Game Notes: Chippewas Look to Bounce Back Against Zips

Watch: Basketball Insider | Complete Game Notes in .pdf Format

Central Michigan (12-7, 4-3 MAC) vs. Akron (9-10, 2-5 MAC)
Saturday &diams; January 29, 2011 &diams; 2 p.m. &diams; McGuirk Arena
Live Radio Coverage on the CMU Sports Network &diams; WMHW-FM 91.5 (Justin Hoff, Chuck Oberski and Colin Hinman)

COVERAGE
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video (CMU Sports Zone Subscribers)

STORYLINES
...Shonda Long became just the 19th player in Mid-American Conference history to connect on 200-plus career three-pointers with six against the Bulls on Wednesday. She currently sits in a tie for 18th on the list with Bowling Green's Tracy Pontius with 203 made threes. [Program Record Book ]
...senior Kaihla Szunko needs just 126 rebounds to become just the third player to reach 1,000 career rebounds in CMU history.
...Kaihla Szunko has 12 double-doubles in 19 games so far this season. She ranks eighth in the nation in 2010-11, and second among active players in the MAC with 35 in her career.
...CMU boasts the top two scoring freshmen in the Mid-American Conference in Niki DiGuilio (11.2) and Taylor Johnson (9.9 ppg). Johnson is also the top rebounding freshman in the MAC (7.1/game).
...the Chippewas have 83 20-point scorers in head coach Sue Guevara 's 110 games at CMU.
...CMU boasts the nation's third-ranked offense entering the weekend, averaging 83.1 points per contest.
...CMU has not lost three consecutive games since the final three games of the 2009-10 regular season and has not dropped consecutive home decisions since the first two home games of 2009-10 (Loyola/Georgetown).
...Both Brandie Baker and Kaihla Szunko are putting together fantastic seasons in 2010-11, despite having to bounce back after major knee injuries in their career. NCAA.com profiled their efforts this week with a feature story on CMU's dynamic duo. [Story ]

PROJECTED STARTERS
	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	Other	Notes
(1) G	Brandie Baker	6-0	So.	13.5	7.2	5.4 APG	Leads the MAC with 38.6 minutes/game
(2) G	Shonda Long	5-9	Sr.	16.7	3.0	2.7 3PG	Poured in a season-high 29 points against the Bulls on Wed.
(3) G	Niki DiGuilio	5-8	Fr.	11.2	2.8	2.1 3PG	Is the MAC's leading freshman scorer
(4) F	Skylar Miller	5-10	Jr.	6.8	4.4	1.4 SPG	Five double-figure scoring efforts in 2010-11
(5) F	Kaihla Szunko	6-1	Sr.	16.1	10.9	3.1 SPG	Ranks 18th in the nation in steals

2010-11 MAC STANDINGS
West Division	MAC	Overall	East Division	MAC	Overall
	6-1	14-6		6-1	15-4
	5-2	14-7		5-2	17-3
	4-3	12-7		3-4	10-10
	4-3	9-11		2-5	10-10
	2-5	8-12		2-5	6-14
	1-6	5-15		2-5	9-10

TALE OF THE TAPE			GAME NOTES
			Scouting the Opponents -- Akron was tabbed fourth in the East Division of the Mid-American Conference preseason poll. The Zips sit in a three-way tie for fourth in the East Division entering today’s game, and are coming off a 77-66 win at Western Michigan that snapped a four-game skid. UA had dropped six of its past seven contests after opening the season at 7-4. All-Time Series -- CMU holds a 16-13 edge over Akron in the all-time series, and has won eight of the last 10 meetings. The Zips won the only meeting last season, 62-55, at Rhodes Arena. The Zips have not won in Mount Pleasant since Feb. 6, 2001 (75-58), dropping each of the last four games. The Chippewas own a 9-4 edge all-time on their home floor. Don’t I Know You? -- Candace Smith, formerly Candace Wilson, is in her third season as Akron’s director of basketball operations. Smith, a four-year letterwinner in the Maroon and Gold, averaged 10.2 points and 4.0 rebounds as a senior at Central Michigan and connected on 40 percent of her three-point field goals. Her career 34.9 percent three-point percentage currently ranks sixth on CMU’s career chart and second in career free throw percentage (81.5). She graduated from CMU in May of 2008 with a degree in business administration.  Among the MAC’s Best -- Shonda Long became just the 19th player in Mid-American Conference history, and first Central Michigan player, to cross the 200 career three-pointers mark with six treys against Buffalo on Wednesday. Three-Point Three-Peat Feat -- Senior Shonda Long became the first player in CMU history to connect on at least 50 three-pointers in three different seasons. She now owns three of the program’s top-10 single season marks in three-pointers made, with this season’s total of 51 tying her for eighth. We Must Protect This House -- Despite Wednesday’s loss to Buffalo, CMU is 24-8 the last three seasons on their home floor incuding a 4-2 mark this season. CMU has not lost more than three home games in a season since head coach Sue Guevara’s first year.
81	RPI	182
83.1	Points	68.1
75.4	Pts. Allowed	65.1
41.8	FG %	42.3
34.6	3FG %	30.9
7.9	3FG Made	5.5
71.0	FT %	66.3
43.0	Rebounds	35.8
+0.0	Reb. +/-	-1.6
14.9	Assists	14.0
15.3	Turnovers	16.7
10.5	Steals	7.1
2.8	Blocks	2.2

Central Michigan University Athletics

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