Central Michigan University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Intrastate Rival, Western Michigan
2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2002
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Central Michigan University
Chippewas
Record: 9-11, 1-8 Mid-American
Head Coach: Eileen Kleinfelter
Record at CMU: 9-11 (1st Season)
Career Record: 231-92 (11th Season)
vs
Western Michigan University
Broncos
Record: 9-11, 6-2 Mid-American
Head Coach: Ron Stewart
Record at WMU: 62-71 (5th Season)
Career Record: 62-71 (5th Season)
Saturday, February 2, 2002
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
Rose Arena (5,200)
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Central Michigan Probable StartersName Yr. Pos. Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast.Desiree Eidson Jr. F 6-0 15.4 6.7 1.2Vershaun Jones Sr. F 5-9 8.7 10.2 0.7Kendra Martin Jr. G 5-9 11.8 2.7 1.5Laurie Henderson Jr. G 5-10 4.8 2.8 2.8Molli Munz Sr. G 5-6 6.6 2.9 3.3-RESERVES-Abby Lawinger Jr. G 5-10 5.9 1.4 0.6Elizabeth Widman Jr. F 6-0 2.0 1.6 0.1
The Central Michigan women's basketball team comes off of five-days rest to host longtime rival, Western Michigan. Tipoff in Rose Arena is at 7 p.m.
The Chippewas enter tonight's contest 9-11 overall and with a Mid-American Conference record of 1-8. The Chippewas are 5-5 in home games this season but are 1-4 in Rose Arena when taking on a conference foe. CMU's only conference win was a home match with Bowling Green on Jan. 5, 81-71. Central is still winless against West Division rivals, posting an 0-4 mark.
CMU is entering the final quarter of the season with seven games on the docket. It has three home games and four road trips left.
SERIES INFORMATION - The Chippewas and Broncos will meet on the hardwood for the 64th time in series history. Western Michigan is CMU's oldest rival in the MAC with the series starting in the 1969 season. The Broncos own the slim all-time series lead, 32-31. Western had won in five straight meetings until CMU topped the Broncos in Mount Pleasant last February, 74-68.
LAST TIME VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN - Central Michigan nabbed its only conference win last season when Western Michigan came town last February, 74-68.
Beth Kindel led the offense with 20 points and 14 boards. Laurie Henderson (Newark, Ohio/Jr.) followed with 13 points, Mandy Elwer (Delphos, Ohio/So.) scored 12 off the bench and Desiree Eidson (Bowling Green, Ohio/Jr.) had 10. Vershaun Jones (Detroit/Sr.) was the team's top rebounder with six boards.
The Chippewas broke a 13-game losing streak by shooting 41.4 percent (29-for-70) from the floor and 84.6 percent (11-for-13) from the charity stripe. CMU was tough under glass, outrebounding the Broncos, 50-30.
CMU trailed at the half, 43-39, but rallied in the second half to tame the Broncos. WMU shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the floor in the first half but let the Chippewas back into the game when it slipped to shoot 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from the floor in second stanza.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS RECAP - The Chippewas lost their seventh straight game as they fell to Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill., last Monday, 74-63.
Desiree Eidson led the way with 18 points. Kendra Martin (Muskegon Heights/Jr.) added 14 and Molli Munz (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Sr.) chipped in 10.
CMU came out sluggish in the first half as the Huskies jumped out to a five-point lead. The Huskies built as much as a 14-point cushion but headed into half with a nine-point lead.
The Chippewas virtually erased a nine-point halftime deficit by mastering an 8-0 run to open the second half. NIU went back up by five but a 7-0 run by Eidson and Martin helped CMU take a two-point lead with 13:47 left. Central held a one-point lead at the 11:30 mark but NIU went on a 12-3 run and reassumed control of the game until its end.
LEADING THE WAY - The Chippewas are under the tutelage of first-year head coach Eileen Kleinfelter. She comes to CMU with 10 years head coaching experience, the last seven of which she spent at Findlay. She has had nine winning seasons, seven which were 20-win seasons, and owns a 231-92 career mark. Kleinfelter also led Findlay to two NAIA "Final Four" berths. She is assisted by Jill VanderEnde, Jill McCrea and Jessica Viertlboeck.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL - Molli Munz and Laurie Henderson combined to tally 11 of the team's 15 assists against Northern Illinois on Monday. Munz dished out a game-high six helpers to two turnovers while Henderson posted five assists to her one turnover. Munz' career high is 11 assists, a mark she has posted twice in her career. Henderson has a career best of seven assists.
BACK ON TRACK - Kendra Martin and Desiree Eidson are back on track as the one-two punch on the Chippewas' scoring front, teaming up to score 32 points at Northern Illinois. Eidson (6-for-12 from the floor) had a team-high 18 points on Monday while Martin (5-for-13 from the floor) came off the bench and chipped in 14.
Eidson and Martin have teamed up to post double-digit scoring numbers 10 times this season. The Chippewas are 6-4 on the season when both are double-digit scorers and 3-5 when only one of the two post twin-scoring numbers. CMU is 0-2 when both are held under the 10-point barrier. The tandem have scored 542 points this season, 44 percent of CMU's total offense.
CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS - Molli Munz has been advancing up the all-time assists leaders record book. She now stands fifth among the all-time assists leaders with 324. She is one helper shy of fourth and 11 short of third all-time.
CRASHING THE BOARDS - Vershaun Jones is currently the conference's top rebounder, pulling down 10.2 caroms per outing.
Going into action the week of Jan. 28, Jones was one of the top rebounders in the nation. The 5-9 forward went into action sporting a 10.2 boards per game average which was 17th in the nation. Mandi Carver, a 6-2 center from Idaho State, is tops in the nation with a 12.8 rebounding average.
KEEPING TABS ON THE JONES'- Vershan Jones passed the 800-point barrier with her six-point night at Northern Illinois on Monday. She now has 805 career points ... Jones has 781 career rebounds and is four steals shy of 170 career nabs. Jones will be only the third Chippewa to tally 770 rebounds and 170 steals in a career. The other two defensive stoppers are Julie Roberts (1089 rebounds, 296 steals) and Sue Nissen (977 rebounds, 188 steals) ... size doesn't matter for the 5-9 senior forward. Jones is one of four nationally-ranked rebounders under 6-0 and the only rebounder in the national rankings under 5-10. She is 17th with a 10.2 rebounding average.
AVERAGING A DOUBLE-DOUBLE - Vershaun Jones owns averages of 8.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. She could become only the third Chippewa to finish a season averaging a double-double. Both Gina Mazzolini and Julie Roberts averaged a double-double for three consecutive seasons. Following is the season-by-season breakdown:
Name Games Points Avg. Reb. Avg. Gina Mazzolini (1975-76) 23 242 10.5 265 11.5 Gina Mazzolini (1976-77) 26 328 12.6 278 11.1 Gina Mazzolini (1977-78) 21 280 13.3 196 10.9 Julie Roberts (1978-79) 17 221 13.0 185 11.6 Julie Roberts (1979-80) 27 370 13.7 449 16.6 Julie Roberts (1980-81) 26 342 13.2 323 12.4
DOUBLE-DOUBLE = WINS - Vershaun Jones leads the MAC in double-doubles, doing the deed seven times this season. She has 21 in her four-year career.
This season, Central Michigan is 6-1 when Vershaun Jones tallies a double-double. Jones had double-doubles against Illinois State, Canisius, Niagara, Long Island, Northwood and Bowling Green, all CMU wins. The lone CMU loss when Jones tallied a double-double was against Toledo.
ON THE SKIDS - The Chippewas have dropped seven straight games, all in conference action. It marks the first losing streak of the season for CMU. Last season, the Chippewas had two three-game slides, a two-gamer and a school record 13-game losing streak.
LATE BLOOMERS - In Mid-American Conference play, the Chippewas have been outscored in the first half by an average of 8.3 points. However, CMU is only outscored in the second stanza by an average of 1.2 points. CMU has led at the half in one conference game this season and has outscored four of its eight MAC opponents in the second half.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE - Erin Kuhl (Rochester Hills/Rochester Adams) and Lindsay Mecoli (Clarkston/Our Lady) have signed to play for CMU next season. Kuhl is a 5-9 guard who averaged 11.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game this past season. The honorable mention all-stater also averaged 14 points and four rebounds as a junior.
Mecoli is a 6-1 two-time all-state forward for Our Lady. She scored at a 21.8 pace this past season and also had 7.4 rebounds. She also scored 17.7 points as a junior and a 16.2 her sophomore year.
INJURIES - Tiffany Douglas (Lansing/Fr.) will sit out the season after suffering an injury to her ACL in the preseason. She had surgery on it on Nov. 20.
UP NEXT - The Central Michigan women's basketball team will take a two-game venture to Akron (Feb. 6) and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 13). Both games tipoff at 7 p.m. The Chippewas return home to host East Division rival, Miami. The game will air on the Central Michigan PBS network and will tipoff at 2 p.m.
