Central Michigan University Athletics
Free Throws Seal Chippewas' Fifth Straight Win
12/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio - Crystal Bradford recorded her fourth double-double on the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, as Central Michigan won the Wright State Invitational with a 65-60 win over the host school.
With the score tied at 60 and 1:07 remaining, Brandie Baker stepped to the line to hit a pair of free throws and hand the Chippewas (7-5) a 62-60 lead. Baker would attempt two more and miss them both but Skylar Miller grabbed the second miss and was immediately fouled. She hit one of two from the line to put the CMU lead at three with 13 seconds left. Jordan LaDuke grabbed the Miller miss and following two made free throws by her the Chippewas had won their fifth straight game.
The five-game win streak for CMU is the longest since the 2006-07 season.
"A lot of different people contributed for us today," said head coach Sue Guevara. "Our defense and rebounds won the game for us. We were able to hit key free throws down the stretch and I think our team really showed how resistant we are. When Wright State grabbed the lead with about eight minutes remaining this team fought hard and never gave up."
The Chippewas were able to out-rebound the Raiders (7-5) 51-50 with four of those coming in the last 1:07. The CMU defense forced 20 turnovers while only committing 13 of their own.
The Raiders led by as many as six in the first half at the 10:21 mark following back-to-back three-pointers. CMU's offense exploded on a 14-0 run with three-pointers from both Bradford and LaDuke to give the Chippewas a 26-18 lead with 1:45 remaining in the half. Wright State was held scoreless during the nearly nine-minute stretch, and was limited to just one field goal after the 10:21 mark. Miller hit two from the charity stripe right before the half to give the Maroon and Gold a 30-25 lead heading into the break.
The CMU offense forced two turnovers in the first 30 seconds of the second half to open up a nine-point lead at 34-25. Central had its largest lead of the game, 44-34, at the 14:03 mark when the Raiders responded with a 10-3 run to cut their deficit to just three, 47-44, at 10:34. Niki DiGuilio answered with a three-pointer that put the lead back to six. WSU locked down on defense and used a 12-2 run to take its first lead since the 8:44 mark of the first half, at 56-52, with 7:29 left to play.
Miller hit a jumper that was followed by another DiGuilio three-pointer to put the Chippewas back in front by one at 57-56 with 5:51 left to play. The lead would go back and forth, and neither team hit a field goal after DiGuilio's three, but it was CMU who hit free throws down the stretch, including 7-of-10 in the final two minutes, to seal the win.
More than half of Wright State's field goals came from behind the arc as the Raiders hit 10-of-38 from long range and only 18-of-62 overall for a 29.0 field goal percentage, the lowest of any CMU opponent this year.
LaDuke played a season-high 38 minutes and grabbed 12 rebounds to go with her nine points. Jessica Green finished the game with 11 points and four steals.
As a team the Chippewas shot 29.4 percent from the floor while shooting a season-high 71.4 percent from the foul line. The bench came in and contributed 35 points for CMU.
The Chippewas will enjoy a short holiday break as they are back on the road on Dec. 28 when they travel to Tulane to compete in the Tulane Holiday Tournament.
