Central Michigan University
NIU
Different Path, Same Destination
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
DeKalb, Ill. — Central Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara predicted a much different game in her team's second meeting of the season with Northern Illinois.
She was spot on.
CMU erased a 17-point third-quarter deficit, outscoring Northern Illinois 30-10 in the fourth quarter on Saturday to claim a 73-67 Mid-American Conference win which played out in sharp contrast to the Chippewas' 32-point home victory over the Huskies on Jan. 19.
"It was a frustrating afternoon for us," said Guevara. "I have to give our players credit because we stayed the course, we may have zigzagged a little, but they just kept believing."
It was CMU the eighth straight win for CMU, which is 17-7 overall, 11-2 MAC. The win streak is the second-longest for a Guevara-coached Chippewa team. NIU is 10-13, 3-9.
CMU now leads the MAC West by 2 ½ games over both Ball State and Toledo. Both lost their respective games on Saturday and stand 8-4 in conference play.
Senior Da'Jourie Turner scored 21 of her season-high 24 points in the second half to pace the Chippewas, who trailed 38-25 at halftime.
"(Guevara) just kept telling me to attack, attack, attack and take it one possession at a time," Turner said. "I just kept taking the open looks they were giving me. I couldn't really finish at the rim so I started pulling up and they were falling so I stayed with it."
The Chippewas took their first lead of the game with just over three minutes remaining on Turner layup. CMU finished on a 10-4 run to seal the win.
CMU shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half to finish 42.6 percent from the field for the game. The Chippewas dominated the glass to the tune of a 51-29 advantage.
NIU forced a total of 24 CMU turnovers, 20 of which came in the first three quarters of play.
"I thought in the first half that Northern Illinois wanted this game a heck of a lot more than we did," Guevara. "Defensively we were as bad as we've been all year and we weren't very disciplined.
"We went in at halftime and basically gave everyone a piece of my mind because I was disappointed in our effort, and I specifically went after Ree Ree (Turner) because I thought she was being a little complacent and you saw what happens when she attacks."
Freshman forward Reyna Frost provided a much-needed spark in the post for CMU, posting her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Tinara Moore also contributed a double-double, her 15th of the season, with 10 points and 13 boards.
Courtney Woods scored 17 points to lead NIU, while Ally Lehman and Mikayla Voigt each had 13.
The Chippewas will get the week off before playing host to Toledo (13-10, 8-4) at McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Feb. 20.
"I think we're going to take Monday off so we're going to have a couple days to rest up," Guevara said. "We're going to work on defense and eliminating our empty possessions, but enjoy the fact the we won this game on the road, embrace it and get ready for the next one."
