edison Community College on the road tonight.
Early on, Tunstall scored seven points to give the Express a 9-3 lead with 16:51 remaining in the first half.
The Chargers made an 11-5 run to pull within 16-14 with 12:15 left. LaKayra Carlisle (Pershing/Detroit, Mich.) answered with a lay-up on an assist from Paige Wright (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) to start a 19-8 run that gave the Express a 35-22 lead. Wright capped the run with a jumper at the 4:41 mark.
Brooke Richards of Edison then converted a 3-point play to start a 10-2 run that pulled her team within three with 1:04 left in the half. She closed the run with two free throws, as well.
Zhana Randolph (Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich.) responded for the Express, though, as she closed the half with five straight points, including a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Express a 42-34 lead at the break.
Wright and Kamilah Carter (Pioneer/Ann Arbor, Mich.) opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to close an 8-3 run that gave the Express a 50-37 lead. The Chargers answered with a 5-0 run to close the gap a little. Later, Terra Vanover made back-to-back free throws to pull her team within seven at the 13:48 mark before the Express started to put the game away.
An 8-0 Express run followed Vanover's free throws before Aaliyah Wise made a jumper to end the run. Kheri Motley (West Bloomfield/West Bloomfield, Mich.) answered with a 3-pointer, which closed a personal 7-0 run by herself, that put the Express up 67-51 with 10:20 left.
The Express led by as many as 21 on two occassions down the stretch. The first came following a 3-pointer from Wright that made it 78-57 and the second came on a Hannah Griffin (Edgerton/Edgerton, Ohio) jumper with 5:05 left that made it 80-59.
An 8-0 Edison run pulled them within 13, but that was as close as they would get. The Express closed the game with six unanswered points.
Tunstall added team-highs in rebounds (14) and steals (4) along with her 20 points. She also had two assists while finishing 9-for-13 from the field. Carter added 16 points, a season-high seven assists and four rebounds.
Wright nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block. In the team's previous matchup against Edison, Wright had a triple-double.
Randolph totaled all 10 of her points off the bench in the first half, while Motley had all seven of her points in the second half off the bench.
Maura Hackney (Edgewood/Middletown, Ohio) led the Express with two blocks, while adding four rebounds off the bench.
Richards led Edison with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while Tori Purk added 18 points, nine rebounds and two assists. That duo combined to shoot 14-for-33 from the field and 10-for-12 from the foul line.
The Express are now 22-2 overall and 8-1 in OCCAC play. With the win, the Express can clinch a share of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) title in Saturday's 5 p.m. home matchup against Columbus State Community College. The Cougars handed the Express their only conference loss a couple weeks ago.
Notes
In two games against Edison this year, Wright has 26 points, 19 rebounds, 18 assists, four steals and one block.
Richards scored 23 points in each of the two regular season matchups against the Express this year.
The Express have now won four straight after their school record tying 18 game win streak was snapped in a Feb. 1 road matchup against Columbus State.
Aside from Richards and Purk, no one else scored more than seven points for Edison.
