Thursday's Scoreboard
Western Michigan 80, Kentucky State 41
Louisville 76, Central Michigan 63
Story Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 80, Kentucky State 41
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team opened its 2019-20 home slate with a 80-41 victory over Kentucky State on Thursday inside University Arena.
The win marks the seventh season-opening win under head coach Shane Clipfell, who began his eighth season at the helm of the Bronco women's basketball program last Friday (Nov. 8) at Michigan.
Three of the five starters for the Brown & Gold scored in double digits. Jordan Walker led WMU with a 19-point performance, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, 3-for-6 from three-point range, and 2-for-2 at the free throw line. Breanna Mobley notched a double-double with 13 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Senior Kamrin Reed scored 14 points, all coming in the first quarter of play, off of 5-for-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Sydney Shafer also brought in a career-high 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Western Michigan held a 51-45 advantage in rebounds, shooting 37.1 percent from the field (26-of-70) and 30 percent from three-point range (9-for-30) while limiting Kentucky State to a 10 percent mark from long-range.
A three from Walker capped off a 13-0 start to the game for WMU, forcing a Kentucky State timeout four minutes into the game. The Brown & Gold went off on a run and blanked the Thorobreds 23-0 before a field goal put them on the board with just one minute to play in the first quarter. The Broncos shot a game-high 45 percent in those ten minutes, making 40 percent of their shots from three-point range and out-rebounding the Thorobreds 13-8.
The Broncos came out of the gate hot for the second quarter with a three-pointer off the bench from freshman Aniya Walker. The Thorobreds answered with a 5-0 run, forcing a Western timeout with a 29-13 advantage. Despite shooting 20 percent from the floor compared to a 21.1 percent mark from Kentucky State, the Broncos continued to out-rebound their opponents 28 to 25, earning seven points off forced KSU turnovers. A three-point field goal from Walker with 0:44 left in the half gave the Brown & Gold a 34-15 lead heading into the intermission.
Minutes into the third quarter, Mobley stole the show with five points and two rebounds in the first two minutes of play, followed by two made free throws and another jump shot with five minutes to earn her 31st career double-double. After an exchange of points to round out the Broncos' highest-scoring quarter, Walker hit a buzzer-beating three to extend WMU's lead heading into the final frame, 58-29.
Despite KSU putting up a fight in the fourth, the Broncos outscored the Thorobreds 22-12 in the last ten minutes. Jillian Fletcher came off the bench to hit a fast break three-pointer with four minutes to play as the Broncos completed the final quarter with a handful of free throws and a jumpers from Walker and freshman Ashley Konkle. WMU shot 44 percent from the field and 7-for-7 from the line in the final quarter.
Western Michigan (1-1) returns to University Arena on Wednesday, hosting Detroit Mercy. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
Louisville 76, Central Michigan 63
Box Score
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They never backed down, again.
Central Michigan team went toe-to-toe with one of the true heavyweights of women's college basketball on Thursday before succumbing, 76-63, to ninth-ranked Louisville before 7,605 at the Cardinals' KFC Yum! Center.
The loss dropped the Chippewas to 0-2 and it came a week after their season-opening 111-105 double-overtime home loss to mid-major power Green Bay.
"For the most part I thought we battled with a really, really, really good team," first-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I just love the fact that we just battled. We were more physical than we were against Green Bay.
"Every possession here matters, and we have to outwork people and we have to be physical enough to box them out. I'm really proud of the way we played. We played hard, and I just think (if we continue to) trust in the process we're going to be a pretty good team down the road."
