CHICAGO – The Judson Eagles came into the Lillian and Larry Goodman Center on Saturday afternoon and stole a close game from the Roosevelt Lakers, defeating the home team 80-79.
Roosevelt (14-8, 7-5 CCAC) held the lead for more than 31 minutes in the game and even led by 12 at one point, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Eagles' furious charge.
The Eagles (13-9, 7-5 CCAC) were led by the hot shooting of Kayla Toussaint. Toussaint came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-11 from long-range.
Eagles sophomore guard Starletta Keene was also impressive in the game. The Kenosha, Wis. native recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Jasmine Albert and Becca Bergman led a quartet of Lakers in double-figures with 17 points apiece. Lindzy Cox contributed 15 off the bench and Chelsey Crippen played arguably her best game of the season for Roosevelt. She finished the ballgame with 16 points and 12 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass.
With the loss, the Lakers drop into a tie with Judson in the conference standings and four different CCAC teams could end the day with a similar 7-5 record.
"This is another one that really hurt," Roosevelt head coach Keisha Newell said after the Lakers' second straight CCAC loss decided by two points or less. "We will get over the hump and continue to learn from these close ones."
The Roosevelt women are back in action on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to IU South Bend for another critical CCAC contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Student Activities Center on the IUSB campus.
For additional information on Roosevelt University athletics, visit the website at www.rooseveltlakers.com.
Quick Hits
--Former Roosevelt greats Casey Davis, Jennie Van Hook and Kiara "Kiki" Towles were in attendance at today's game. The trio is best remembered for their 2010-14 Roosevelt run that included CCAC regular season and tournament titles in 2013 along with two NAIA National Championship appearances (2013-14). Davis, the school's first-ever female All-American and the first All-American of any sport (women's or men's) in modern Roosevelt Athletics history, owns school records for points in a game (51) and a career (2,203), among other marks
--Freshman Ashley Smoldt scored nine points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor
--Roosevelt forced Judson into 18 turnovers, while committing 16 of their own
