CHICAGO – Erin McCaslin matched her own single-game school record with eight 3-point baskets for a game-high 24 points, and the sixth-ranked Roosevelt women's basketball team mimicked McCaslin's hot hand after halftime to ride a strong second-period performance and pull away from pesky Indiana Northwest in an 89-71 victory at the Lillian and Larry Goodman Center on Saturday afternoon.
McCaslin made all eight of her field goals from downtown, missing just three attempts in adding her name once again to the Roosevelt record book, while Maria Tamburrino and Tori Clark each registered double-doubles to keep the Lakers (8-1) unbeaten in four home contests.
Tamburrino had 20 points and 12 boards to go along with seven assists, four blocks and four steals for a majestic all-around game, while Clark scored 10 while pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Casey Davis scored 16 and Gretchen Shirar added 10 off the bench. Becky Williford continued to facilitate the offense nicely with nine assists, leading a charge of 26 assists on 30 made field goals for the Lakers.
Megan Holland led the RedHawks (5-3) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
IU Northwest would not lay down for the nationally-ranked hosts, scoring the game's first five points, nursing a lead almost seven minutes into the game and withstanding a Roosevelt run to keep within striking distance.
It was McCaslin who provided the Lakers with big-time offense in the game's first 20 minutes to help combat the feisty RedHawks, as the senior guard nailed six of nine from downtown before intermission to score 18 points and lead Roosevelt to a five-point lead at the break.
From there the rest of the Roosevelt players caught up to McCaslin's hot shooting standard, teaming up to go on a 29-9 run to put the game in the Lakers' favor with just under six minutes left in regulation. Roosevelt shot 52 percent (16-for-31) in the second half and held IU Northwest in check by limiting the guests to just 12 second-half buckets.
"We expected this to be a tough game," said Roosevelt head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. "IU Northwest is a tough team. Seeing them on film, I didn't think this was going to be an easy game for us, and the first half showed that. They played really good defense on us, we struggled to get some stuff going, but Erin was hot in the first half and continued to shoot that way through the game. Her shooting in the first half really put us in a good position when other kids were struggling to score.
"The second half was really just our half," Scherr-Wells said. "We made a few adjustments on defense, our kids just got a little tougher on defense, and we made the extra pass on offense. I am very happy with our team having 26 assists for the game. A couple of standout performances with Maria and Tori both having double-doubles, and really we just had a lot of good performances from a lot of kids.
"It was just a good team win," concluded Scherr-Wells. "I felt like everyone played well today."
Roosevelt faces Trinity Christian this Tuesday, Nov. 26 in Palos Heights, Ill.
