Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score

DENVER, COLO. - Ashley Mickens scored a career-high 28 points to lead Metro State to a 76-54 victory over St. Edward's at the Quality Inn Thanksgiving Classic women's basketball tournament, Saturday afternoon at the Auraria Events Center.

In the first game of the tournament, Kaylon Miller had 16 points to lead CSU-Pueblo to a 71-50 victory over Eastern New Mexico.

The Hilltoppers cut a nine-point halftime deficit to just five, 59-54, on a layup by Charron Sumler with 8:18 to play, but did not score the rest of the game. St. Edward's went 0-for-8 from the floor and committed five turnovers over the rest of the contest, while Metro State went on a 17-0 run to post the big win.

"Our defense has been our staple so far," said Roadrunner head coach Linda Lappe. "We do a pretty good job in that even if we're not scoring, they're not scoring either. Ashley (Mickens) did a great job tonight. She is getting used to running a team and a lot of people did a nice job finding her when she was open. We were unselfish today, just hitting the open player."

Stephanie Sauter added 20 points, including six three pointers, while Mickens added seven boards and two assists for Metro State. Haley Tidwell was the only Hilltopper in double digits with 15 points, while Sara Head had nine boards.

Metro State's defense forced 21 turnovers and scored 29 points off Hilltopper miscues. St. Edward's went just 4-for-9 from the charity stripe for the game, while it shot only 32 percent (8-for-25) from the floor in the second half. Metro State made 45.8 percent from long range (11-for-24) and committed just 10 turnovers in the contest.

Metro State guard Paige Powers scored seven points on the afternoon, giving her 1001 points for her career.

St. Edward's started off hot, scoring the game's first five points and shooting 56.5 percent (13-for-23) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The game was tied at 31 with 1:48 to play in the period but Metro State ended the half with nine unanswered points to take a 40-31 lead into the break. The Roadrunners forced 11 first-half turnovers, which helped result in 10 fewer field-goal attempts for the Hilltoppers. Sauter had 12 first-half points, including four treys.

"We came down and hit a couple of shots to get the lead going into halftime," said Lappe. "I think it deflated them a bit and gave us an edge going into the break."

With the win, Metro State improves to 3-1 overall, while St. Edward's falls to 2-3 overall.

In the first game of the day, Eastern New Mexico led 33-27 with 4:50 to go in the first half but CSU-Pueblo went on a 17-0 run over the remainder of the first period and the first 2:49 of the second period to turn the six-point deficit into an 11-point advantage, 44-33.

Eastern New Mexico shot just 19.4 percent in the second half (7-for-36), including 0-for-10 from long range, and scored only 17 points, while committing 22 turnovers in the game. The Zias also went to the free-throw line just seven times in the contest, hitting five.

Miller had 16 points and two rebounds, while Mary Rehfeld added 14 points and eight boards for the ThunderWolves. Eastern New Mexico was led by Cat Clay's 11 points and Kara Bible added six points and 11 boards.

Eastern New Mexico held a 45-39 rebounding advantage, including 20 offensive boards, but shot just 3-for-19 from three-point land in the game.

The Zias got off to a 16-10 lead less than seven minutes into the game but CSU-Pueblo went on an 11-0 run to end the half and led 38-33 at the break. The two teams combined for 26 first-half turnovers, while the Zias had only two free-throw attempts in the first 20 minutes. Clay had nine first-half points, while Kami Dahlberg had all nine of her points in the opening period for CSU-Pueblo.

With the win, CSU-Pueblo improves to 4-0, while Eastern New Mexico falls to 1-4 overall.

Metro State is at the UNO Classic, Nov. 30-Dec. 1.