Central Michigan University Athletics
Eagles Edge Chippewas, 68-66
1/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT - Britni Houghton's 17 points and seven boards combined with Sherryia Armstrong's best game of the season were enough to help Central Michigan University's women's basketball team push Eastern Michigan to the limit, but the Eagles escaped Rose Arena with a 68-66 win on Saturday.
"Our energy, competitive spirit and focus was great today," head coach Sue Guevara said. "I thought we played well enough to win, we just couldn't get a couple of shots to go at the end of the game."
Armstrong added a career-high 12 points and 4 boards, and Angel Chan gave CMU three players scoring in double-figures. EMU's Colleen Russell finished with a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds.
The Chippewas held the lead at the break for just the third time this season, 40-34. Houghton led all scorers with 15 in the opening frame to go with a game-high seven boards, three steals and a block. Sherryia Armstrong tied her career best before the break with seven tallies, and the Chippewas shot 46.9 percent (15-for-32) through the game's first half. Eastern Michigan connected at a 48.4 percent clip (15-for-31), but were outrebounded 24-14 by CMU. The Chippewas also connected on 5-of-11 triple tries, while the Eagles hit just 2-of-8 from deep.
The two teams traded baskets early before CMU used a 9-3 run to build a 26-20 lead with 8:58 left in the half on an Armstrong layup. Eastern Michigan drew back within two on back-to-back makes by Russell, but the CMU lead was back to seven after a pair of free throws by Armstrong and a jumper by Houghton with 4:01 until the break. A trey by Verhoff with under a minute remaining gave CMU its biggest halftime lead of the season.
The Eagles applied pressure following halftime and held CMU to just three points in the first 4:52 of the second frame, drawing within two, 43-41.
Eastern Michigan would explode for a 13-2 run to take its first lead since the 16:54 mark in the first half, 50-45, with 13:03 remaining. CMU battled back to take a three-point lead on a trey by Angel Chan and a layup by Armstrong with 8:08 left, and neither team would lead by more than three the rest of the way.
Houghton came up with a steal and scored a layup on a nice give-and-go with Armstrong to give CMU a one-point lead, 66-65, with 2:24 to go. EMU's Canea Williams answered just 13 seconds later nudge the Eagles up by one.
After a steal by Luckett, Houghton drove to the lane but couldn't get a jumper to go with just under a minute left. Shonda Long swiped a pass with 30 seconds left to give CMU another chance, but Verhoff's layup wouldn't fall with nine seconds to go and the Chippewas were forced to foul. EMU's Kelly Watts hit one of two free throws to seal the victory.
CMU finished at 44.1 percent from the floor (26-for-59) and 35.3 percent from range (6-for-17). Eastern Michigan finished at 47.5 percent (28-for-59), with 31 of the team's 59 attempts coming from Russell and Williams. The Chippewas outrebounded the Eagles, 36-35.
The Chippewa women's program welcome back around 40 players representing six decades of the program. The group was honored at halftime of the game and it gathered for a postgame reception.
The Chippewas (4-13, 0-4 MAC) will travel to Ball State on Jan. 23.
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