Mien scores 38 in Streamwood's win over Elgin

Streamwood started slowly, falling behind Elgin and leading by four after one quarter Tuesday.

But once the Sabres got going, there was no stopping them.

A combination of pressure defense and Mandy Mien turned the tide for the Sabres. Mien scored a career-high 38 points and Streamwood's trapping defense forced 19 first-half turnovers as the Sabres prevailed, 59-27, in the Upstate Eight contest at Chesbrough Field House.

Streamwood surpassed its victory total from last year, moving to 9-14 after an 0-8 start.

Mien has been a big factor in that. She scored 16 points in the second quarter alone, and tallied 13 more in the third. She added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Mien didn't necessarily feel like she was in the zone.

"I just wanted us to get our ninth win over here, get the team rolling and hopefully just keep on going," she said.

She didn't know she had 23 points at halftime.

"I actually didn't even realize that until they told me the stats," she said. "I'm not even going to lie. I was just worried about our defense because at the start it was really rough."

Peyton Hedger added 8 points for Streamwood. Kaylee Angle grabbed 6 rebounds to go with 3 points.

"We did not start real fast," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "Mandy got it turned around for us. She hit a couple of baskets there, made a couple of nice passes. We put some traps in, so I think that was a key part of it."

Giana Kilbert scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Elgin.

Mien's scoring prowess was not a revelation to the Maroons.

"Out of her 1,200 points she has, she's probably got 250 against us," said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. "She's always had good games against us."

But it was the Maroons' inability to get their own shots that frustrated Bumbales.

"We had way too many unforced turnovers that led to direct points," he said. "That was really the bugaboo that just blew the game open."

Streamwood led 12-8 after one quarter before opening the second period with a 13-0 run and finishing it with a 13-2 spurt to go up 38-14 at the half.

One sequence in the period set the tone for the night. Mien made a steal and drove for a layup, Angle stole the ball and fed Mien for a layup, Mien got another steal and returned the favor to Angle, and Mien stole it again and took it in herself.