Basketball Thu Jan 07 2010

Local College Hoops Roundup

By Ken Green

Loyola
Oh, well, time to start another seven-game winning streak. After seeing their victorious run snapped by Detroit, the Loyola men's team (11-3) will try to get things back on track when they begin a three-game road trip tonight at Cleveland State (5-10). It's the Ramblers first road trip since December 20 and not only takes them to CSU, but also Youngstown State Saturday) and UIC on January 15 (OK, it's sort of a road trip).

The Lady Ramblers, meanwhile, host their Cleveland State (6-7) counterparts here at the Gentile Center tonight at 7 p.m., still looking for their first Horizon League win of the season. Loyola (6-7) has lost three of their last four, including a 48-39 defeat at the hands of Valparaiso on Monday, a game in which they show only 26 percent. Loyola next meets Youngstown State at the Gentile Center on Saturday and travel to Ohio on January 14 to meet Wright State.

DePaul
Villanova gave the DePaul men's team a good look at where they are and where they need to be as they gave the Blue Demons a 99-72 thrashing last night to drop DePaul to 7-8 on the season. 'Nova had a 15-point run to open the game and even a double-double by the Blue Demon's Mac Koshwal (17 points, 11 rebounds) nor three other players in double figures could bring them back.

Playing their second overtime game in their last three contests, the DePaul women relied on Sam Quigley's five free throws to ice a 76-70 win over Louisville on Tuesday. The Blue Demons improved to 12-4 as Quigley and Keisha Hamption poured in 22 points each. Felicia Chester added a career-high 16 rebounds. The Blue Demons hit the dusty trail to West Virginia for a Saturday contest before meeting St. John's at home on Jan. 16.

Chicago State
Down by 27 points in the second half, the Chicago State Cougars roared back in their game Wednesday night against Northern Illinois. But forget the fairy-tale ending. CSU came up short as NIU held on to win 99-93 at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center on the CSU campus. The heartbreaking loss brought the Cougars to 5-11 on the season but they remain in third place in the Great West Conference. Junior forward Carl Montgomery is sixth in league scoring with 13.5 ppg. CSU's next five games will all be on the road as they take on Utah Valley on Saturday, Houston Baptist (Jan. 14), Texas-Pan American (Jan. 16), Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 19 and NJIT in Newark, New Jersey (Jan. 23). Whew.

CSU's Courtney Waldon picked up Great West "Player of the Week" honors by averaging 17 ppg, nine rebounds and 3.5 assists as she helped the Chicago State women salvage a two-game stint with a 78-62 win over Central Arkansas but, unfortunately, a narrow 66-61 loss to Northern Illinois. The CSU women stand at 5-11 and begin a five-game road trip with a visit to Utah Valley this Saturday.

UIC
With wins in two of their last three games (victories over Toldeo and Detroit but a loss to Wright State on Jan. 2), the Flames hit the road for Ohio with games against Youngstown State tonight and Cleveland State on Saturday (televised on Comcast SportNet Chicago). They return on Jan. 15 to take on crosstown and Horizon League rival Loyola. The Flames (5-9) are led by junior guard Robo Kreps who's averaging 18 ppg in their last eight games.

The Flames women's team hopes to stay on a roll when they meet Youngstown State tonight at the Pavilion. UIC (5-8) has three wins in their last four games, including a 75-70 victory over Butler on Monday. UIC faces Cleveland State on Saturday before heading to Detroit on January 14. Jasmine Bailey continued to spark the Flames' attack. Against Valpo, she had seven steals and recorded a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) against Butler. The team gets a long break to shake off the stink of that one before takingon Providence on Jan. 14 at the Allstate Arena.

Northwestern
Taking a breather from an already rought Big Ten slated, the Northwestern Wildcats will take on non-conference foe Texas-Pan American tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU (10-3) dropped their first two conference games to Illinois (89-83) and Michigan State (91-70) on Saturday. While the Wildcats flirted with greatness by making the AP Top 25 earlier in the season (they've since dropped out), they still have some notoriety thank to John Shurna earning his second Big Ten Player of the Week honor after he average 28 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4 assists in their first two Big Ten contests. Following their game against Texas-Pan American, the 'Cats head back to Big Ten play to take on Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Meanwhile, the NU women have already surpassed expectations, notching an 11-4 record after going 7-23 last season and hope to improve on that when they take on Minnesota tonight in the Twin cities. The 'Cats downed the Golden Gophers 72-69 in their last meeting on Feb. 23, 2009, but on the flip side they've lose their first two Big Ten contests to Ohio State on New Year's Eve and Penn State on Jan. 3. Following tonight's Minnesota contest, the Wildcats travel to Purdue before hosting the Golden Gophers in Evanston.