Harper picks up season's first win

After suffering a 10-point loss at Elgin Community College on Saturday, the Harper College women's basketball team looked to bounce back with a win at the Sports and Wellness Center on Tuesday.

Consider it a mission accomplished for the Hawks (1-1), who topped visiting Prairie State 49-45 in nonconference play.

With Harper leading 31-23, the Pioneers made the hosts work a little harder than they wanted down the stretch.

Five-foot-10 sophomore Tranikka Vance gave the Pioneers a lift, scoring 6 of her team-high 19 points in a 10-4 run to tie the contest at 31-31 going into the final 10 minutes.

Prairie State (0-1) had an earlier scoring drought of 8:52, when coach Jeff Boyd said his team "didn't handle the (Harper) pressure."

The Hawks shot a respectable 10-for-23 from 3-point distance, but long-range offense isn't something Hawks coach Jenny Turpel plans to depend upon.

"I don't want to live and die by the 3," she said.

With Jackie Stroud playing like this, though, there's plenty of reason for hope. Despite not playing competitively in two years, Stroud carried the Hawks' offense, shooting 6-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc on her way to a game-high 21 points.

"I knew I had to step up," the Harper freshman said. "I just hit my shots."

The Harper offense struggled from 2-point range (13-for-48) and from the free throw line (13-for-32).

Turpel attributed her team's struggle at the foul line to nerves, as the Hawks were playing at home for the first time this season.

Stroud put the game out of reach by making a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds remaining.

Buffalo Grove almum Kim Herzog led Harper in rebounding (6) and assists (4) and scored 8 points before fouling out with 1:31 left to play.