Despite 25 turnovers committed by the Blue Knights, the Lady Marauders fell short at home Thursday night, 69-55. Central State was not able to put together a very good shooting performance as a team. They scored 55 points for the game which is their fourth lowest total all season.
Brooklyn Morrow, the junior forward from Indianapolis, led the team in scoring with 13 total points. Laura Longmire, sophomore guard, came off the bench with 9 total points and drained the only three-pointer of the night for CSU. #33 also recorded a team high 3 steals, 2 defensive rebounds, and an assist. Ashley McGee had 8 points on the night, with a game high 2 assists and 2 steals.
The first half started with CSU grabbing a four point lead early. Urbana battled back and took the lead for themselves, five minutes into the contest. The Lady Marauders managed to keep it close for the next five minutes with Urbana leading by one point at the ten minute mark. After Urbana took a 30 second timeout, they started making baskets. The Blue Knights went on a 5 point and an 8 point run to close out the half, leading by 11 points.
After the break, the Marauders fought back early as they cut the lead down to 7 points. The next ten minutes, Urbana put together a couple 5 point rallies to extend their lead to 12. CSU fought hard, and cut the lead down to 8 points with 7 minutes left to play. A couple fouls by CSU brought Urbana to the line where they made 4 out of 6, and added a jump shot to widen the margin to 14. Moments later, with Urbana leading by 10, the Blue Knights went on a 9 point rally with 2 minutes left on the clock. Laura Longmire hit one from long range with 40 seconds left but it was too little too late as the Lady Marauders suffered their 15th loss of the season.
Poor shooting and poor rebounding were to blame for the Marauders loss. CSU shot 38.3 percent from the floor and 11 percent from long range. Urbana shot 47 percent from the floor and 55 percent from the perimeter. Urbana out-rebounded CSU 49-23. 23 rebounds is their lowest total of the season. The Marauders won the turnover battle, only committing 13 turnovers to Urbana’s 25. CSU didn’t capitalize on the mistakes by the Blue Knights as they only got 13 points off of turnovers.
The Lady Marauders will travel to Kentucky State University over the weekend where they will try to duplicate what they did last time against their rival. Along with another upset, the Marauders will be looking for their ninth win of the season as the Thorobreds will be looking for their 6th win in a row. KSU has a record of 14-6 overall for the season.