by Eastlake North sensation Destiny Leo led the CSU Lady Vikings to a big opening night victory over the visiting ETSU Buccaneers 81-54 in front of a vocal crowd tonight. Leo scored early in often as she finished with 24 points on 6 of 12 shooting as she went 5 of 7 beyond the three point line and a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe.
Brittni Moore, Isabelle Gradwell and Nadia Dumas would all finish with double digit points each as well. Moore had 13, Gradwell had 11 and Dumas had 10. The Buccaneers were led by their captain Damiah Griffin with 13.
The Lady Vikings were smart and efficient with the ball all night, as they scored 22 points off of Buccaneers turnovers. They also went 9 of 21 beyond the arc while the Buccaneers struggled, going a paltry 4 of 24. The Lady Vikings also stacked up the free points by shooting a solid 30 of 41 from the charity stripe.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead on the strength of 3 three pointers by Density Leo in the games opening minutes. ETSU would adjust their defense and battle back to cut the lead to 18-14 inside of a minute to go in the first quarter. The Lady Vikings would extend the lead to 20-14 before it was over. The Lady Vikings were also able to cash in at the line during the quarter by going 5 of 8.
Both teams came out a bit cold to start the second quarter as the first points didn’t come until exactly three minutes in when Sarah Thompson of ETSU made a layup off of a turnover and nice pass as she cut to the hole. Destiny Leo was quick to answer however, with her fourth three pointer of the game to increase the Lady Viking leads to 23-18.
Down 23-18, the Buccaneers would begin to make a run at a comeback. They cut it to 23-22 with some incredible transition scoring. They would continue their fast-paced attack and sharp passing to the open girl to claim their first lead of the game at 26-25 with 3:39 to go on a Carly Hooks jump shot. CSU would then battle back and finish the half on a 7-3 run to end the half up 32-29. Leo had 14 in the half for CSU.
The Lady Vikings would come out gunning to start the second half with a 7-2 run to open things up a bit at 39-31. An Isabelle Gradwell jumper would find the bottom of the net at 7:32 to give them a double digit lead up 41-31. Moments later, a Brittni Moore long ball would make it 44-33 to give the Lady Vikings their largest lead of the game. They remained in command the rest of the quarter and took a 56-44 lead into the fourth.
The Lady Vikings would pour it on to open the fourth quarter and build the lead to 67-46 with under 7 minutes left to play in the game. They would go on to win 81-54.
The game had some local flavor in it tonight as well. 2020 Kee On Sports SWC First Team Dynamo Abby Carrington was in town playing for the Buccaneers. Also, North Ridgeville prodigy Isabella Geraci was the first girl off the bench all night for the Lady Vikings. Abby would finish with 2 points and 2 boards while Geraci put up 3 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds.
