Saturday's Scoreboard
Central Michigan 79, South Dakota State 74
Toledo 82, Detroit Mercy 64
Bowling Green 63, Milwaukee 51
Western Michigan 90, Chicago State 69
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Central Michigan 79, South Dakota State 74
Box Score
BROOKINGS, S.D. – A career best for Micaela Kelly, and another sit-up-and-take notice win for the Central Michigan women's basketball team.
Kelly scored a career-high 38 points on Saturday as the Chippewas outbattled South Dakota State, 79-74, before 1,369 at the Jackrabbits' Frost Arena.
It was the fifth-consecutive win for the Chippewas, who won a showdown between two of the nation's top mid-major programs. CMU (5-3) entered the game ranked 14th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, while the Jackrabbits (7-5) were 12th.
"I told (my players) today at the shootaround, 'The tougher team wins today, and the more physical team wins,'" first-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We battled in there, we battled for rebounds. It's buying into what we're telling them, and I think we came out as the tougher team today."
Toledo 82, Detroit Mercy 64
Box Score
DETROIT, Mich. – Toledo women's basketball outscored Detroit Mercy 23-10 in the fourth quarter en route to claiming an 82-64 victory on Saturday in Calihan Hall. With the double-digit road win, the Rockets improve to 3-5 on the season.
Toledo held a five-point cushion, 59-54, after 30 minutes of competition before putting together a fantastic fourth period to pull away from the Horizon League member Titans (0-10).
The Midnight Blue & Gold opened the final stanza with a 9-0 burst and scored 13 of the first 15 points to give itself some much-needed breathing room. Five different Rockets registered points during this pivotal stretch, including a team-high four from junior Tanaya Beacham, to essentially put the non-league matchup out of reach.
Toledo connected on an eye-popping 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-of-5 from three-point land, to turn a two-possession contest into an impressive 18-point road triumph.
For the game, Beacham paced the Rockets with a career-high 22 points, followed by senior Mariella Santucci and freshman Mali Morgan-Elliott with 13 and 12, respectively.
"Tanaya played an exceptional game today," said Head Coach Tricia Cullop. "She was extremely aggressive and did a great job finishing."
Santucci added a career-tying best 10 rebounds to post her fourth-career double-double. The 2019-20 team captain barely missed tallying just the second triple-double in program history, dishing with a season-high seven assists.
"For your point guard to have a team-high 10 rebounds is pretty impressive," Cullop said. "Mariella did a really good job chasing down loose balls."
The Rockets also received eight points each from junior Nakiah Black and classmate Tatyana Davis, helping them claim their 12th-consecutive victory against a Horizon League school.
As a team, Toledo shot 48.5 percent (33-of-68) from the floor, including a season-high 41.7 percent (season-best 10-of-24) from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the free throw line to surpass the 80-point plateau for the first time this year.
"We shot the ball a lot better today, especially in the first and fourth quarters," Cullop said. "We are going to have to continue to shoot the ball that way as we get closer to conference play. Overall, I thought we made some really good decisions offensively."
The Rockets also finished with a sizable 44-32 edge on the glass, including a season-tying best 17 offensive caroms, and had a season-high 21 helpers.
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Sylare Starks led UDM with 17 points, all in the first half, while Bridgid Fox had 14.
Bowling Green 63, Milwaukee 51
Box Score
Milwaukee -- The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team went on the road and picked up a win for the third-straight Saturday, posting a 63-51 win over Milwaukee. BGSU is now 6-3 on the season.
Sophomore Kadie Hempfling paced the Falcons with a game-high 18 points vs. the Panthers. Hempfling went 8-for-13 from the field, and she scored five-straight points to extend BG's lead to 12 with under two minutes to go.
Fourth-year Falcon Caterrion Thompson had 16 points in the win, while junior Madisen Parker rounded out BG's trio of double-digit scorers with 11.
Junior Mari Hill had eight points and six rebounds. Hill, who played a game-high 37 minutes, led all players with four assists and two steals in the victory.
Lizzie Odegard had a double-double for the hosts, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Sydney Levy scored 11 points.
Freshman Elissa Brett led the Falcons with nine rebounds, while Hempfling and Parker joined Hill with six apiece.
BGSU shot 45.5 percent from the floor, but held the Panthers to just a 31.3% success rate. MKE made 20 total shots on the day.
The Panthers had a 40-38 rebounding advantage, but despite pulling down 14 offensive rebounds, had only six second-chance points.
Western Michigan 90, Chicago State 69
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball closed out their 2019 home stand with a 90-69 win over Chicago State University on Saturday, Dec. 14 inside University Arena.
Four of the five starters for the Broncos scored in double-digit figures, with Jordan Walker leading the way with a season-high 27 points, just five points shy of a career-high. Breanna Mobley followed with 17 points along with a team-high 10 rebounds and two assists, earning her third straight double-double and sixth of the season. Leighah-Amori Wool and Kamrin Reed each added ten points, Wool tallying eight rebounds to land just shy of a double-double. Ten of the 12 Broncos who saw action in tonight's contest put points on the board.
Western Michigan shot a season-high 50 percent from the field, converting 34-of-68 field goals. WMU also shot 36.4 percent from beyond the arc with eight threes and were 14-of-18 from the charity stripe. WMU garnered 27 points off forced turnovers, coming up one short of a season-high with 14 steals. The Broncos held Chicago State to 3-for-15 shooting from three and were dominant on defense, outrebounding the Cougars 45 to 29.
Junior Reilly Jacobson, a transfer from North Dakota State who joined the Broncos in the 2018-19 season, made her first appearance in the Brown & Gold, notching eight points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jacobson came off the bench at 5:30 in the first quarter and went on to shoot four-for-four in the paint and 100 percent of her free throws.
"What Bronco fans saw for the first time is what we've been seeing all year in practice from Jacobson," Head Coach Shane Clipfell commented. "She's going to add a dimension to the team that we've really needed."
The Broncos shot out of the gate on an 11-2 run, highlighted by Walker's 11 straight points for the Brown & Gold in the first five minutes of the contest. Jacobson added a layup on her first possession off the bench to force a CSU timeout with a nine-point lead for WMU. Walker ended the first frame with 13 total points, shooting six-for-eight from the field and scoring once from beyond the arc.
WMU extended its lead into the second quarter, outscoring the Cougars 22 to 16. The Broncos converted 34 points in the paint, led by Mobley and Jacobson with three shots each. Walker put up another eight points while graduate transfer Chelayne Bailey led the assist game with five total to give the Broncos a 23-point advantage heading into the second half.
Western Michigan continued their hot streak in the third quarter, starting with a fast break layup from Walker and a deep three from Bailey, her first of the game. Senior Jillian Fletcher came off the bench to hit a three in the corner, her third straight game with at least one successful shot behind the arc. Leading by 35, WMU stopped a 4-0 break for the Cougars with a pair of made free throws from Mobley, pushing her into the double digits in both scoring and rebounding.
Chicago State pushed back in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Broncos 24-13. The Cougars opened the final frame with eight straight points to force a WMU timeout with 7:06 left to play. Freshman Sydney Shafer broke the streak with her first three of the game, quickly followed up by points from Ashley Konkle and Aniya Walker to give the Broncos the victory, 90-69
The Broncos, now 5-3 overall, travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the annual Puerto Rico Classic on Dec. 21 to take on the University of Denver and Stony Brook. They close out the year at Loyola on Monday, Dec. 30 and will begin conference play next month.
