“These three seniors helped change the culture of the program,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “They’ve worked really hard and have had great improvement over their careers. They’ve also had great teammates and staff and the most rewarding thing as a coach is to watch them grow. This was a good win today. It was nice to finish the regular season here at home on a win and going into the conference tournament with some momentum.”
Sylvia Shephard (Alta Loma, Calif.) hit the early jumper 40 seconds into the game to give SU the lead, a lead they would extend to as many as 11 eight minutes later. On a 16-5 run to open the contest, Shephard, Wilma Afunugo (Plano, Texas) and Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) would drive in back-to-back-to-back layups before Alexis Montgomery sunk a three and layup.
Kristin Stoffel (Mill Creek, Wash.) hit a jumper at 11:54 and Shephard added a three at 10:40 to put SU ahead by 11 two more times, leading 22-11 with 10:40 left before halftime.
The Cougars’ Tashuna Brown drove in a layup before Paris Williams added a steal and fastbreak layup to bring CSU within seven. On a 9-1 run, Tierra Williams hit a three and P. Williams went 2-for-2 from the line to cut their deficit to just three, 23-20, at 8:58.
Two-point contributions by Shephard and Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) would extend the Redhawk lead back to nine two different times before the six minute mark and a three by Kaylee Best (Seattle, Wash.) put SU ahead by as many as 16, 38-23, with 2:53 left before half. Cailin Nix scored four straight on a pair of free throws and a layup, but Afunugo would add a layup 30 seconds before half as Seattle U led, 43-32, at the break.
Seattle U would lead by as many as 14 two different times in the first five minutes of the second half, leading by double digits until Konner Harris hit a three to close Chicago State’s deficit to nine, 50-41, at 13:44.
Nix hit another three-pointer at 10:46 but the Redhawks would lead by double digits for the remainder of the contest.
Taelor Ross (Vancouver, Wash.) and Sowell scored on back-to-back layups before Shephard and T. Williams traded a pair of free throws apiece with just under seven minutes left in the game as SU led, 62-50.
Montgomery and Sowell drove in matching layups near the five-minute mark and Seattle U would lead by as many as 17, 70-53, with 2:43 remaining after a Makenna Clark (Lake Tapps, Wash.) jumper.
Chicago State closed the game going 3-for-4 from the line to pull within 12 but the Redhawks earned the victory, 75-63.
Sowell led all players on the floor with 21 points while Shephard (16 pts) and Afunugo (12 pts) also scored in double figures. The Redhawks outrebounded the Cougars, 37-24, leading in assists, 17-6, and steals, 12-9.
From the floor, Seattle U shot 50 percent (30-for-60) to Chicago State’s 44.7 percent (21-for-47), also leading from behind the arc. The Cougars earned the better free-throw percentage, going 14-for-17 (82.4 percent) to Seattle U’s 68.8 percent (11-for-16).
Prior to the contest, the Redhawks honored SU’s top three Division I career scoring leaders, Shephard, Ward, and Sowell, in their final regular season home game. Seattle U’s DI career rebounds leader, Sowell became just the fourth player in program history to pass the 1000 career rebounds mark just after halftime.
“I think games like this are really good for us to get some momentum going into the tournament,” said Sowell. “I thought we played with great energy and that’s definitely something we can take into next week. Ashley, Sylvia, and I didn’t know each other before we got here and now we’ve grown into friends and roommates the past three years. They’re my support system up here and same with the rest of the team. We’ve had so many great teammates over the years and it’s been like a family away from home.”
Seattle University will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s Western Athletic Conference tournament, facing No. 6 seed Kansas City at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 12. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 Bakersfield/No. 7 Utah Valley on Friday, Mar. 14 at 2:30 p.m. Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com, Seattle U Athletics on Facebook, @su_athletics on Twitter, and su_redhawks on Instagram for all the latest updates throughout the tournament.