Central Michigan University
Ohio
Bradford Tops CMU List
1/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Senior Crystal Bradford scored 29 points and became the all-time scoring leader in program history, but the Central Michigan women's basketball team fell to Ohio, 74-66, at McGuirk Arena on Saturday.
It was CMU's third loss in four games, dropping it to 10-9 overall, 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference. MAC East-leading Ohio improved to 17-3, 8-1 in conference play. It was Ohio's second win in two weeks over the Chippewas. The Bobcats topped CMU, 71-51, on Jan. 17 in Athens, Ohio.
Bradford's 29 points brought her to 1,951 for her career, passing Sue Nissen for the most in program history. Nissen totaled 1,938 points from 1988-91.
Bradford now owns CMU individual career records in points scored, field goals made, rebounds and blocked shots.
"(Bradford) can score in a variety of ways and she's a very special player," said Sue Guevara, who is in her eighth year as CMU's coach and in her 35th year of college coaching. "I've coached some pretty good players down at Auburn, down at Michigan, and at Michigan State. I would say (Bradford) is more versatile than anybody else I've coached."
Despite a strong offensive performance from Bradford, the Chippewas struggled as a unit, going 25-for-66 (37.9 percent) from the field and 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) from three-point range on Saturday. They also finished 14-for-24 from the free throw line.
CMU kept the game competitive deep into the second half with its work on the glass, ultimately outrebounding Ohio, 50-30.
But at the 9:43 mark in the second half, the Bobcats began a 12-0 run to give them a 55-45 lead with 6:51 left. Cushioned with the lead, Ohio iced the game down the stretch with stingy defense and successful free throw shooting. Ohio finished 22-of-25 (88 percent) for the game from the line.
"If you look at the stats, we had more field goals than (Ohio) and 20 more rebounds," Guevara said. "But a team that was shooting 59 percent from the free throw line coming in goes 22-of-25. That's a team that can shoot.
"I thought there was probably a 4-minute stretch in the second half where we lost it. We lost it on the defensive end of the floor. I thought they did a pretty good job of attacking our bigs. Our help side was late coming over.
"We were toe-to-toe with them until that stretch. I looked to see how many points we got off the bench, and we got just three. You know, at one point I've got three freshmen in there. I have to get them the experience right now so that they will be better down the stretch."
The Chippewas were in danger of not making a three-pointer, which would have been a first for a Guevara-coached CMU team. Kerby Tamm sank CMU's first triple of the game with 1:52 left. The bucket provided Tamm's only three points of the game. She had scored a combined 37 in CMU's previous two games. The Chippewas finished 2-for-22 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Three-point shooting has been hit and miss for the Chippewas this season, and they're still looking for another threat outside of Tamm from beyond the arc, Guevara said.
CMU senior Jas'Mine Bracey scored 16 efficient points on 7-for-11 shooting, and added 16 rebounds and three blocks.
Three Ohio players totaled double-digits in scoring. Kiyanna Black led the Bobcats with 19, while Quiera Lampkin and Lexie Baldwin recorded 15 apiece.
CMU's next game will be on the road at Bowling Green, Feb. 4.
