CHICAGO – Career-high outputs from seniors Lindzy Cox and JayShari Chears were not enough in a close contest between the Roosevelt women's basketball team and visiting Wilberforce (Ohio), as the Bulldogs held on to a late lead against the Lakers for a 93-87 decision at the Goodman Center on Tuesday afternoon.
Cox led all scorers with a career-best 28 points, her seventh 20-point game in the last eight games, while Chears smashed her previous career best of 19 with a 25-point showing for the Lakers (2-7).
Rookie MicQuasha Riddle dished out a career-best 12 assists, while Cearrah Huddleston, who celebrated a birthday on Tuesday along with Chears, added a career-high 12 rebounds.
Ashley Smoldt tallied 11 points off the bench.
LaTyrah Beasley led the Bulldogs (6-4) with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
In a back-and-forth game that featured 21 lead changes and 10 ties, the Lakers shot better than 50 percent from the floor but sent Wilberforce to the line 24 times, where the guests made all but one charity shot.
The game was deadlocked at 65 heading into the fourth, and the Lakers took a six-point lead with 4:24 on the clock when Wilberforce started to chip away. Eventually the visitors reclaimed the lead and went up four on two Beasley free throws with exactly one minute left in regulation.
Cox drove to the lane and scooped up a layup off the glass that went in to make it a two-point game, and the Lakers' defense created a turnover as Chears stole the ball and a timeout was called by the Lakers with 13 ticks left to give the hosts a chance to tie or take the lead.
But Roosevelt could not inbound the ball and was called for a five-second count, turning the ball back over to Wilberforce and forcing the Lakers to send the guests to the line, where they continued their strong free throw shooting to ice the game.
Roosevelt gets a break for the holiday before returning to action next week at Governors State on Dec. 4.
MicQuasha Riddle looks to pass and aid one of the 12 Roosevelt buckets she assisted on versus Wilberforce.
(Photo: Danny Carlino)
