Bradford Named MAC West Player of the Week
12/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Mount Pleasant, Mich. - Central Michigan junior Crystal Bradford has been named the Mid-American Conference West Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday morning.
Bradford scored six of her McGuirk Arena 34 points in the final 21 seconds, including the game-winning three with 0.2 seconds left to give the Chippewas a 94-91 win over Dayton on Thursday, Dec. 5. Bradford scored 16 first-half points to help the Maroon and Gold claim a 46-40 lead at the break, but it was her heroics down the stretch that allowed CMU to come from behind and claim a victory in its home opener. Down six with 27 seconds to play, Bradford dribbled up the court and hit a pull-up three with 21 seconds remaining. After a pair of missed free throws by the Flyers, Bradford assisted on Taylor Johnson's game-tying three with 5.7 seconds. The junior then took a pass from Johnson, who stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and hit a game-winning fall-away three with 0.2 seconds remaining to cement herself in the record books of McGuirk Arena and earn the No. 2 spot on ESPN's SportsCenter's Top Plays. Bradford finished the night 13-for-20 from the field, including 5-for-8 from three to match her career high for three-point field goals made. She also pulled down 12 rebounds in the contest for her 26th career double-double. The award is the first of the season for Bradford and the eighth of her career.