Saturday, January 30
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 P.M.
Central Michigan University
10-5,8-3MAC
66
vs
62
Buffalo
9-5,6-3MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Buffalo
7
17
26
12
62
Central Mich.
14
18
14
20
66
CMU senior Micaela Kelly drives to the basket on Saturday in the Chippewas' 66-62 win over Buffalo at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Chippewa Women Hold Off Buffalo For 3rd Straight Win
1/30/2021 4:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It was far from easy. It seemingly never is when it comes to Central Michigan and Buffalo in women's basketball.
Micaela Kelly hit the go-ahead bucket with just over a minute remaining and finished with 19 points on Saturday as the Chippewas wrestled away a 66-62 Mid-American Conference victory from the Bulls at McGuirk Arena.
It was CMU's third-consecutive win as it swept the two-game season series from the Bulls. CMU improved to 10-5, 8-3 MAC, and moved past the Bulls and into third place in the league standings. Buffalo is 9-5, 6-3.
How It Happened
The Chippewas trailed 62-61 when Kelly, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, rebounded her own miss and scored with 1:07 to play to put the Chippewas in front, 63-62.
CMU's Anika Weekes drew a charge from Buffalo standout Dyaisha Fair on the Bulls' next possession, and then a driving Kelly dumped the ball off to Kyra Bussell for a CMU bucket to make it 65-62 with 46 seconds left.
"There was a timeout where I told (Kelly), 'I need my big player to make big plays,'" CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "She's so athletic. When she goes to the boards she could be one of the best rebounders in this conference."
Bussell blocked a Fair shot with 20 seconds left, and then Kelly split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Leaders
Molly Davis added 18 points and Maddy Watters had 14 for the Chippewas.
Watters hit four of her seven 3-point attempts. All four of Watters' triples came in the first half, and her treys and 14 points were the most she has put up in both categories since the Chippewas won at Buffalo, 79-63, three weeks ago.
Jahari Smith grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for the Chippewas.
Defense
Fair, one of Kelly's chief rivals to lay claim to the best-player-in-the-league crown, scored 22 points on 9-of-27 shooting. Fair scored 30 points the last time the Chippewas and Bulls met. She was 10-for 25 in that game.
"For the most part, I was pretty happy with the defensive effort on Fair because she is just very, very talented," Oesterle said. "We tried to make every shot she took contested and have multiple people around the area from where she was shooting. For the most part our post players did a great job helping on her. She's an incredible player."
Inside Game
Buffalo finished with a 34-18 advantage on points in the paint; outrebounded the Chippewas, 48-39; and scored 25 second-chance points to CMU's 14. The Bulls finished with 23 offensive rebounds.
"They were a lot more physical than we were," Oesterle said. "And we know that. Every time we play Buffalo they're very, very physical and they're big. And they rotate bigs off the bench so we just have to be a lot hungrier for the ball and fight for those rebounds. I thought a couple times they just outworked us to the boards and that can't happen."
Responding
The Chippewas led by as many as 11 points in the first half and were up 32-24 at the break. Buffalo outscored CMU, 26-14, in the third quarter and took its first lead, 47-46, on a Fair 3-pointer late in the third.
Fair's triple came during a 13-0 run that put CMU in a 52-46 deficit early in the fourth quarter.
"I said to the team, it's the two words I've used a lot in the past couple weeks, we need to get our energy back and our intensity back," Oesterle said. "We lost our energy there for a little bit in the third quarter. The look in our eye never changed. We just needed to get that energy back.
"It says a lot about a veteran team. There was no panic from them; it was just like, OK, we've got to get our offense flowing a little bit, we've got to get some ball reversals."
Next
The Chippewas entertain Ball State, 8-5, 6-3, on Wednesday, Feb. 3 (5 p.m.). That Cardinals won at Western Michigan, 79-71, on Saturday. It was their fourth-consecutive victory.
Micaela Kelly hit the go-ahead bucket with just over a minute remaining and finished with 19 points on Saturday as the Chippewas wrestled away a 66-62 Mid-American Conference victory from the Bulls at McGuirk Arena.
It was CMU's third-consecutive win as it swept the two-game season series from the Bulls. CMU improved to 10-5, 8-3 MAC, and moved past the Bulls and into third place in the league standings. Buffalo is 9-5, 6-3.
How It Happened
The Chippewas trailed 62-61 when Kelly, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, rebounded her own miss and scored with 1:07 to play to put the Chippewas in front, 63-62.
CMU's Anika Weekes drew a charge from Buffalo standout Dyaisha Fair on the Bulls' next possession, and then a driving Kelly dumped the ball off to Kyra Bussell for a CMU bucket to make it 65-62 with 46 seconds left.
"There was a timeout where I told (Kelly), 'I need my big player to make big plays,'" CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "She's so athletic. When she goes to the boards she could be one of the best rebounders in this conference."
Bussell blocked a Fair shot with 20 seconds left, and then Kelly split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Leaders
Molly Davis added 18 points and Maddy Watters had 14 for the Chippewas.
Watters hit four of her seven 3-point attempts. All four of Watters' triples came in the first half, and her treys and 14 points were the most she has put up in both categories since the Chippewas won at Buffalo, 79-63, three weeks ago.
Jahari Smith grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for the Chippewas.
Defense
Fair, one of Kelly's chief rivals to lay claim to the best-player-in-the-league crown, scored 22 points on 9-of-27 shooting. Fair scored 30 points the last time the Chippewas and Bulls met. She was 10-for 25 in that game.
"For the most part, I was pretty happy with the defensive effort on Fair because she is just very, very talented," Oesterle said. "We tried to make every shot she took contested and have multiple people around the area from where she was shooting. For the most part our post players did a great job helping on her. She's an incredible player."
Inside Game
Buffalo finished with a 34-18 advantage on points in the paint; outrebounded the Chippewas, 48-39; and scored 25 second-chance points to CMU's 14. The Bulls finished with 23 offensive rebounds.
"They were a lot more physical than we were," Oesterle said. "And we know that. Every time we play Buffalo they're very, very physical and they're big. And they rotate bigs off the bench so we just have to be a lot hungrier for the ball and fight for those rebounds. I thought a couple times they just outworked us to the boards and that can't happen."
Responding
The Chippewas led by as many as 11 points in the first half and were up 32-24 at the break. Buffalo outscored CMU, 26-14, in the third quarter and took its first lead, 47-46, on a Fair 3-pointer late in the third.
Fair's triple came during a 13-0 run that put CMU in a 52-46 deficit early in the fourth quarter.
"I said to the team, it's the two words I've used a lot in the past couple weeks, we need to get our energy back and our intensity back," Oesterle said. "We lost our energy there for a little bit in the third quarter. The look in our eye never changed. We just needed to get that energy back.
"It says a lot about a veteran team. There was no panic from them; it was just like, OK, we've got to get our offense flowing a little bit, we've got to get some ball reversals."
Next
The Chippewas entertain Ball State, 8-5, 6-3, on Wednesday, Feb. 3 (5 p.m.). That Cardinals won at Western Michigan, 79-71, on Saturday. It was their fourth-consecutive victory.
Team Stats
UB
CMU
FG%
.333
.417
3FG%
.269
.333
FT%
.714
.875
RB
48
39
TO
14
15
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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