Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Cruise Past Eagles in Regular Season Finale
3/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Seniors Angel Chan and Latisha Luckett helped make sure they left Rose Arena winners, as the duo guided the Central Michigan women’s basketball team to a 95-62 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday in the Mid-American Conference regular season finale.
Chan hit seven threes to tie her career high on her way to a game-high 25 points, while Luckett finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Kaihla Szunko also put up one of her best efforts of the season, tying a career-best with 20 points and snaring 15 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Britni Houghton finished with 14 points, six boards and five assists, and Brandie Baker chipped in 13 points and six rebounds to give CMU five players in double-figures.
Eastern held a slim 21-20 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining, before a Skylar Miller lay-in started a 13-0 run that was fueled by a pair of Chan triples to put the Chippewas ahead for good, 32-21, at the eight-minute mark.
After a Luckett jumper with 4:42 remaining in the first dropped to put CMU back ahead by 11, the Maroon and Gold lead never dipped below double-figures. A pair of free throws with 15 seconds left gave CMU its fourth 50-point frame of the season, and a 50-37 lead at the break.
An 8-0 run spurred on by two more Chan threes pushed the Chippewas’ lead to 20, 63-43, with 12:24 left. A three by Kendra Holman with 21 seconds left would push CMU’s lead to its largest point of the game, 33 points, and produced the final margin.
Central scored 34 points off 25 Eastern turnovers compared to just seven EMU points off 14 CMU miscues. The Eagles edged the Chippewas on the glass (46-41), but the Maroon and Gold held the Green and White to just 34 percent from the field (22-of-65) and 32 percent from long range (6-of-19), while Central connected at 48 percent from the field (32-of-67) and 37 percent from long range (10-of-27).
The win clinches Central (17-13, 9-7 MAC) a winning MAC record for the first time since the 1992-93 season, when Central went 10-8. The 17 overall wins are the most since the 1990-91 squad went 21-8. The Chippewas also swept both Eastern and Western Michigan in the same season for the first time since 1994.
CMU entered the week locked in as the No. 4 seed in the West Division for next week’s MAC Tournament, and will face East No. 5 Akron in the opening round. The game time is still to be determined by the league office.
NOTES
CMU athletics, CMU women’s basketball and local ice cream parlor Doozies set the world’s record for largest consumed Ice Cream Sundae, in a promotion to thank the fans for their season-long support ... with 14 points today, Britni Houghton finishes the regular season with 508 tallies, the second-most in a single campaign in school history ... Houghton also moved into the No. 10 spot on the career scoring chart with 1,135 ... this is the second game this season in which Chan has hit seven threes ... the Chippewas finished the season 10-3 at home, 6-2 in league play ... the 11-win improvement is a program best ... the 33 point margin of victory is CMU’s largest this season.
