Central Michigan University
Eastern Michigan
Eagles Rally To Top Chippewas In Overtime, 65-61
1/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2003
YPSILANTI - Forty minutes was not enough to decide the Mid-American Conference season-opener in Ypsilanti on Wednesday night. The Eastern Michigan Eagles came from behind to top the Central Michigan University women's basketball team, 65-61, in overtime.
The Chippewas fall to 6-6 on the season and are 0-1 in MAC play. The Eagles are now 4-8 overall and are a perfect 1-0 in MAC action.
Casey Manning put up five points in the opening minutes of overtime. Her two buckets gave CMU leads of two and three points, the last of which was at 2:33. But, a CMU scoring lull allowed Eastern Michigan to build a four-point lead. CMU mounted a comeback when Lindy Hatfield hit a layup to cut the lead to two with five second left. But, Eastern's Ryan Coleman hit two freebies in the final second to ice the four-point win.
The Chippewas controlled the game for the first 17 minutes of the second half. Eastern claimed its first lead in the second forty minutes at the 2:46 mark. It held the lead four times in the final three minutes of play, never stretching it to more than two points. With the Eagles holding a 54-52 edge and 16 ticks left on the clock, Desiree Eidson hit a layup to knot the game, 54-54, before the buzzer.
Manning's layup in the first minute of the second half stretched CMU's halftime lead up to six points, and still maintained a five-point cushion with 11:30 left. But, Eastern slowly chiseled at the single-digit lead. In the final five minutes, CMU never held more than a two-point lead. The Chippewas' final lead was a one-point difference at 59 seconds, 52-51. The Eagles' Abby Wiseman hit two layups in the final minute, leaving Eidson to make the game-tying bucket with 16 seconds left.
The Chippewas held the Eagles at bay in second half shooting 45.8 percent (11-for-24). EMU hit on 36.4 percent (12-for-33) of its attempts. The Maroon and Gold entered the extra period shooting 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. CMU finished shooting 12-for-15 from the line.
Despite shooting 28 percent in the first half, the Chippewas were able to take a four-point, 27-23, lead into the locker room. The Chippewas jumped out to an early 11-7 lead in the first five minutes. Lindsay Mecoli sparked the visitors, scoring seven of CMU's first 11 points. But, EMU's offense hit buckets at a 43.5 percent clip in the first 20 and rallied on the Chippewas. Marion Crandall hit a trey at 13:30 and knotted the game at 11 apiece. Eastern held a small lead for two minutes but saw it disappear at the 5:16 mark when Desiree Eidson hit a game-tying three. The Maroon and Gold then went 6-for-6 from the line in the final minutes, taking the four-point cushion into the half.
Mecoli led the way for the Chippewas. She had 18 points on the evening. Manning tallied 15 in her first career start while Eidson chipped in with 12. Hatfield led the team with eight rebounds. On the Eagles' side of the stat sheet, freshman Nikki Knapp led with 22 points. Coleman was behind with 12 points.
The Eagles shot 38.7 percent from the floor while the Chippewas shot 38.2. EMU held a 45-34 edge on the boards.
The Chippewas return to action when they open a doubleheader in Rose Arena with the men's team on Saturday Jan. 11. The women host Akron at 1 p.m., while the men host Ohio at 3:30 p.m.
