Women's Basketball January 09, 2009 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Williams Leads ?Runners to Win Over Redhawks

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Four different Roadrunners scored in double figures as the CSUB women's basketball team defeated Seattle University, 83?62, Friday evening in the Icardo Center. The win moves the ?Runners to 9?7 on the season while the Redhawks drop to 7?7.

Junior Katie Williams paced the ?Runners with 17 points as she extended her double-digit scoring streak to four games. Christine Kepenekian had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Morgan Saso added 12 with a season-best three blocked shots while Phynique Allen chipped in 10.

The ?Runners shot 45.5 percent from the field (30-for-66) while holding the Redhawks to 32.4 percent shooting (22-for-68). CSUB's defense tied a season's high by forcing 25 Seattle turnovers. The ?Runners also tied a season-best mark with six blocked shots. Seattle outrebounded CSUB, 46?42, thanks in large part to Mercedes Alexander who had a game-high 15 rebounds while scoring 14. Breanna Salley had 15 points to lead seattle.

Saso began the game hot as she blocked a shot, score the game's first bucket and assisted on the second on a long pass to Phynique Allen in transition for an easy layup. Off a long rebound, Williams found Saso underneath for an easy layup. The next time down Allen fed a quick pass into Saso for another bucket to increase the lead to 8-0 early.

After falling behind by 12, 14-2, Seattle would battle back and took the lead with 4:23 left in the first half, 29-28, as Mercedes Alexander grabbed an offensive rebound and tipped in a bucket.

The ?Runners would score the next eight points to take the lead back for good as Kepenekian hit four free throws and converted a tough layup. With time running down, the Redhawks grabbed a long rebound off a missed Williams three pointer and rushed down court looking to score before the buzzer. A nice hustle play by Williams though kept Seattle from getting the last bucket as she knocked the ball away from Bianca Williams.

At the half CSUB led, 39?33, as Kepenekian had 12 points while Saso had 10. Kepenekian also pulled in eight first-half rebounds.

Allen got things started for the ?Runners in the second half as she blew by her defenders to hit a tough driving layup. She also drew the foul and converted the free throw. After that Williams took over until she picked up her fourth foul midway through the session. At one point, Williams went on an 8-0 run by herself, connecting from deep twice and scoring a layup.

Seattle would cut the lead down to eight as Salley hit a pair of free throws with 12:10 remaining but the ?Runners would pull away, eventually building their lead to a game-high 22 points on a Nikki Leon three pointer with 32 seconds remaining. After a Seattle free throw, Krista Arase held the ball for the remaining 21 seconds.

The Redhawks and the ?Runners will meet one more time this season with the rematch scheduled for Feb. 21 in Seattle.

The ?Runners will conclude their season-long four game homestand on Tuesday against Long Beach State at 7 p.m. in the Icardo Center.

CSU BAKERSFIELD 83, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 62
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (7-7)
Salley 4-16 7-8 15; Alexander 6-15 2-3 14; Kerfoot 3-8 2-2 9; Williams 2-7 1-2 7; Murillo 2-5 0-0 5; Morrison 2-8 1-3 5; Carlson 2-5 0-0 5; Heck 1-3 0-0 2; Messersmith 0-1 0-0 0; Christianson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-68 13-18 62.

CSU BAKERSFIELD (9-7)
Williams 6-12 2-4 17; Kepenekian 3-8 7-10 13; Saso 6-10 0-0 12; Allen 3-5 4-6 10; Carter 4-7 0-0 8; Belt 4-7 0-0 8; Leon 3-5 1-2 8; Arase 1-3 4-4 7; Smith 0-3 0-0 0; West 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 18-26 83.

Seattle University 33 29 62
CSU Bakersfield 39 44 83

3-point goals--Seattle University 5-26 (Williams 2-5; Murillo 1-3; Carlson 1-3; Kerfoot 1-4; Morrison 0-5; Alexander 0-4; Salley 0-2), CSU Bakersfield 5-13 (Williams 3-4; Leon 1-3; Arase 1-3; Belt 0-1; Kepenekian 0-2). Technical fouls--Seattle University-TEAM 2, CSU Bakersfield-None. A-517

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Players Mentioned

#24 Phynique Allen: G; 5' 7"; Junior

#25 Krista Arase: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#23 Christine Kepenekian: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#32 Nikki Leon: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#22 Katie Williams: G; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#24 Phynique Allen
: 5' 7"; Junior
: G

#25 Krista Arase
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#23 Christine Kepenekian
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#32 Nikki Leon
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#22 Katie Williams
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Williams Leads ?Runners to Win Over Redhawks

Players Mentioned

#24 Phynique Allen

#25 Krista Arase

#23 Christine Kepenekian

#32 Nikki Leon

#22 Katie Williams

Players Mentioned

#24 Phynique Allen

#25 Krista Arase

#23 Christine Kepenekian

#32 Nikki Leon

#22 Katie Williams