Wednesday's Scoreboard
Eastern Michigan 65, SIU 52
Ohio 76, Liberty 72
Michigan 93, Central Michigan 75
IUPUI 85, Northern Illinois 61
Milwaukee 67, Ball State 56
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Eastern Michigan 65, SIU 52
Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – After more than 250 days away from competition, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team kicked off its 2020-21 campaign with a convincing non-conference road win over Southern Illinois University, 65-52, Nov. 25, in Carbondale, Ill.
The win moves EMU to 31-14 all-time in season-openers, which includes victories in nine of the team's last 10 lid lifters.
Eastern (1-0; 0-0 MAC) was fueled by redshirt senior guard Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)), who scored 24 points on 11-of-22 shooting. The game marks Combs' 25th-consecutive double-digit scoring performance dating back to the 2019-20 campaign. The effort also marked her 13th with 20+ points, and her 16th as the team's scoring leader. Third-year veteran Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) was equally as impressive in her season debut, as she scored 16 points in 39 minutes of play. Newcomer Ce'Nara Skanes (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Florida International)), a redshirt sophomore, was better than advertised in her debut performance for the Green and White. Combs' fellow Oklahoma City native dropped a modest 11-point, nine-rebound performance in her first collegiate game in more than a calendar year. Her rebounding performance tied that of junior Natalia Pineda (Miami, Fla.-John A. Ferguson), who also grabbed nine boards and contributed five points for EMU.
Dubbed a "defensive minded" team by fifth-year head coach Fred Castro, Eastern certainly lived up to that mantra in the game as well. EMU recorded 11 steals en route to forcing 18 total Southern Illinois (0-1; 0-0 MVC) turnovers in the contest. Combs led the efforts with five steals, which ties her career-best mark. SIU's defensive pressure was weathered more successfully by Eastern's offense, who gave it away just 11 times in the contest, including just four times in the second half of play.
Ohio 76, Liberty 72
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (1-0) opened the season with a 76-72 victory over Liberty (0-1) on Wednesday afternoon at the Convocation Center. Redshirt junior guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) led the game with 31 points.
The Bobcats were down 14 points in the second quarter before storming back to retake the lead in the third quarter. Ohio outscored LU 18-12 in the second quarter and 23-11 in the third quarter.
Ohio was led by Johnson with 31 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Johnson was 10-of-25 from the floor and 5-of-16 from the three-point line. Johnson has now scored 30 or more points in her career four times and was +4 on the floor.
"I knew the shots would eventually fall," Johnson said. "I was anxious for today. I wasn't letting my game come to me early so I had to adjust. In the third quarter when I saw back-to-back shots go down, it felt great."
Senior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) had 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. Hooks added seven rebounds and two steals.
"Sometimes the level of difficulty on her shot looks a little bit higher but it's something she practices," Boldon added. "I thought she did a great job of creating space all night."
Both redshirt junior guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) and senior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) each pitched in eight points. Burris had seven rebounds, including three on the offensive end.
Junior forward Edecia Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting and was an impressive +24 when on the floor.
Sophomore guard Peyton Guice (Westerville, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore forward Abby Garnett (Golden, Colo.) each had two points.
The Bobcats were 22-of-62 (35.2 percent) from the field and 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) from the three-point line. Ohio was 24-of-30 from the free-throw line. Liberty was held to 24-of-62 (38.7 percent) from the field and 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Flames were 12-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Ohio forced 12 turnovers and had six steals. Hooks and Burris had two swipes each. Ohio had 26 points in the paint compared to Liberty's 20.
The Bobcats will be back in action on Friday against No. 22 Notre Dame. Tip-off is set for noon at the Convocation Center.
Michigan 93, Central Michigan 75
?Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Central Michigan women's basketball team opened the 2020-21 season on Wednesday with a 93-75 nonconference loss to 25th-ranked Michigan at the Wolverines' Crisler Center.
"It was a good wakeup call for us," second-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We're not in 40-minute shape at all right now and we've got to get there.
"We've got two weeks before we open the (Mid-American Conference) season on Dec. 9. I was playing some different combinations, giving the freshman a chance to get their feet wet in a game. But give credit to Michigan; they played really well, they beat us on the boards, they scored in a variety of ways."
IUPUI 85, Northern Illinois 61
Box Score
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team opened its 2020-21 season Wednesday afternoon with an 85-61 loss to the IUPUI Jaguars at the NIU Convocation Center.
"We knew the opponent coming in today was going to challenge us in all facets of the game," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Wednesday's season opener. "IUPUI proved that to be true. We looked like a young team and they looked like a veteran team. I give credit to IUPUI. That's a postseason team from last year returning most of their firepower. I do think this will be a great teaching tool for our young ballclub to learn some things and hopefully continue to grow and get better."
Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led NIU in scoring with a career-high 21 points, adding six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. After scoring six points in the first half, Koker scored 11 in the third quarter alone. Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) scored 10 points and pulled in four rebounds while Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) added eight points.
IUPUI (1-0) raced out to a 13-0 lead before Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) put the Huskies on the board at the 6:36 mark of the first quarter. Three-pointers from Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) and Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) capped off a 12-2 NIU run over 4:25 and got NIU within three, 15-12. IUPUI built its lead back up to seven, 21-14, at the end of the opening period.
NIU (0-1) closed the gap to four at the start of the second quarter on a Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) three. However, the Jaguars went on a 12-3 run over 3:55 to take a 33-20 lead with 5:05 to play until halftime. IUPUI shot 57.9 percent from the field in the second quarter to take a 50-29 lead.
"For the first time we put a uniform on this year against somebody else, I thought we were a little frantic and jittery," Carlsen said. "Once we settled down we were a little better, but by then we were playing from behind."
The Huskies got as close as 16 points with 4:26 to play in the third quarter when Poisson put in a layup to make the score 58-42, capping an 8-2 run. Koker had six points in that stretch. NIU's best offensive quarter was the third, scoring 18 points while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and made 8-of-11 free throws.
NIU was held to 35.6 percent shooting from the field and just 6-for-26 from long distance. The Jaguars shot 49.3 percent and held a 42-35 edge in rebounds. IUPUI also turned 18 NIU turnovers into 28 points.
The Huskies are next in action at the Compass Challenge Dec. 4-5, hosted by Eastern Illinois. NIU will take on the host Panthers on Friday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., then take on either Southern Illinois or Western Illinois on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.
Milwaukee 67, Ball State 56
Box Score
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Ball State women's basketball team put up a good fight in its season opener at Milwaukee Wednesday night but unfortunately fell to the Panthers in UW-Panther Arena, 67-56.
The Cardinals (0-1) were led by junior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir who finished the night with 19 points and seven rebounds while going 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Junior Essence Booker was the second highest scorer for BSU finishing with nine points.
Neither team shot particularly well in tonight's opener. Milwaukee shot 38 (21-55) percent from the floor while the Cardinals connected on 19-of-51 field goals for a 37 percent shooting percentage.
As both teams took to the floor for the first time this season, the Cardinals and the Panthers struggled to get their offensive rhythms. Milwaukee scored first and held onto to a sparingly lead during the first 10 minutes of action. Agustsdottir carried her success over from the season prior leading Ball State with nine of the Cardinals 11 first frame points. Booker, who was just granted eligibility a few hours prior too tipoff, chipped in two points. Ball State would trail Milwaukee by only three (14-11) heading into the second stanza.
Ball State found itself down by 10 (25-15) to Milwaukee with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Newcomer Krystal Rice scored her first three points as a Cardinal after completing an old fashion 3-point play, sparking a 14-7 run for BSU. Rice got help during the scoring spree from teammates Sydney Freeman, Annie Rauch, Ivet Subirats and Agustsdottir to end the half down by only three (32-29).
The Cardinals played a game of catchup throughout the contest but always stayed within reach. Booker nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to end the third quarter, bringing Ball State to within one-point (46-45) entering the final 10 minutes of action.
Four-straight free throws from Anna Clephane in the fourth stanza allowed the Cardinals to take the 49-46 lead over the Panthers with just 7:43 left to play in the contest. Ball State held on tight to its lead up until the 6:28 mark. After that, the Panthers than answered with an 8-0 run to go back up 60-52 with just under three minutes left. The Cardinals got frustrated and would foul, sending the Panthers to the line. Milwaukee closed out the game going 5-of-5 from the charity stripe to seal its victory.
The Ball State women's basketball team will host IUPUI for its home opener Monday, Nov. 30 in Worthen Arena. Please note for home games that current guidance from the Delaware County Health Department will prohibit general public attendance at Worthen Arena. Ball State and IUPUI have met six times, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series, 5-1. Ball State and IUPUI's last meeting was in 2019 in Indianapolis. The Cardinals fell to the Jaguars, 48-65. Brady Sallee is 11-13 all-time at Ball State against teams from the state of Indiana.
