URBANA, Ohio – Urbana University's
Tyra James, the NCAA DII National Player of the Week, scored a career-high 36 points but it wasn't enough as the Blue Knights fell Wednesday night to visiting Glenville State College, 118-92.
James went 14 of 17 from the field, sinking her first seven shots, while grabbing 12 rebounds in her 11th double-double effort. The Cincinnati native continues to dominate opponents, raising her season scoring average to 23.7 points per game – good for fourth in the nation.
Teammate
Sylvia Hudson logged another double-double, her 33rd of her career, with 20 points and 11 boards. The senior from Sidney is climbing the school's all-time scoring chart where she sits third with 1,641 points.
The James-Hudson pair is the highest scoring duo in all NCAA levels of women's basketball.
Urbana (12-7, 8-5 MEC) and Glenville (15-4, 11-2 MEC) are two of the top scoring teams in Division II with the Pioneers leading the nation at 109.6 points per game. The Blue Knights entered Wednesday's game ranked eighth (81.4) and scored 11 points above their average.
Glenville's prowess from the three-point line and points off Urbana turnovers proved to be the difference.
The Pioneers shot 15 of 33 (46%) from range as the Blue Knights struggled from beyond the arc (4-16). The visitors also forced 17 Blue Knight turnovers and held a 40-20 advantage on fast-break points. Glenville only turned it over seven times.
UU jumped out to a 25-17 lead in the first quarter after
Weston Minnich's early 3-pointer ignited an 11-0 run for the Blue Knights. James scored 10 points during the stretch. However, Glenville responded to even the score at the end of the opening period, 28-28.
The teams traded leads early in the second period as
Kasey Knippen's trey got the Blue Knights within a point at the 3:15 mark. But, the Pioneers would close the half on another spurt to lead 58-47 at the break after the Blue Knights made 1 of 7 shot attempts. Glenville also went 5 of 6 from three-point range in the second period.
Urbana trailed by six following a
Bailey Draughn layup to make the score 77-71 with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter. Though, that would be as close as the Blue Knights would get the rest of the game.
Glenville's Emily Stoller led five Pioneers in double figures with 34 points on 9-of-12 shooting from three-point range. Ty Armstrong scored 22 points while Zakiyah Winfield netted 20.
The Pioneers shot 56 percent overall while the Blue Knights recorded an overall mark at 45 percent. Urbana held the edge in rebounds, 49-36, and bench scoring, 36-28.
UP NEXT: UU travels to Concord University for Saturday's 2 p.m. tipoff inside the Carter Center. The Mountain Lions (11-7, 8-5 MEC) fell in overtime at Notre Dame College Wednesday night.
