Saturday, February 11
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
5-18,3-9MAC
72
vs
71
Buffalo
9-12,4-8MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Buffalo
18
18
17
18
71
Central Mich.
22
15
21
14
72
Mikala Hall drives to the basket in CMU's win Saturday over Buffalo at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Hall Delivers in the Clutch as Women's Basketball Pulls Out Dramatic Win
2/11/2023 4:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Mikala Hall's bucket with 7.2 seconds left lifts CMU to 72-71 win over Buffalo
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A welcome return, a breakout performance.
And maybe, just maybe, a turning point.
Bridget Utberg scored 20 points, Mikala Hall added 16, and Rochelle Norris turned in her second straight double-double on Saturday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team pulled out a dramatic 72-71 Mid-American Conference victory over Buffalo at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas snapped a four-game losing streak in improving to 5-18, 3-9 MAC.
"We are on a mission to get to the MAC Tournament," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "And that's all we're going to talk about for the next two weeks is getting to the MAC Tournament and giving our seniors a chance to compete for a championship. And that's my whole focus right now.
"We've got to continue to build on this, we've got to get some confidence from this win and take it into next week. We can't take a step backwards. We've got to be locked in and focused for the next few weeks."
No, one win does not a tournament team make, but CMU clearly played like a team on a mission on Saturday in downing Buffalo (9-12, 4-8), one of the teams the Chippewas will have to pass in order to make to Cleveland for the league tournament.
Hall, a graduate transfer guard who played sparingly until just a week or so ago, hit a jumper from the foul line with 7.2 seconds remaining to put CMU in front for good on Saturday.
The 16 points marked her first double-digit scoring game as a Chippewa. She hit four of her five 3-pointers and finished six of eight from the floor for the game.
Utberg, CMU's freshman point guard, returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury.
In her absence, Hall stepped up and Oesterle paired the two in the backcourt to start the game for the first time this season.
"Mikala brings a lot of energy to our team," said Utberg, who hit three of her five triple tries, the first of which came just 19 seconds after the opening tip. "It's nice (playing alongside Hall) because when I'm off the ball I can see other things. It helps me get open for shots that I wouldn't be able to do when I have the ball in my hands."
Norris, CMU's 6-foot-5 junior center, had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The performances of Norris, Hall and Utberg helped offset a rare off day from freshman Sydney Harris, CMU's leading scorer who finished with five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
"That shows me that we can win without Syd scoring," Oesterle said. "They did a great job on her. I'll give Buffalo credit. They packed it in. Whenever she posted up, they had three people on her. They tried to deny her the ball everywhere.
"We expect Syd to score, but she had a rough day today. So other people picked it up. That's a team."
A team that is perhaps now finding itself after struggling with so many new faces in the program and a rash of injuries.
On Wednesday and playing without Utberg, the Chippewas lost, 68-63, in a tight game at Kent State. They held on to beat Buffalo despite squandering an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and watching the Bulls go up, 71-70, on a Hattie Ogden triple with 1:26 remaining.
Hall inbounded the ball to Norris with 13 seconds remaining. Norris got the ball back to Hall and then set a high screen to free up Hall to nail what proved to be the game winner as the shot clock expired.
"We were going to (Utberg) at the end of the game and (Buffalo) denied everywhere," Oesterle said. "It ended up in Mikala's hands and she's gotten some confidence these last two games to take that shot at the end of the game. Big players make big plays and today Mikala was a big player."
Buffalo's Zakiyah Winfield missed a heavily contested runner from the right side as the clocked ticked under 3 seconds. Buffalo rebounded but air-balled the putback.
"That shows the maturity of our team," Oesterle said. "At the end, I had three freshmen out there and we found a way to win. Earlier in the year, I think we would have melted because we didn't know how to get there and today, we kept our composure, and we made crucial stops and scores at the end of the game.
"This week we've really picked up our intensity. And (Hall) really helps; she's an energy person. The energy's contagious. We've learned the hard way this year, but I think we're on the right track."
And maybe, just maybe, a turning point.
Bridget Utberg scored 20 points, Mikala Hall added 16, and Rochelle Norris turned in her second straight double-double on Saturday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team pulled out a dramatic 72-71 Mid-American Conference victory over Buffalo at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas snapped a four-game losing streak in improving to 5-18, 3-9 MAC.
"We are on a mission to get to the MAC Tournament," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "And that's all we're going to talk about for the next two weeks is getting to the MAC Tournament and giving our seniors a chance to compete for a championship. And that's my whole focus right now.
"We've got to continue to build on this, we've got to get some confidence from this win and take it into next week. We can't take a step backwards. We've got to be locked in and focused for the next few weeks."
No, one win does not a tournament team make, but CMU clearly played like a team on a mission on Saturday in downing Buffalo (9-12, 4-8), one of the teams the Chippewas will have to pass in order to make to Cleveland for the league tournament.
Hall, a graduate transfer guard who played sparingly until just a week or so ago, hit a jumper from the foul line with 7.2 seconds remaining to put CMU in front for good on Saturday.
The 16 points marked her first double-digit scoring game as a Chippewa. She hit four of her five 3-pointers and finished six of eight from the floor for the game.
Utberg, CMU's freshman point guard, returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury.
In her absence, Hall stepped up and Oesterle paired the two in the backcourt to start the game for the first time this season.
"Mikala brings a lot of energy to our team," said Utberg, who hit three of her five triple tries, the first of which came just 19 seconds after the opening tip. "It's nice (playing alongside Hall) because when I'm off the ball I can see other things. It helps me get open for shots that I wouldn't be able to do when I have the ball in my hands."
Norris, CMU's 6-foot-5 junior center, had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The performances of Norris, Hall and Utberg helped offset a rare off day from freshman Sydney Harris, CMU's leading scorer who finished with five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
"That shows me that we can win without Syd scoring," Oesterle said. "They did a great job on her. I'll give Buffalo credit. They packed it in. Whenever she posted up, they had three people on her. They tried to deny her the ball everywhere.
"We expect Syd to score, but she had a rough day today. So other people picked it up. That's a team."
A team that is perhaps now finding itself after struggling with so many new faces in the program and a rash of injuries.
On Wednesday and playing without Utberg, the Chippewas lost, 68-63, in a tight game at Kent State. They held on to beat Buffalo despite squandering an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and watching the Bulls go up, 71-70, on a Hattie Ogden triple with 1:26 remaining.
Hall inbounded the ball to Norris with 13 seconds remaining. Norris got the ball back to Hall and then set a high screen to free up Hall to nail what proved to be the game winner as the shot clock expired.
"We were going to (Utberg) at the end of the game and (Buffalo) denied everywhere," Oesterle said. "It ended up in Mikala's hands and she's gotten some confidence these last two games to take that shot at the end of the game. Big players make big plays and today Mikala was a big player."
Buffalo's Zakiyah Winfield missed a heavily contested runner from the right side as the clocked ticked under 3 seconds. Buffalo rebounded but air-balled the putback.
"That shows the maturity of our team," Oesterle said. "At the end, I had three freshmen out there and we found a way to win. Earlier in the year, I think we would have melted because we didn't know how to get there and today, we kept our composure, and we made crucial stops and scores at the end of the game.
"This week we've really picked up our intensity. And (Hall) really helps; she's an energy person. The energy's contagious. We've learned the hard way this year, but I think we're on the right track."
Team Stats
UB
CMU
FG%
.448
.482
3FG%
.538
.438
FT%
.923
.733
RB
29
34
TO
9
13
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
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