Wednesday's Scoreboard
Northern Illinois 104, Central Michigan 73
Ball State 88, Ohio 85 OT
Buffalo 82, Bowling Green 74
Toledo 61, Western Michigan 54
Eastern Michigan 61, Miami 41
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Northern Illinois 104, Central Michigan 73
Box Score
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team knocked another Mid-American Conference opponent from the ranks of the unbeaten in league play Wednesday night with a 104-73 victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas at the NIU Convocation Center.
NIU (5-5, 3-2 MAC) had beaten a 4-0 Bowling Green team last Saturday, and gave Central Michigan, 5-0 and in first place in the MAC entering the night, its first conference loss. It was the Huskies' first win over Central Michigan since Feb. 25, 2015 and NIU's first conference win with over 100 points in regulation since a 101-96 win at Ball State on Jan. 28, 2017.
"That's definitely a team win," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following the Huskies' third win in a row. "I thought our energy was consistent the entire 40 minutes regardless of what the score was. We just beat a really good Central Michigan team."
Six Huskies scored in double figures led by junior forward Mikayla Brandon's (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) career-high 18 points and four three-pointers. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) and Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) each had 14 points with Davis adding a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double. Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) made four threes on her way to 12 points as Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) and Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) both had 11 points off the bench.
The Huskies controlled the game from the opening tip, racing out to an 11-0 lead in the first 3:04 of the game. Central Michigan (7-3, 5-1 MAC) missed its first nine shots from the field before Maddy Watters made a three to make the score 14-5 at the 4:59 mark. NIU then scored seven straight points from Koker and Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) to take a 21-5 lead with under 4:00 to go. The Huskies shot 61.1 percent from the field in the first quarter, holding the Chippewas to 23.5 percent and 2-for-9 from long range to go up 27-12 heading into the second quarter.
"We definitely didn't want to let this get away from us," said Koker about NIU's hot start in the first quarter. "I think all of us on the bench and on the floor really wanted to stay locked in and make sure our energy didn't dip any."
Ball State 88, Ohio 85 OT
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - Redshirt sophomore Anna Clephane led the Cardinals charge with a career best 24-points. Clephane made some key baskets at some crucial times to give Ball State the 88-85 overtime road win at Ohio Wednesday night in the Convocation Center.
The Cardinals (5-5, 3-3 MAC) victory tonight snapped an eight-game losing streak against Ohio (5-4, 3-3 MAC) marking it the first time since the 2013-14 season that Ball State had defeated the Bobcats on their home court.
"Really proud of this team tonight," Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. "We showed tremendous toughness and it paid off. We have a ton of respect for Ohio University and because of that we know how big this win was for us tonight."
Rebounds were the name of this game, Ball State out-rebounded Ohio +20 (51-31) with senior forward Oshlynn Brown leading the charge with a personal best 19 rebounds, including 15 defensive boards.
Brown also was the second highest scorer on the team with 21 points. She now has 911 rebounds for her career, 1,184 points and 38 double-doubles.
Ball State held Ohio to its third lowest shooting percentage of the season 39 percent (30-77) while the Cardinals had their second-best performance from the floor with a staggering 51 percent (30-59).
It was one of the most competitive performances of the season as both teams were neck and neck throughout the entire 45 minutes of action, with seven ties and 16 lead changes you knew the game was going to come down to the wire.
The Cardinals had a chance to end the game in regulation, but Clephane lost control of the ball which gave the Bobcats back the possession with .07 seconds on the clock. Ohio then turned the ball over immediately after the timeout to give Ball State another opportunity to seal the victory.
Buffalo 82, Bowling Green 74
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team overcame an 11-point first half deficit and outscored Bowling Green 25-14 in what proved to be a pivotal third quarter, to defeat the Falcons 82-74 at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. With the win the Bulls improve to 8-3 on the year and 5-1 in league play.
Buffalo was led by sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair who poured in a career-high 36 points, including 8-of-12 shooting from behind the arc, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Senior Hanna Hall recorded 17 points, including four triples, to go along with five assists and Cheyenne McEvans also scored in double figures with 13 points while adding nine rebounds.
The Falcons would take an early 7-2 lead before a three by Fair would stop the run and later, back-to-back jumpers by Hall and Fair would even the game at 10 at the first media timeout. Bowling Green would answer with an 11-0 run to take a 21-10 lead but McEvans came up with a big block and converted the jumper in transition as time expired to cut the lead to 21-14 at the end of the first.
The Falcons would extend the lead to 10 at the 7:10 mark but the Bulls would battle back as Hall drained a triple on the wing to cut the lead to 29-24 at the media timeout. Buffalo would use a 5-0 run on back-to-back buckets from Keowa Walters to cut the lead to 31-29 at the 2:42 mark but the Falcons would score in the final seconds to take a 37-33 lead at the break.
The Bulls got hot from beyond the arc to start the third quarter as Fair converted on back-to-back triples and Hall added a three to give UB its first lead since the opening minutes, 42-41, at the 7:42 mark. Later, Fair drilled another triple and McEvans slashed to the basket for two to give UB a 47-45 lead and force a BGSU timeout at the 6:08 mark. Fair would continue to stay hot from deep as she hit two more three's, the second from NBA range, to cap an 8-0 run and give UB a 55-47 lead at the 2:02 mark and Buffalo would maintain a 57-52 lead at the end of the third.
After a back-and-forth start to the fourth quarter, Zena Elias and Fair scored on back-to-back possessions to cap a 6-0 run, put UB up 63-57 and force a Falcons timeout at the 6:56 mark. The Bulls extended the lead to nine on a three from Hall before the Falcons used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 66-63 at the 4:36 mark. The two teams would trade baskets before Buffalo used a 9-3 run to take a 78-68 lead in the final minute and the Bulls would seal the game from the free throw line to secure the victory.
"Very physical game, cooler heads prevailed," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "I'm so grateful that our kids kept their composure because that was a battle. We have to learn how to play all kinds of games and after observing this game I am so proud of how we handled ourselves. We fight on!"
The Bulls won the battle on the glass 42-34, including 18 offensive rebounds. Buffalo also outscored the Falcons 17-9 in transition and scored 16 points off of 17 BGSU turnovers. The 12 three-pointers made was just shy of the season-high of 13 makes at James Madison.
The Bulls return to action on Saturday, January 16, at Ball State.
Toledo 61, Western Michigan 54
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo used a late 8-0 run to register a 61-54 victory against Western Michigan on Wednesday in Savage Arena. With the win, the Rockets improve to 7-3 overall, 3-3 in the Mid-American Conference.
Sophomore Sophia Wiard hit 5-of-6 free throws and classmate Quinesha Lockett drained a huge three-point field goal in the final two minutes to rally the Rockets to victory. Wiard knocked down a pair of charity tosses at the 1:58 mark to give Toledo a 55-54 advantage, a lead the Midnight Blue & Gold would not give up.
Lockett paced Toledo with a game-high 23 points, to go along with a contest-best three steals. The second-year captain has now poured in at least 20 points on a team-high five occasions this year and six times as a collegiate.
Wiard added nine points, eight rebounds and a collegiate-best seven assists, while freshman Khera Goss had nine points. The Rockets also received seven points and a contest-best 11 boards from freshman Sammi Mikonowicz to improve to 6-1 at home this year.
As a team, Toledo shot 33.9 percent (21-of-62) from the field, including 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from three-point land, and 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the charity stripe. The Rockets also posted a 44-40 rebounding advantage and finished with 10 helpers and only nine turnovers.
Reilly Jacobson led Western Michigan with 15 points, followed by Megan Wagner and Sydney Shafer with 12 and 11, respectively.
Eastern Michigan 61, Miami 41
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University Women's Basketball team was dominant on the defensive end of the floor as it forced 30 Miami University turnovers in its 61-41, Mid-American Conference win over the RedHawks tonight, Jan. 13, inside Millett Hall.
With the victory, Eastern (6-5, 3-3 MAC) improves to 6-5 overall on the season, and is back at .500 in league play. The win is the second consecutive for Eastern over Miami (1-9, 0-6 MAC), and is the team's first in Oxford since Jan. 13, 2018. EMU's 41 points allowed is a season-best, as is its 20-point margin of victory.
Eastern was led by a season-best quartet of double-figure scorers as redshirt senior Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)), juniors Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) and Natalia Pineda (Miami, Fla.-John. A Ferguson), and redshirt sophomore Ce'Nara Skanes (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Florida International)) all eclipsed the 10-point plateau. Combs led the way with 18; Skanes followed with 11, while Annecchiarico and Pineda had 10 each. Defensively, Annecchiarico had a career night as she was responsible for nine steals. She added five assists in her effort.
Eastern struggled at the start of the game as it gave the ball away three times in the first three minutes of competition. The slow start allowed Miami to race out to an early eight-point edge, 13-5, behind 4-of-8 shooting from the field. EMU hit three of its final four shots before the initial media timeout to get eight points on the board and close its deficit to five, 13-8, with just over four minutes remaining. Despite four turnovers for each team in the first eight minutes of play, the field goal percentages for both squads was impressive as EMU and Miami shot 55.6 percent and 50.0 percent, respectively, to start the contest. EMU went on a 7-0 run over a span of 2:27 to claim the lead, 16-15, with 90 seconds remaining in the frame. The run was part of a larger 11-2 spurt that allowed Eastern to take control of the game. The run was largely fueled by Skanes' seven first-quarter points. Pineda also chipped in five points, including a contested three. The RedHawks did add a bucket before the clock hit zero take a 17-16 lead after one quarter of play.
Eastern's urgency elevated noticeably in the second quarter on both ends of the court. Offensively, EMU scored five points in just two minutes. That push allowed the Eagles to claim the lead once again, 21-19. Overall, six different Eagles registered points in the first half, two of whom came off the bench to contribute.
The most impressive improvement, however, was defensively, where Eastern was clearly locked in. Not only had the Green and White forced Miami into 10 turnovers by the 5:30 mark, but its shooting percentage had dropped to 42 percent, a trend largely due to EMU's swarming defense. The dominance continued through the first seven minutes of the second quarter, as Miami converted just one field goal through that stretch. Although the RedHawks did put together a 5-0 mini-run to pull back within five, 29-24, at the break, it was far from enough to overcome the defensive excellence of the Eagles, who ended the first half having forced a season-high 15 turnovers.
