(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College women's basketball team got off to a hot start and never looked back in downing Prairie State College 100-54 in an Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) match-up. It was a milestone evening for the Chiefs' Brooke Heiman as she poured in 37 points on the way to going over the 1,000-point plateau in her Waubonsee career. The Chiefs (11-15, 6-5) outscored the Pioneers (9-18, 4-7) in the paint 64-18 for the game and never trailed on the way to holding the visitors to just 25 percent shooting from the floor.
The Chiefs won the opening tip and Emily Hurst sank a 12-foot jumper seconds later to get things started. Three minutes later Lily Fernandez connected on a three-pointer to give Waubonsee a 10-1 lead. Another triple, this time by Annika Bielskis, extended the lead to 17-1 midway through the quarter. Brooke Heiman then completed a three-point play a minute later to move into second on Waubonsee's all-time career scoring list with 986 points, surpassing Amanda Wolf (1999-2001). The period ended with the Chiefs comfortably ahead 34-11.
The second quarter started with a break away lay-in by Hurst as the Chiefs gradually added to their big lead. Hurst and Angelina Schlinger both completed three-point plays to highlight an 11-0 Waubonsee run to start the quarter and extend the lead to 45-11. With two minutes to go until halftime Heiman was fouled on a putback attempt sending her to the line. The sophomore guard made both charity tosses to reach 1,000 points for her Waubonsee career, joining two-time NJCAA All-American Julianna Wadsworth in the Chiefs' 1K-Club, and setting off a short celebration and apropos Valentine's Day love from her teammates and coaches. Heiman now has 1,016 points, trailing Wadsworth's 1, 211 career points, with four regular season games remaining. By the time the teams headed to the locker room Waubonsee held a commanding 59-27 lead.
Midway through the third quarter the Chiefs still held a 32-point advantage when Heiman scored down low after taking a nice pass from Schlinger. Waubonsee doubled up the score when Schlinger dished it off underneath the basket to her sister Kaila Schlinger for an easy lay-in and a 71-35 lead. In the final seconds of the third Fernandez drilled a trey from the left corner and another lay-in to push the lead to 80-40 heading into the final period.
Schlinger nailed a running one-hander in the lane midway through the fourth quarter to make the score 89-47. A driving lay-up by Hurst with a minute and a half to go got the Chiefs within two points off the century mark. Heiman was then fouled with a minute to go and proceeded to sink two free throws to give Waubonsee a 100-51 lead.
Heiman snagged 13 rebounds and handed out three assists to go along with her collegiate career high of 37 points. Hurst booked 20 points and grabbed nine boards, dished out five assists and made four steals. Angelina Schlinger nearly posted a triple-double, netting 11 points, corralling 11 boards and registering nine assists. Bielskis finished with 10 points and four assists as every Chiefs' player scored and hauled down at least three rebounds.
The Chiefs are set to play in Cicero this Thursday, February 16 against top-ranked Morton College in another ISCC contest beginning at 5:15 p.m. Waubonsee returns home on Saturday, February 18 to square off against Carl Sandburg College at 1:00 p.m.
