Eastern Michigan 78, Cal State Fullerton 74
Akron 73, Belmont 58
Bowling Green 62, UC-Irvine 54
Toledo 64, Virginia 62
Tulsa 87, Buffalo 77
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 57, Kent State 47
Oakland 65, Miami 51
Central Michigan 73, Oregon 67
Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Eastern Michigan 78, Cal State Fullerton 74
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team secured its first win of the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic and first win over a NCAA Division I opponent in the 2014-15 season when it defeated Cal State Fullerton, 78-74, Nov. 28.
The Eagles improve to 3-2 overall on the young season, while the Titans fall to 1-4 overall.
Sophomore Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) powered the EMU offense, scoring 21 points on 5-for-10 shooting from three-point land and 6-for-10 shooting from the floor. The Toledo, Ohio native also drained four free throws, grabbed a team-best seven rebounds, and dished out five assists, while Jamaica Bucknor (Brooklyn, N.Y.-Weaver (ASA College)) notched 16 points and pulled down seven boards for the Green and White. As a team, Eastern shot 45.6 percent from the floor and a season-best 47.6 percent from beyond the arc going 10-for-21. The Eagle bench contributed 32 points to the EMU scoring effort, while the Eagles found 20 points in the paint and notched 15 points off of Titan miscues.
Cal State Fullerton had two players notch over 20 points with Kathleen Iwuoha contributing 24 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, while Chante Miles used 7-for-16 shooting from the floor and 5-for-11 shooting from three-point range to record 23 points for the Titans. Cal State Fullerton shot 39.7 percent from the floor, going 25-for-63 and sinking eight treys in 31 attempts for a 25.8 shooting percentage. The Titans cashed in on second chance points, collecting 21 points, while adding 22 points in the paint.
Despite scoring the first points of the game off of free throws, Cal State Fullerton was unable to keep the lead as Sweeney drained a three on the Eagles' next trip down the court to take the narrow one-point lead. EMU went on a 13-2 run to extend its lead to 11 before Iwuoha made an easy layup in the paint to end the four-minute Titan scoring drought. The two teams matched basket-for-basket before the Green and White scored 10-straight points to take its largest lead of the half.
Leading Cal State Fullerton 32-14, EMU suffered a two-minute scoring drought of its own but allowed the Titans to score just four points before extending its lead to 35-18 on a Sera Ozelci (Ankara, Turkey-TED Ankara College (Odessa)) three-pointer with 3:47 remaining in the first half. The Eagles found four final points to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Sweeney led both teams with 13 first half points, while Bucknor had six and both Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) and KaBria Walker (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) added five to the EMU offensive output. The Eagles shot an impressive 55.6 percent from the floor and 61.5 percent from three-point land in the first half, draining eight of their 10 total treys.
The second half of action started much like the first as Cal State Fullerton notched the first basket before Eastern responded with a point of its own on a Rachel Kehoe (St. Clair, Mich.-St. Clair (St. Clair County C.C.)) free throw. The Eagles could not find a basket following a Sweeney three-pointer, allowing CSUF to go on an 8-3 run and cut the EMU lead to eight, 46-38, with 15:16 remaining in the contest.
A missed Green and White layup setup a three for Miles, cutting the its lead to just five with 14:37 left to play. The Eagles answered back with a Sasha Dailey (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) jumper and three free throws to extend the lead to 10. The Green and White tried to run away with the contest, but CSUF continued to keep pace as Miles drained a three with 7:49 left to bring the Titans within six of the Eagles. A free throw from Tailer Butler brought the score to 61-56 in favor of the Green and White before an easy jump shot from Miles cut the Eagle lead to just three.
EMU answered back with two points of its own on a classic and-one play, but again Miles dropped a trey to bring the Eagle lead to a narrow three points with 6:13 left in the contest. Miles continued to keep the Titans in the contest, making two free throws with under five minutes of action before a layup from Iwuoha brought Cal State Fullerton within one, 66-65. Again, Miles came through in the clutch, knocking down two free throws with 3:27 left in the game to knot the score at 67-67.
The Titans took their first lead of the contest since their opening basket on a three-pointer from Samantha Logan before Sweeney put the game back into EMU's hands, making both of her free throws. Bucknor extended the Green and White lead to three on two shots from the charity stripe with time dwindling on the clock. With the Titans being forced to foul, Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill-Hillcrest) hit a third set of free throws for Eastern before Iwouha brought CSUF within three with just eight seconds on the clock. Sweeney sank one final free throw to hand Eastern the narrow 78-74 victory over the Titans.
Eastern Michigan will conclude the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic Saturday, Nov. 29 when it takes on Weber State at 11 a.m. MT.
Akron 73, Belmont 58
DENVER, Colo. – Sparked by a 24-8 second-half run the Akron women's basketball team broke open a 40-all game en route to registering a come-from-behind 73-58 triumph over Belmont (0-5) in the opening game of the Denver Thanksgiving Classic on Friday.
"Any time you get a win it is good, any time you win on the road it is even better," Zips' head coach Jodi Kest commented. "We didn't play very well in the first half, but give Belmont credit they did a phenomenal job of playing their zone defense, which gave us a lot of problems. I thought we made the adjustment in the second half and did more of a motion and got more movement. Our conditioning was pretty solid in the second half and I thought that helped out in the second half."
Sparking the second-half surge for Akron (5-0) was a career-high 19-point explosion by junior forward Katie Nunan (Fairmont, W. Va.). Nunan scored all but two of her points in the decisive second stanza.
Senior forward Sina King (Waterford, Ohio) was equally impressive over the final 20 minutes scoring 15 of her game-high 25 points. King has now scored 25 or more points in back-to-back contests for the Zips.
Junior guard Anita Brown (Warren, Ohio) added a 16-point, 10-rebound effort for Akron, while sophomore guard Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) chipped in nine points.
Both teams struggled to find their shots in the first half as Akron and Belmont connected on 25.0 and 27.3 percent of their attempts from the field.
The Zips trailed by as many as nine points early in the tilt before Brown gave Akron its first lead of the affair, 15-14, with a pair of free throws with 8:29 remaining in the half.
The Zips stretched their advantage to four points before the Bruins evened the game at 23 on a lay-up by Frankie Joubran with 1:32 remaining.
Joubran gave the lead back to Belmont on another lay-up before Plybon connected on a three-pointer from the corner to send the Zips into the intermission holding a 26-25 lead.
The Bruins opened the final stanza with a 7-2 run to assume a 32-28 lead with 18:45 left in the game.
Back-to-back baskets from King and Nunan tied the affair at 32 before Belmont again registered consecutive baskets to regain a 36-32 advantage.
A pair of free throws by King and a jumper from Brown tied the contest for the sixth time at 36-36 with 16:09 remaining.
Each side took turns scoring two points before the Zips went ahead to stay, 42-40, on a lay-up by King at the 14:26 mark.
Akron's lead swelled to as many as 17 points before the Zips exited the floor with a 73-58 victory.
Connecting on nearly 66 percent (.665) of its attempts in the second half, Akron finished the contest registering a 42-percent shooting mark. The Zips limited the Bruins to 31.7 percent shooting for the game.
Led by 11- and 10-rebound performances from King and Brown, Akron won the battle of the glass, 48-39, including 30-23 on the defensive end.
The Zips used their rebound advantage to outscore Belmont in the paint, 38-28.
Recording their third and first double-doubles of the season, respectively, for Akron was King and Brown.
The Zips used a strong-defensive effort to force the Bruins into 15 turnovers that Akron converted into 16 points.
Joubran and Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield led Belmont with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Akron has advanced to the title game of the Denver Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday against the winner of the Denver/Siena game currently in progress. Game time will be approximately at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Bowling Green 62, UC-Irvine 54
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team led from wire to wire against UC Irvine, en route to a 62-54 win Friday afternoon (Nov. 28). The game, the first contest in the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic, was held at Gersten Pavilion.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-1 on the season, and BGSU will face tournament host Loyola Marymount University in Saturday's championship game. The Lions defeated UAB, 66-61, in Friday's second game. The BGSU-LMU contest will begin at 3:30 p.m. locally (6:30 p.m. Eastern).
Redshirt junior Erica Donovan had a double-double vs. the Anteaters, with game-high totals of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Rachel Myers had the second double-digit game of her young career, with 10 points in the win.
The Falcons led by seven at the half, but built that lead to as many as 27 points in the second half. A furious rally by UCI got the Anteaters back within single digits, but the lead never fell below the final eight-point margin.
Junior Miriam Justinger had nine points and six rebounds on Friday, while senior Deborah Hoekstra and freshman Haley Puk scored eight points apiece.
The Falcons' 62-point total included 31 points from the starters and 31 from the bench.
Shareen Sutherland led the Anteaters with 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Brittany Glassow and Olivia Montgomery had eight points apiece for UCI.
""We were able to open up a good lead in the second half and were able to play eight to 10 minutes with five freshmen on the court today," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "We got some good execution from that group, and then we just ran out of gas, and they hit a couple three-pointers to cut into that lead. But, overall we had good balance. With the back-to-back games in this tournament, we wanted to get a lot of people some good minutes today, and if we could get the lead, try to rest some of our starters.
"I was really happy with our balance. We had every kid except one score, which is a huge positive, and we got to the foul line and made some shots. We got good contributions from everyone. When three-point shots weren't falling, we were able to turn the corner and get to the rim, and either make shots or draw fouls and get to the line."
The Falcons took the lead with just 16 seconds gone, when Donovan stole a cross-court pass by Raelyn Cheung-Sutton and headed in for an easy layup. Justinger drove the lane and banked home a shot with just over two minutes gone, and UCI's first points did not come until Madison McKenney hit a pair of free throws at the 16:13 mark. Senior Jasmine Matthews hit a runner, though, and Donovan knifed through traffic for a layup and an 8-2 lead.
The Anteaters finally made a field goal with 5:39 gone, when Methlyn Onogomuho came up with a steal and uncontested layup. But, Donovan came right back with a left-side layup, and Justinger hit a driving layup in a crowd for a 12-4 Falcon lead.
The Falcons went just over three minutes without a point, and UCI crept to within two points on a jumper by Mokun Fajemisin, but Myers fed Hoekstra for a corner three, and Hoekstra deflected an Anteaters pass, leading to an easy layup for Myers and a 17-10 lead. Hoekstra grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and hit the resulting free throws for a nine-point advantage.
Moments later, sophomore Abby Siefker's nifty pass found Justinger under the hoop. Justinger was fouled as she attempted a layup, and made two charity tosses coming out of the under-eight-minute media timeout, for a 21-12 advantage.
Puk hit an 'and-one' layup and made the ensuing free throw, before the Anteaters' Irene Chavez hit a three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer. Sutherland's putback cut the Falcons' lead to five points, before Matthews drove the paint, was tripped and made two shots from the line with just over four minutes left in the half.
Sutherland followed with a layup, however, and a free throw cut the Falcons' lead to just four points, 26-22, with 1:55 left in the half. But, Matthews found Donovan for a left-wing three-pointer, and after the teams traded offensive fouls, Myers grabbed a defensive rebound, headed downcourt and found Matthews in transition. Matthews was fouled, returned to the line and made two more shots for a 31-22 lead with 35.7 seconds left in the period. Montgomery's late bucket cut the Falcons' advantage to seven points at the intermission.
BGSU shot only 30.3 percent from the field, but held the Anteaters to a 33.3% success rate as each team made 10 field goals in the opening half. The Falcons hit only two first-half three-pointers to UCI's one, but BG went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, while the Anteaters were 3-of-4 from the stripe.
The second half started slowly, as neither team scored for two minutes. A Justinger layup with exactly 18 minutes left, however, sparked a 7-0 run for the Falcons.
After a BG defensive rebound, Justinger took a pass from sophomore Rachel Konieczki and scored in transition. Then, a nifty look by Hoekstra led to an easy layup for Donovan underneath the hoop, and the Falcons' lead was double digits once again. When Justinger fed Hoekstra for a triple from the left corner, BGSU led by a 38-24 score with 15 minutes to go.
Irvine's first points of the half came on a Sutherland layup at the 14:16 mark, but Konieczki knocked down a jumper in the paint as she was fouled, and the resulting free throw made it a 41-26 game.
Moments later, Donovan came up with a defensive rebound, and seconds later, the redshirt junior was laying the ball off glass and through the hoop at the other end of the floor. After another Donovan defensive board, Myers executed an effective shot-fake, took two dribbled and hit a 10-foot jumper from the right side. BG's lead was 45-28, and the Anteaters used a timeout with 12:10 remaining.
A minute-and-a-half later, Myers drilled a three-pointer to give the Brown and Orange a 20-point lead for the first time. Then, redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick scored the first points of her collegiate career, grabbing a rebound at the defensive end, going coast-to-coast, and hitting a layup for a 50-28 BG lead.
Freshman Lauren Webb scored the first point of her young Falcon career, knocking down a free throw at the 8:37 mark. Freshman Sarah Baer checked into the game at that point, giving BGSU five freshmen on the floor, and after Glassow hit a shot for UCI, Baer took a pass from Kirkpatrick and hit a turnaround jumper from the foul line.
Puk scored five consecutive BG points, turning a left-side drive into her second three-point play of the game, and getting herself back to the line and hitting both ends of a one-and-one opportunity. When Myers hit an 'and-one' layup of her own, off of a Webb assist, the Falcons had a 27-point lead, 61-34, with just 4:50 remaining. But, the Anteaters would come roaring back.
Against the youthful Falcon lineup, a Glassow jumper began an 18-0 run for Irvine. Jenny Dee's three-pointer with 1:44 remaining made it a 15-point margin, 61-46, and Tierra Hicks connected from long range with a minute to go. When Dee hit another shot from beyond the arc, the Falcons' lead was down to single digits, 61-52.
Justinger, who along with Konieczki had returned to the game just over a minute earlier, split a pair of free throws with 41.9 seconds to go, and the Anteaters missed a three-point try on the following possession. BG used most of the shot clock on the next trip down the court, and Montgomery closed the scoring with a pair of late charity tosses for UCI.
The Falcons shot 11-of-22 (50.0%) over the first 12-plus minutes of the second half, and BG shot 37.9% from the floor in the half and 33.9% for the game. The BGSU defense held UC Irvine to a 30.0% conversion rate in the second period and a 31.4% field-goal rate on the day.
At the line, BGSU went 16-of-21, while the Anteaters hit 6-of-10 shots. Both teams sank four three-pointers on the day. Hoekstra was a perfect 2-of-2 from long range.
"Almost everyone played double-digit minutes today," said Roos. "Our players got a good chance to play with the lead, and also to play against a team who is playing from behind and playing a little more aggressively. We wanted to get to the championship game, and we've done that, and we know we will need a concerted effort from everyone who gets on the floor tomorrow."
BGSU, as mentioned, will take on host LMU on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. locally (6:30 p.m. ET) in the tournament's championship game. The consolation game, featuring UAB and UC Irvine, will begin at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time (4:00 p.m. Eastern).
Toledo 64, Virginia 62
MIAMI, FL – Senior Inma Zanoguera drained a three-point field goal with 5.0 seconds left to lift Toledo to a 64-62 come-from-behind victory against Virginia in the opening round of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic on Friday in FIU Arena. With the win, the Rockets improve to 2-2 on the season.
UT will now play Pac-12 member Arizona in the championship game of the two-day tourney on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 11:30 a.m. The Wildcats defeated the host Panthers in today’s other first-round matchup, 65-58.
With the Rockets trailing by a single point, Zanoguera took the ball the length of the court and nailed her collegiate-best fourth triple from the left wing to hand the Cavaliers (4-1) their first loss of the season. UVa’s Mikayla Venson had a chance to win the game in regulation with a three-pointer at the buzzer, but her shot was off the mark to the left.
Zanoguera finished with a career-tying best 24 points and a collegiate-high 10 assists to post her 13th career double-double. The fourth-year Rocket played a near perfect game and shot 7-of-9 from the floor, including a flawless 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in 38 minutes.
Freshman Michaela Rasmussen added season bests with 19 points and eight caroms in 38 minutes. The Chaska, MN native has now scored in double figures in each of the last two games.
Junior Ana Capotosto also chipped in 11 points, seven boards and one steal to help the Rockets defeat an Atlantic Coast Conference team for the first time since 2011.
As a team, the Rockets shot a season-high 47.8 percent (22-of-46) from the field, including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from three-point range, and 13-of-19 from the charity stripe. The Midnight Blue & Gold also did a good job of taking care of the ball and finished with 13 helpers and only 12 miscues.
Faith Randolph led Virginia with 21 points, Lauren Moses had 14 points with eight rebounds and Sarah Imovbioh tallied nine points and a game-high nine caroms.
Tulsa 87, Buffalo 77
CORAL GABLES, FL – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's basketball team battled from a 15-point halftime deficit, but fell shy of the comeback. The Bulls (2-3) dropped an 87-77 decision to Tulsa (3-2) Friday on day one of the Miami (FL) Thanksgiving Tournament at Bank United Center. The Bulls will face Illinois State Saturday at 3 pm.
Tulsa shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the floor. A 64.3-percent showing in the first half aided in a 46-31 Golden Hurricane advantage at intermission. UB surged to rewrite its 15-point deficit and trail by three at 10:08, but Tulsa capitalized late as the Bulls were whistled for 17 second-half fouls. It led by as many as 16 at 3:18, though UB had the game within eight with 55 seconds lingering in the contest. The Bulls shot 40.6 percent for the game.
Alexus Malone paced the Bulls with her third double-double of her sophomore season. She joined redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory with a team-best 14 points, while adding 10 rebounds. Senior Kristen Sharkey chipped in 12 points and matched a career-high performance with five steals. Gregory also recorded five to amend her previous career-best of three. Junior Mackenzie Loesing scored 10 points, while senior Ayana Bradley equaled her career-best point total with eight to go with eight boards. Sophomore Camera Miley dished out four assists. Three others added a trio each.
UB took an early 6-2 edge, but Tulsa answered with a 19-4 run to lead 21-10 at the 12-minute mark. The Golden Hurricane continued to charge ahead taking a 46-31 lead into the locker room. Tulsa's Ashley Clark scored 16 of her game-best 23 points in the first on 7-for-9 shooting.
Both teams hit 14 field goals in the second and UB connected on 14-of-17 free throws to win the half, 46-41. The Bulls made nine of their season-high 14 steals in the latter 20 to score 15 points off Tulsa turnovers.
The Golden Hurricane maintained their double-digit cushion early, but an 8-1 UB streak that ate up almost three minutes of clock pulled the Bulls within 53-46 at the 15-minute mark. Malone hit one of her career-high-tying three threes at 12:49 to sneak within five, before Bradley swished two at the line to make it a three-point game at 10:08. Tulsa responded with a 17-4 run en route to victory. The Bulls went 4-for-4 at the line to creep within eight with 55 ticks on the clock, but a steal and a Teanna Reid layup would seal the victory for the Golden Hurricane, 87-77.
Clark, who shot 9-for-13 from the floor, added 13 rebounds to her 23 points for a Tulsa double-double. Mariah Turner was 9-for-14 from the floor to score 22 points.
The Bulls owned the rebound margin, 40-36, and led steals 14-7 and blocks 5-2.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 57, Kent State 47
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Kent State (1-4) hung in the game with Texas A&M Corpus Christi (1-3) in the opening game of the Cal Poly/Share SLO Holiday Tournament, but ultimately ended up short, losing 47-57.
15 turnovers in the opening half left the Golden Flashes in a six-point deficit for the first twenty minutes despite both teams shooting 32% in the opening half.
Out of the break, Kent State turned up the heat and brought Texas A&M Corpus Christi's lead to within just three points, but the Islanders took advantage of turnovers to grab back an eleven point lead.
With five and a half minutes to go the Golden Flashes put on a great push. It started with a steal by Krista White who then missed a layup, but teammate Naddiyah Cross grabbed the rebound and found Madison Ridout who sunk a shot from outside the arc. The team then forced another turnover before White made both of her attempts at the free throw line.
Ridout came up with another big play, stealing the ball on the other end before Montia Johnson put the ball in the rim and had a chance for an old-fashioned three-point play as Kent State found itself down by just four with four and a half minutes to play.
The Islanders showed they still had some spark left, too, going on a 10-4 run to close out the game.
Johnson finished with a double-double, leading the team with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in her first start this season. CiCi Shannon tied her career-best with six blocks.
Kent State committed 26 turnovers in the game while forcing twenty. They outrebounded 43-42 and finished with nine total blocks in the contest.
The Golden Flashes take on Dartmouth College in the second and final day of the Cal Poly/ShareSLO Holiday Tournament Saturday at 6p.m. EST.
Oakland 65, Miami 51
ROCHESTER, Mich. – It was a tough shooting night for the Miami University women’s basketball team as it fell in its first road game of the year, 65-51, to Oakland on Friday evening. The RedHawks fall to 1-2 on the season, while the Golden Grizzlies improve to 2-3.
Junior forward Hannah McCue was a monster on the boards against Oakland, finishing with a career-high 19. That tied for the fifth-highest single game total in school history. Along with five points McCue contributed three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Junior forward Jessica Rupright was Miami’s leader offensively, finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds. She also had three assists, three blocks and a steal. Freshman guard Baleigh Reid joined Rupright in double figures with 11 points.
The RedHawks started slowly, hitting only one of their first 11 shots. Oakland used that to build an 18-5 lead with 11:49 remaining in the first half. Rupright ended the Miami drought by draining a three-pointer from the top of the key. The ‘Hawks defense remained tough as their length forced Oakland into several contested shots that it missed. Layups from Reid and Rupright along with a jumper from freshman guard Kayla Brown were part of an 11-0 run that pulled Miami to within two at 18-16. Until the Golden Grizzlies hit a three-pointer at the 5:30 mark, the Red and White had held them scoreless for 6:19.
Oakland went on a 7-0 run to push the advantage back to nine at 25-16. Freshman guard Jazz Smith got the Miami offense going again, hitting a jumper from the left baseline. It was part of an 8-1 run that pulled the RedHawks to within two, capped by a three-pointer from McCue. The Grizzlies hit a jumper at the buzzer to send them into the break leading Miami, 28-24.
Rupright led the ‘Hawks with 10 points in the first half, while McCue had five points and 11 rebounds.
Similar to the first half, a slow start by Miami to begin the second half allowed Oakland to rebuild a nine-point lead at 37-28. Brown and freshman guard Ana Richter each hit shots, but the Grizzlies pushed the advantage to 13 at 47-34 with 11:21 to go.
The RedHawks had one final run in them as Reid and Richter hit jumpers, while senior point guard Courtney Larson drained a three-pointer to pull Miami to within eight. After an Oakland free throw, a layup from Reid cut the deficit to seven at 50-43 with 6:15 to go. That would be as close as the Red and White could get, as a 15-2 run over the next three minutes gave the Golden Grizzlies a 62-45 lead and put the game out of reach. Reid finished the game with a pair of layups to create the 65-61 final score.
Miami shot 18-for-66 (27.3 percent) for the game and 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. Oakland was 24-fo-80 (30.0 percent) and 9-for-35 (25.7 percent) from behind the arc. The RedHawks outrebounded the Golden Grizzlies, 60-52.
Miami returns to action on Sunday when it travels to 16th-ranked Michigan State for a 2 p.m. contest. Tim Bray has the call and it can be heard live on Miami All-Access for those who have a subscription.
Central Michigan 73, Oregon 67
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Chippewas will leave the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout unbeaten after a 73-67 win Friday versus Oregon (2-2).
Crystal Bradford led CMU (3-1) with her second-straight double-double scoring 34 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. Bradford provided a spark right from the start earning her 46th career double-double in the first half with 15 points and 10 boards. The senior also added four assists, three blocks and two steals on the night.
"You can look at CB's game today, big players make big plays," Head Coach Sue Guevara said. "She goes 6-for-10 from the 3-point line, she shoots 60 percent, that's pretty good and I thought her shot selection was good."
Oregon shot well from 3-point range in the first half making 8-of-16 from downtown, four of which came from The Ducks' Lexi Bando.
The Ducks had the seven point advantage heading into the locker room at halftime, 40-33.
The Chippews adjusted defensively in the second half which resulted in Oregon shooting just 15 percent (2-of-13) in the second half from behind the arc.
"I thought we did a decent job of making sure we were out on their 3-point shooters and I think it made a big difference," Guevara said.
CMU found itself down 11, the largest deficit of the night, at the 15:23 mark of the second half, before Lorreal Jones made a layup to pull the Chippewas within nine, 50-41 and swing the momentum in CMU's direction.
"I think we are doing a good job in the second half of wearing teams down and I think we are able to get them to make mistakes and put defensive pressure on and really run the floor," Guevara said.
The Chippwas scored 40 points in the second half compared to 27 from Oregon, 18 of those points coming from inside the paint.
With 12:23 left on the clock Jewel Cotton was fouled underneath the basket and left the game with a knee injury.
Another made layup by Jones at the 8:50 mark gave CMU 59-58 lead and there was no looking back for the Chippewas.
CMU held on to the lead for the remainder of the game to pull of the 73-67 win. Jessica Green played all 40 minutes for the Chippewas, adding 11 points (5-of-10) and three rebounds.
Bradford's performance on the weekend earned her a spot on the South Point Shootout All-Tournament team.
CMU is back in action Saturday, Dec. 6 in Memphis, Tenn. at 2 p.m.
