Ft Wayne Times

Mastodon Women's Basketball Falls to League-Leader Cleveland State

Three Purdue Fort Wayne women's basketball student-athletes scored in double-figures in Friday night's (Jan. 6) 74-56 loss at Horizon League-leading Cleveland State.

Sylare Starks (12), Abbigail Stephens (11) and Ryin Ott (10) all reached double-figures for Purdue Fort Wayne. Starks was 4-of-9 from the 3-point line.

The difference in the contest came in the 14 minutes, in which Cleveland State went up 31-5. The lead ballooned to as large as 30 before the Mastodons started to build back up. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Alaina Diaz and Starks before halftime cut the lead to 22. Diaz played her first game as a Mastodon after returning from injury, logging three points in four minutes.

Aubrey Stupp completed an old-fashioned 3-point play midway through the third quarter to bring it within 13, which was as close as the 'Dons got the rest of the way.

The Mastodons shot 43.75 percent from the floor for the final 20 minutes, including a 4-for-9 effort from the 3-point line in the third quarter. They held Horizon Preseason Player of the Year Destiny Leo to 16 points and 6-of-16 from the floor.

Stephens finished with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Over the last three games, she is scoring 10.3 points per game and shooting 58.3 percent from the floor.

Cleveland State moves to 14-1 after its 14th-straight, including a 5-0 start to Horizon League play. Purdue Fort Wayne falls to 5-11, 2-4. The Mastodons are back at home on Thursday (Jan. 12) when they host Green Bay.

Original source can be found here.