Central Michigan University Athletics
Huskies Surge Past Chippewas, 75-70
1/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Shonda Long scored 17 points to continue her hot streak but the Central Michigan women’s basketball team went ice cold in the second half, as Northern Illinois erased a nine-point first half deficit on its way to a 75-70 victory at Rose Arena on Wednesday in the Mid-American Conference opener for both clubs.
Long finished 6-of-12, including 5-of-11 from long range, to pace four Chippewas in double-figures. Angel Chan (16 points), Brandie Baker (13 points) and Britni Houghton (12 points) also cracked the mark.
Five of Long’s first seven shots went down, giving her 14 points in the opening half to guide the Chippewas to a nine-point lead, 27-18, with 7:30 remaining in the half. But NIU used a 7-1 run to get back within a possession just three minutes later, and completed the comeback on Kylie York’s three with 44 seconds left in the half, tying the game at 35.
Kaihla Szunko’s only field goal of the game came just before the half and gave the Chippewas a two-point lead at the break.
The Huskies took their first lead since the 12:26 mark in the first half on a trey just 85 seconds into the second frame.
The lead would change hands eight times over the next seven minutes, before the Huskies took a 50-49 lead with 11:41 left. The Chippewas would never regain the lead. It remained a two-possession game until the 6:42 mark when NIU connected on its seventh trey to create a seven-point cushion, 63-56.
Central answered with a 7-0 run to tie it up at 63 with 3:20 remaining, in large part thanks to five points by Skylar Miller, who finished with eight. But NIU would answer on the next possession and quickly pushed the lead back to nine, its largest of the contest, with just under a minute left.
CMU shot just 35 percent from the floor (21-of-6), including a 28 percent effort in the second half. After making 50 percent of its threes in the opening frame (8-of-16), the Chippewas would hit just four of its final 15 attempts to finish at 39 percent (12-of-31).
NIU shot 48 percent (29-of-61) from the floor and 50 percent from the arc (8-of-16).
The difference in the contest proved to be rebounding in the second half. NIU held a slim 16-15 edge in boards at the break, but finished with a 46-34 advantage, including 15 offensive rebounds. The Huskies also used a 30-18 advantage in the paint.
CMU (8-6, 0-1 MAC) will travel to Eastern Michigan on Saturday to continue the opening week of league action.
NOTES
Kaihla Szunko led the Chippewas with 10 rebounds, giving her five straight games with double-digit boards ... Houghton was held to just four field goal attempts and just one in the second half ... Brandie Baker tied her season-high with nine boards ... CMU was just 9-of-29 (31 percent) on non-threes in the contest.
