Jan. 5, 2008

Box Score

DENVER, COLO. - Ashley Mickens scored all five of her points in overtime, including the go-ahead bucket with 2:17 to go in the extra period, to lift Metro State to a 56-48 victory over Western State in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball game, Saturday evening at the Auraria Events Center.

The game was knotted at 47 with just over two minutes to go in overtime when Mickens, who only played 17 minutes due to an ankle injury, followed her own miss with an offensive board and a putback, to give Metro State its first lead of the night. She was also fouled and converted the free throw to put the Roadrunners up, 50-47. Metro State then ran away with it, hitting 7-for-7 from the foul line in the extra period as Mickens was 3-for-3 and Paige Powers did not miss in four attempts.

"It always helps to hit your free throws and the team did a great job down the stretch getting the ball to Paige, who is our best free-throw shooter," said Roadrunner head coach Linda Lappe. "She did a great job converting her chances. It was a total team effort on the defensive end. We were able to contain their penetration and our pressure defense helped later in the game."

Western State held Mickens to ten points under her average but the Roadrunners got a lift from forward Cassondra Bratton, who came off the bench for her first career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 13 boards. Western State fell despite Audra Lawson scoring 18 second-half points as the Mountaineers managed just 28 points total in the last 25 minutes.

"I've been challenging Cassondra and she rose to the occasion tonight," said Lappe. "She really put us on her back at times and grabbed some key rebounds for us."

Western State led by nine, 41-32, with 5:40 remaining in regulation, and still held a 45-42 advantage after an Lawson bucket with 2:26 left, but the Mountaineers would not score another field goal in the game. Stephanie Sauter hit a trey with 2:02 to play to tie the game and force the extra period. The Roadrunners had a chance to win it as they had the ball and 23 seconds remaining in the contest, but Sauter missed a trey with less than 10 seconds left.

Lawson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Chelsea Wilkins had 13 points and 10 boards for the Mountaineers, while Powers added 11 points for Metro State. Western State was just 5-for-10 from the charity stripe and 3-for-13 from three-point range in the game. After going 3-for-7 from the free-throw line in the first half, Metro State was 10-for-11 in the second half and overtime.

Western State jumped out to a 13-4 first-half lead as Metro State scored just four points in the first 10:30 of the contest. The Roadrunners shot 29 percent from the floor, including 1-for-10 from long range, in the first period. The two teams combined to go 3-for-11 from the foul line.

With the win, Metro State improves to 7-6 overall, 3-2 in the RMAC, while Western State falls to 8-5 overall, 2-3 in the RMAC. The Roadrunners are at Western New Mexico, Jan. 10.