Ricketts Leads Express Past No. 20 Cincinnati State 82-65, Into First Place Tie

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, OH---Emma-Jean Ricketts poured in 21 points as the Express women's basketball team made some key halftime adjustments in an 82-65 win over No. 20 Cincinnati State in the SHAC today.

Down 36-30 at halftime, the Express turned up the defensive intensity, attacked the basket and outscored the Surge 52-29 in the second half.

In that half alone, Uniqua Mitchell and Karahn Scott had 12 points apiece, while Ricketts had 10 of her 21. Nandi Taylor added nine points and five assists, as well, in the half.

As a team, the Express shot 20-for-30 (66.7 percent) overall in the second half, 3-for-8 from 3-point range and 9-for-16 from the foul line. In the first half, the Express shot only 11-for-33 (33.3 percent) overall and 1-for-9 from 3-point range.

For the most part, the Surge controlled the first half. The led 4-0 early before Ricketts hit a 3-pointer and a lay-up to give the Express a 5-4 lead. Later, with 10:59 left in the half, Mackenzie Heacock hit a jumper to give the Express a four point lead.

That's when the Surge went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-15 lead with 9:09 left. The Express answered back with another 5-0 run to take their final lead of the half at 20-19 with 7:27 left.

Kindsay Brandt then delivered lay-ups at the beginning and end of a 10-2 run that gave the Surge a 29-22 lead with 4:22 left. Later, with 1:04 left, the Surge would take a 36-28 lead - their largest of the game. 

Each team would trade blows offensively in the second half before the Express tied the game up at 52-all with 11:10 left on a lay-up from Taylor.

Scott, Mitchell and Taylor then hit three straight lay-ups to give the Express the lead for good at 58-52 with 9:57 left. The Surge cut the deficit to two with 8:33 left, but the Express went on a 10-2 run to take a 68-58 lead with 5:35 left. 

The Express closed the game on a 7-0 run to capture the 82-65 win.

Along with her 21 points, Ricketts added team-highs in rebounds (9) and steals (4). Mitchell added 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Scott had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Taylor added 12 points and a team-high five assists in the game, while Mackenzie Heacock chipped in nine points (five in the second half).

Defensively, the Express held the nation's top overall rebounder and top offensive rebounder, Cameron Vaughn, to a season-low six rebounds. Five of those came late in the game. She is the reigning NJCAA D-II Player of the Week after pulling down 33 rebounds in two games last week.

Desiree Ash led the Surge offensively with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Hannah Stephenson had 11 points. Stephenson scored the first seven points of the game for the Surge.

Nobody else scored in double figures for the Surge - Vaughn was the closest with nine points. Moreover, Vaughn's six rebounds tied her for the team-high.

Notes

The Express are now 21-7 overall and 8-2 in the OCCAC, while Cincinnati State falls to 23-5 overall and 8-2 in the OCCAC. Each team has two games remaining in OCCAC play. 

The Express will now take on Edison Community College at 5:30 p.m. in the SHAC on Wednesday.

Today's win was the fifth straight for the Express and their seventh in the past eight games. Meanwhile, the Surge had their six game winning streak snapped today.

Head coach Mike Llanas is approaching 200 career wins. Today's victory was No. 198 overall, 86 of which have come in OCCAC play.

Mitchell now has 618 career points. Today was her 16th game in double figure scoring this year, while her streak of double digit rebounding games came to an end at three today.

Ricketts now has 866 career points. She is close to becoming only the 10th Express women's player to score 500 points in a single season and moved into eighth place on the career scoring list today. She passed Stephanie Galant (856 points) today.

Heacock now has 548 career points. 

Scott has 461 career points and 441 career rebounds. She has recorded a double-double in five of the past seven games.