Wednesday, December 18
Rochester, MI
7:00 p.m.
Central Michigan University
6-3,0-0MAC
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47
Oakland
4-6,0-0Horizon
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Central Mich.
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Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Sweet 6: Chippewa Women Roll Past Oakland For 6th Straight Victory
12/18/2019 10:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kelly scores 23, Bussell notches double-double as CMU improves to 6-3
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Micaela Kelly hit nine of her 11 field goal attempts en route to a game-high 23 points on Wednesday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team downed Oakland, 65-47, in a nonleague game at the Golden Grizzlies' O'rena.
It was CMU's sixth-consecutive victory as it improved to 6-3. The Chippewas are ranked 10th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Oakland is 4-6.
The 47 points was a season low for a CMU opponent.
"Overall, I think our defense was pretty good," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We put in a two-three zone this week because we're going to need it down the road. I thought we did a good job with the two-three tonight.
"It wasn't the prettiest basketball game in the world with the turnovers. I was trying to give a lot of people a chance tonight. When the bench comes in, they have to elevate the play. I think some people got some experience, something to learn from."
How It Happened
Jahari Smith scored with 5:16 to play in the first quarter to ignite an 11-0 CMU run that ended with a Maddy Watters 3-pointer with 1:13 left, giving the Chippewas a 14-6 lead.
They never trailed after that.
CMU started the second half with an 11-3 spurt to extend its lead to 43-25 with under five minutes to play in the third quarter. The Golden Grizzles never got closer than 15 points for the remainder of the game.
Team Stats
CMU held Oakland to 28.8 percent shooting from the field including 15.4 percent from 3-point range. Both were season lows for Oakland.
The overall shooting percentage was a season low for a CMU opponent, and the 15.4 percent from 3-point range was the second lowest for a Chippewa opponent.
Leaders
Kelly scored 10 of her points in the first quarter and she made both of her 3-point attempts on the night.
The junior guard scored a career-high 38 points on Saturday in the Chippewas' win over South Dakota State. She has made 64.4 percent of her field goal attempts (38 of 59) in her last four games and is nine for 10 from 3-point range in her last two games.
On Monday, she earned the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for her performance against South Dakota State.
"She's on a roll right now," Oesterle said. "She's playing very well and shooting the ball very well. She's just so fast in transition. If we get a leak out, Molly (Davis) does a great job of finding her in transition. … She's doing a nice job and playing with a ton of confidence."
Kyra Bussell added 14 points and led CMU with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Davis added 11 points, all in the second half, and led the Chippewas with five assists. She also made three of her five 3-point tries on the night.
"For Molly, I think she takes too long to be aggressive offensively," Oesterle said. "She makes everybody on the floor better. I thought a couple times (Kelly) and other people found her off the ball for her 3-point shot. She's playing very well."
Next
The Oakland game was CMU's second of six consecutive on the road. The Chippewas go next week to Florida where they will play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Dec. 28 (2 p.m.) in Daytona Beach. They then will head over to Orlando to take on Central Florida on Monday, Dec. 30 (6 p.m.).
It was CMU's sixth-consecutive victory as it improved to 6-3. The Chippewas are ranked 10th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Oakland is 4-6.
The 47 points was a season low for a CMU opponent.
"Overall, I think our defense was pretty good," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We put in a two-three zone this week because we're going to need it down the road. I thought we did a good job with the two-three tonight.
"It wasn't the prettiest basketball game in the world with the turnovers. I was trying to give a lot of people a chance tonight. When the bench comes in, they have to elevate the play. I think some people got some experience, something to learn from."
How It Happened
Jahari Smith scored with 5:16 to play in the first quarter to ignite an 11-0 CMU run that ended with a Maddy Watters 3-pointer with 1:13 left, giving the Chippewas a 14-6 lead.
They never trailed after that.
CMU started the second half with an 11-3 spurt to extend its lead to 43-25 with under five minutes to play in the third quarter. The Golden Grizzles never got closer than 15 points for the remainder of the game.
Team Stats
CMU held Oakland to 28.8 percent shooting from the field including 15.4 percent from 3-point range. Both were season lows for Oakland.
The overall shooting percentage was a season low for a CMU opponent, and the 15.4 percent from 3-point range was the second lowest for a Chippewa opponent.
Leaders
Kelly scored 10 of her points in the first quarter and she made both of her 3-point attempts on the night.
The junior guard scored a career-high 38 points on Saturday in the Chippewas' win over South Dakota State. She has made 64.4 percent of her field goal attempts (38 of 59) in her last four games and is nine for 10 from 3-point range in her last two games.
On Monday, she earned the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for her performance against South Dakota State.
"She's on a roll right now," Oesterle said. "She's playing very well and shooting the ball very well. She's just so fast in transition. If we get a leak out, Molly (Davis) does a great job of finding her in transition. … She's doing a nice job and playing with a ton of confidence."
Kyra Bussell added 14 points and led CMU with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Davis added 11 points, all in the second half, and led the Chippewas with five assists. She also made three of her five 3-point tries on the night.
"For Molly, I think she takes too long to be aggressive offensively," Oesterle said. "She makes everybody on the floor better. I thought a couple times (Kelly) and other people found her off the ball for her 3-point shot. She's playing very well."
Next
The Oakland game was CMU's second of six consecutive on the road. The Chippewas go next week to Florida where they will play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Dec. 28 (2 p.m.) in Daytona Beach. They then will head over to Orlando to take on Central Florida on Monday, Dec. 30 (6 p.m.).
Team Stats
CMU
Oak
FG%
.417
.288
3FG%
.360
.154
FT%
.500
.733
RB
39
41
TO
17
17
STL
11
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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