Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Upset No. 12 Purdue, 75-62
12/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Brandie Baker recorded her first double-double on the season, with 16 points and 10 rebounds, as the Central Michigan women's basketball team claimed the biggest upset in school history defeating No. 12/14 Purdue, 75-62, on Sunday.
With 6:31 left to play Crystal Bradford set up Jas'Mine Bracey, off a pick-and-roll, for an easy layup to give the Chippewas (3-5) their second lead of the half at 58-56. Bradford and Baker teamed up, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe the rest of the way, to seal the Maroon and Gold's first home win of the season.
"I am very, very proud of this basketball team," said head coach Sue Guevara. "I thought we had a total team effort today and I thought our bench came to play. It's a nice win for our program and it shows that we are very capable of playing with the top teams in the country. We have been a work in progress, we are still a work in progress, and it is nice to see it come together."
This win marks the second victory over a ranked team at home in the last three years. In 2009 CMU defeated Louisville who was ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
The first half saw both teams trading points with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage until the 9:56 point, when a jumper by the Boilermakers (7-3) had them up by five. A long-range shot by Kerby Tamm and two free throws from Jessica Green tied the game back up, for the fourth time, at 21 with 8:15 left in the first half. A Purdue layup handed the visitors a lead that they held onto until halftime when they went into the locker room up 37-28.
Coming out of the half, the Boilermakers pushed their lead up to 12 following a Brittany Rayburn three-pointer. The Chippewas, who were down 46-34 with 14:24 left to play, put together an 8-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Taylor Johnson and Jalisa Olive. Rayburn responded and the deficit was six with 11:43 remaining. The Maroon and Gold answered two minutes later with another 8-0 run with Baker and Olive hitting shots from behind the arc, and CMU grabbed its first lead of the half at 54-52 with 8:30 remaining.
Rayburn once again had an answer, hitting two buckets to put her team back in front, 56-54. Bradford hit two free throws to tie the game back up at 56 with only 7:06 left in the second. The Chippewas held onto a slim lead until Jessica Green hit her second three-pointer of the game to put the lead at six with 1:11 left to play. In the final 2:24, CMU held Purdue without a basket while making seven free throws to seal the win.
Green and Bradford each added 14 points with Bradford also grabbing eight rebounds. As a team the Chippewas out-rebounded the Boilermakers 46-30, the most they have out-rebounded a team all season. They also shot 43.1 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from long range and 69.6 percent from the free throw line.
The Boilermakers had three players combine for 46 out of the team's 62 points.
The Chippewas travel to Mississippi, for the first of eight straight games on the road, on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
