Central Michigan University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Toledo
1/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2001
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan University women's basketball team is looking to break out of a six-game losing streak with two Mid-American Conference games this week.
"We have one home game and one road game this week," said interim head coach Ina Nicosia (EYE-na NICK-oh-SEE-ah). "It doesn't matter where we play, though, we have to start playing better."
The Chippewas are 3-14 this season and are 0-6 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). It plays a pair of West Division rivals this week and CMU is 0-2 against West Division teams. It lost to Eastern Michigan, 78-59, and Ball State, 87-62, to open the MAC season. The Chippewas are 2-4 when they play on their home court while they are winless on the road, 0-8.
The Chippewas open this week's action with a home date against Toledo on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Tipoff in Rose Arena is set for 7 p.m.
"Toledo is going to be a challenge for us," said Nicosia. "We'll have to come out and play better defensively because it is one of the strongest teams we'll face in the MAC this season."
CMU ends the week when it plays on the road at Northern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 27. Game time is set for 2:05 (CST) p.m.
"We split the series with NIU last year and won the last meeting so the kids will be up for this game," Nicosia commented. "We played well on the road last week, so hopefully we can continue to do so and give the Huskies a hard time."
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS -- CMU returns to the hardwood on Wednesday when it hosts the Toledo Rockets. Toledo is 11-5 overall, 4-1 in MAC play and 4-3 on the road. The Rockets come to Mount Pleasant on a two-game winning streak and have won four of their last five games. Most recently, Toledo beat Northern Illinois and Kent State on its home court.
Toledo rallies behind Kahli Carter and her 16.2 points per game. She is followed by Courtney Risinger's 13.9 points and Melantha Herron's 10.2 scoring average.
The Rockets own the slight edge in the all-time series, 25-22. They have won five of the last six meetings. The two teams met twice last season and Toledo downed CMU both times. The last meeting on Feb. 19, 2000, in Mount Pleasant saw Toledo top the Chippewas, 86-64. The last Chippewas victory was an 83-75 win in 1999.
The Chippewas hit the road on Saturday, Jan. 27, to battle the Huskies of Northern Illinois. NIU is 7-11 overall and have a 3-2 MAC record. They are 4-4 on their home court and recently broke a two-game losing streak by downing Miami on Saturday, 63-50. The Huskies host Bowling Green on Wednesday, Jan. 24, before bringing the Chippewas to town on Saturday.
Northern Illinois is led by a trio of players who average double-figure scoring numbers. Kristan Knake leads the team with an 11.5 scoring average, Michelle Johnson scores at a 10.5 clip and Lindsay Secrest averages 10.1 points.
Central Michigan leads NIU in the all-time series, 13-6. CMU has won six of the last eight. The two teams split the series last year, 1-1. The Chippewas downed the Huskies in the last meeting on Feb. 17, 2000, 66-63. NIU won the first meeting of the 2000 season, 73-63.
WEEKEND RECAP -- The Chippewas hosted Ohio last Saturday and lost their sixth straight game, 99-78.
Ohio's Beckie Fischer tallied 10 point in the first five minutes to help the Bobcats master a game-opening 15-3 drive. They also put together runs of 9-0 and 7-0 late in the first to keep the Chippewas at bay. Ohio's Cathy Szall finished the first half with 20 points and the Bobcats had the commanding lead, 52-31.
CMU tried to fight back in the second half on Molli Munz (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Jr.) 13 second-half points and its .536 shooting percentage. However, Ohio was hitting buckets at a .667 rate in the second half and Lori Moorman tallied 16 points in the second stanza.
When the game was over, Ohio finished with a .648 shooting percentage and was hitting threes at a .462 clip. CMU countered with a .403 shooting percentage and could only hit from downtown at a .320 rate.
The Chippewas were led by Munz who tallied 23 points with the help of four three-pointers. Alicia Rozak (Sterling Heights/Jr.) posted 16 and Desiree Eidson (Bowling Green, Ohio/So.) scored 10.
"If you would have told me that we would score 78 points against Ohio, I would have thought we would be the winners," Nicosia said. "However, our defense was horrible. We allowed Ohio to score 52 points in the first half. Anytime you let that happen, you're not going to win.
"We went into today's game focusing on defense and rebounding. We were out rebounded and allowed Ohio to shoot 64 percent."
HALF DOZEN -- Molli Munz (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Jr.) needs six more three-pointers to become CMU's all-time, three-point scorer. She hit four treys against Ohio last Saturday to put Carrie Isanhart's record in jeopardy this season. Isanhart sits on top with 128 career threes.
SURE SHOT -- Molli Munz (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Jr.) tallied 23 points against Ohio, three away from her career-best effort of 26. She was 6-for-11 from the floor, 4-for-9 from behind the arc and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.
SEVEN-UP -- Tara Petrie (Pickerington, Ohio/Fr.) had a career-high seven assists while committing no turnovers against Ohio. She also dished out seven assists at Marshall after tallying a then career-high five helpers at Miami. Her seven assists is the most by a Chippewa this season and she ranks 12th in assists in conference play with a 3.83 average.
BACK IN DOUBLE FIGURES -- After a three-game lull, Alicia Rozak (Sterling Heights/Jr.) tallied double-figure scoring numbers against Ohio. She posted 16 points in the losing effort. Desiree Eidson (Bowling Green, Ohio/So.) also came back from a scoring lull. She posted 10 points last Saturday after posting a total of 10 points in the two previous games.
ON THE REBOUND -- Vershaun Jones (Detroit/Jr.) rebounded from a zero-point, zero-rebound night at Miami to post 17 points and 13 rebounds in the last two games.
BACK IN ACTION -- Beth Kindel (Clare/Fr.) will return to action this week after sitting the last game out with a concussion. She tallied 17 points and had a career-best 14 rebounds in her last game at Marshall. She is fourth in the MAC in rebounding (7.8) and is third in third in offensive rebounds (3.20)
TWO TREYS -- Kasey Kraft (Pickerington, Ohio/Fr.) hit the second three of her career against Ohio. It tied her career-high point effort of three set last week with her first trey at Miami.
BENCH HELP -- CMU's bench players came into the game to tally 47 points against Ohio while its starters managed to post 31. Coincidentally, CMU had 31 points at the first half and 47 in the second.
LOSING STREAK -- CMU has lost six straight games, all against conference rivals. It is the fourth time in program history that it has been in a six-game tailspin. It lost six straight in 1981-82, 1984-85 and in 1994-95. The only other season the Chippewas dropped six straight to conference foes was in the 1994-95 season. The longest losing streak in CMU annals is nine games which occurred in both the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.
STUMBLING AT THE LINE -- CMU, who once sat atop the MAC as one best free-throw shooting teams, is now seventh in MAC with a .699 average. In MAC games only, the Chippewas shoot .657 which ranks them 11th.
BETTER AFTER THE HALF - Central Michigan shot at a .536 clip (15-for-28) in the second half against Ohio. It is the best second-half shooting percentage for the Chippewas this season. Their previous best was a .500 average (11-for-22) against Harvard. It also scored a season-best 47 points in the second half. The previous best second-half score for CMU was 45 against Lake Superior State.
OUTREBOUNDED -- Ohio outrebounded CMU by 14 boards last Saturday, 40-26. It is the largest margin that an opponent has out rebounded CMU and the second time it was outrebounded by 14. The last time the Chippewas were outrebounded by 14 was against Eastern Michigan, 48-34.
LIVIN' IN THE 80's -- Central Michigan has allowed the last five MAC opponents to top the 80-point plateau. Eastern Michigan was the only MAC team who couldn't top 80 points. It had 78. CMU's defense against conference foes ranks last with a 85.2 defensive average.
TUNE IN -- Fans can catch all the Chippewa action over the air or on the internet. All CMU games will be broadcast on WMHW 91.5-FM. Games can also be heard on the Central Michigan Athletics web site, www.cmuchippewas.com.
UP NEXT -- The Chippewas close out January with a road date at Northern Illinois (Jan. 27) and open February at Western Michigan (Feb. 3). They return home to take on Akron on Feb. 6.
