Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northwood
Women's Basketball Tops Northwood, 68-52
12/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2001
MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan women's basketball team finished the non-conference season with a 68-52 win over M-20-rival, Northwood, on Dec. 29.
The Chippewas are 8-3 going into the Mid-American Conference season. It is the first time CMU has taken a winning record into conference action since the 1992-93 season. The 8-3 tally is the best start the Chippewas have had since they started the 1990-91 season 8-2.
Senior Molli Munz (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Sr.) led the Chippewas in scoring with a 19-point night. Munz was 5-for-10 from the floor, 4-for-6 from behind the arc and made all five free-throw attempts. Laurie Henderson (Newark, Ohio/Jr.) had 12 points and five assists, Kendra Martin (Muskegon Heights/Jr.) added 12 points and Vershaun Jones (Detroit/Sr.) had another double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
Central dominated the game, never trailing the Timberwolves in the 40 minutes of play. CMU jumped out to the 10-4 lead in the first five minutes of play and managed to protect that lead midway through the first half. With 11 minutes left, the Northwood offense stalled and only scored five points going into the half. However, the CMU lead swelled as its offense continued to click. Central scored 18 points to the Timberwolves' five and CMU had a 17-point lead at the half, 34-17.
Northwood came out fighting in the second half and slowly chipped away at Central's lead by shooting a cool 55 percent (15-for-27). The Chippewas upped their 17-point lead early in the second stanza, owning a 29-point lead with 11:04 left in the game. But, Northwood tried to work its way back into the game by engineering a 13-2 run that cut the lead down to 16 points. It was as close as the Timberwolves would come to CMU as Henderson made back-to-back lay-ups and Munz hit two threes down the stretch. The Chippewas had themselves a 16-point win when the final buzzer sounded.
The Chippewas return to action after the New Year when they launch the MAC season. CMU hosts West Division rival Ball State on Jan. 2 with tipoff in Rose Arena set for 7 p.m.
