CMU Women Ride Big Second Half To 3rd Straight Win

Saturday, November 30

Mount Pleasant, MI

1:00 p.m.

Central Michigan University

3-3,0-0MAC

Marist

5-1,0-0MAAC

Marist

Central Mich.

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

11/30/2019 4:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Micaela Kelly hits scoring milestone

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Heather Oesterle loosened the reins a bit, and her Central Michigan women's basketball team responded.

Micaela Kelly scored 23 points and Kyra Bussell added 18 on Saturday as the Chippewas downed Marist, 77-54, in a nonconference game at McGuirk Arena.

It was the Chippewas' third-consecutive victory as they improved to 3-3. It was the first loss of the season for Marist (5-1), which is ranked ninth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

How It Happened
The Chippewas outscored the Red Foxes, 42-21, in the second half, during which CMU made six of its 12 3-point attempts.

Leading 35-33 at halftime, CMU went on an 18-2 run to open the third quarter. A Gabrielle Bird layup with 3:29 left in the third quarter capped the outburst, leaving CMU with a 53-35 lead. Marist never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and CMU led by as many as 23 in the fourth quarter.

"A lot of the second half wasn't calling plays, it was just playing basketball," Oesterle said. "I told them to have fun -- have fun and play. No rules, I just want that ball moving.

"I want them to play free and I think that's harder to defend sometimes than me calling a play all the time. We've been working on that in practice, just not calling a play every time and letting them go and be free."

Milestone for Kelly
Kelly made a season-high four 3-pointers on just five attempts, and she surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career, cresting the plateau on a triple just 15 seconds into the third quarter.

"Without my teammates, without my coaches, I wouldn't have gotten into that position," Kelly said. "I'm blessed and I'm thankful. It is a rhythm. I see a few go in, it gives me confidence to keep shooting the ball."

Kelly entered the game having made seven of her 29 (24.1 percent) of her triple tries on the season.

"It was good to see (Kelly) get going from the 3," Oesterle said. "She hits those in practice all the time. When she's hitting her 3 ball, she's really tough to defend because of her speed to the basket."

Kelly is the 31^st player in program history to score 1,000 career points. She ranks 29^th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,011 career points.

Dominant on the Boards
The Chippewas finished with a 50-29 rebounding advantage. The 50 boards are a season high and is more than 16 above CMU's season average.

It marked the third-consecutive game – all victories – that CMU has outrebounded its opponent.

"I think we're doing a better job of boxing out and going to get the ball," Oesterle said. "The first three games, we watched on film, and were boxing out but we weren't pursuing the basketball. We're being more aggressive pursuing the basketball."

Sophomore Jahari Smith led the Chippewas with nine rebounds, while guard Maddy Watters and Mackenna Kelly added eight each.

Career Bests
Mackenna Kelly, a senior, logged 20 minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points and eight boards, both career highs.

"I've been wanting to rebound better and I've been thinking a lot about it," she said. "I realize I'm just thinking about it too much. It's a matter of just going to get it. Today before the game I set a goal of 10; I got pretty close. Just a matter of wanting it more, going and getting it."

Next
The Chippewas will play host to Iona (1-5) in a nonconference game on Thursday, Dec. 5 (7 p.m.). It is the final game of a four-game homestand. After the Iona game, the Chippewas will play their next six contests on the road, returning to McGuirk Arena for a Mid-American Conference game on Jan. 11 against Miami (Ohio).