Ball State 62, Bowling Green 50
Central Michigan 83, Kent State 62
Northern Illinois 54, Eastern Michigan 48 (OT)
Ohio 61, Buffalo 50
Toledo 63, Miami 53
Western Michigan 67, Akron 61
Courtesy of Home MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 62, Bowling Green 50
Bowling Green State University women's basketball junior Miriam Justinger recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career, but the Falcons fell, 62-50, to Ball State Univeresity Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3). The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at the Stroh Center.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 5-7 on the year. The Falcons drop to 7-5.
Justinger had game-high totals of 16 points and 10 rebounds, setting a new career best in the latter category. Senior Deborah Hoekstra very nearly had a double-double of her own, with nine points and nine rebounds vs. the Cardinals. Hoekstra's rebounding total tied a career standard that she set in BG's last game, at FIU (Dec. 30). The Falcons had a 36-34 advantage on the boards vs. BSU.
For the visitors, Renee Bennett scored 14 points off the bench, while Nathalie Fontaine and Jill Morrison had 12 points apiece. Fontaine led the Cardinals with seven rebounds, while Morrison dished out five assists and hit a game-high three three-point field goals. Calyn Hosea had six assists as the Cardinals had 21 helpers on 27 field goals in the win.
Central Michigan 83, Kent State 62
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (2-10, 0-1) began Mid-American Conference play with a loss, as a balanced attack from Central Michigan (6-6, 1-0) could not be matched. The visitors' starters all netted at least 14 points each in the contest.
The Golden Flashes scored the first basket of the game before the Chippewas went on a 10-0 run. McKenna Stephens broke that streak with a three to make it a 10-5 game early.
Central Michigan then cruised from beyond the arc, making 9-of-16 by the 3:23 media break to increase its lead to 17.
Late in the first half, Larissa Lurken made two threes of her own on back-to-back possessions to bring the game back to within ten. The game remained a ten-point difference, 44-34, at the half with Central Michigan in front.
The difference in the opening half came from the three-point line. Central Michigan entered the break with just one more field goal made than Kent State, but they drained nine from deep versus just four by the Golden Flashes. The Chippewas also had a large advantage on the boards in the first, 19-9. Kent State hung in the game by forcing nine turnovers and scoring 11 points off of those while only committing three turnovers itself.
Kent State's shooting went cold leading up to the first media break of the second half, as they made just 2-of-12 while Central Michigan did not let up, taking a 16-point lead at the 14:28 mark in the closing period.
The Chippewas upped their lead to more than twenty before settling on an 83-62 final score.
Kent State committed only ten turnovers in the game while forcing 18 total, scoring 22 points of of them. They also had 22 assists on 28 field goals. However, the Golden Flashes were outrebounded 44-28 and outscored in the paint 34-18.
McKenna Stephens led the way offensively with a career-best 17 points. Lurken finished with 13. CiCi Shannon led in rebounds with eight. Krista White set a new career mark in steals with six.
Conference play continues as the Golden Flashes travel to take on the Rockets of Toledo on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Northern Illinois 54, Eastern Michigan 48 (OT)
DeKALB - The NIU women’s basketball team overcame a nine point deficit to Eastern Michigan (7-5, 0-1 MAC) in the Mid-American Conference opener and finished strong in overtime as the Huskies won their second-straight MAC opener, 54-48. NIU outscored EMU in overtime, 11-5.
Huskies’ Amanda Corral (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) and Renee Sladek (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) each recorded a double-double in the game as the duo became the first Huskies to accomplish the feat in the same game since Kim Davis (2010-12) and Marke Freeman (2008-11) versus Loyola on Dec. 28, 2010.
Corral and Sladek scored 15 and 12, respectively, while adding 14 rebounds apiece. Corral added three assists and two blocks in the game.
“We love to play team defense and that’s what we did today. We did a great job of getting in gaps early in the second half and stopping initial penetration and making the shot clock wind down,” said Head Coach Kathi Bennett.
“I think forcing Eastern Michigan to pass the ball and get assists was the best adjustment we made on the night. They were beating us one-on-one in the first half,” Bennett added.
Both teams played a very defensive first half as both NIU and EMU committed nine fouls in the period with the Eagles narrowly outscoring the Huskies at the free throw line, 8-7. NIU was a perfect 7-for-7 at the line.
NIU led the turnover battle as it forced eight Eagle takeaways, three fewer than the Huskies first half total. With both sides playing a smothering defense, the Huskies and Eagles combined for a field goal percentage of .241.
Northern Illinois University started the second half on an 14-4 run to reclaim the lead, 33-30, as Kelly Smith (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) sunk a layup on an inbound play under the basket, despite being fouled. Her ensuing free throw put NIU up by three points with 12:24 left to play.
The Huskies would go on to build a seven point lead in the period but the Eagles stormed back with 3:48 left as Cha Sweeney hit a layup to bring EMU within one point, 42-41.
After back-to-back turnovers by EMU and NIU with under a minute left, Sweeney took a shot to put the Eagles back in front but it was air mailed over the rim. Sladek jumped over a sea of green to grab the rebound and was fouled, allowing her to make one free throw and put NIU up by two.
Sweeney tied the game with 4.8 seconds left as she sunk a jumper to force overtime, 43-43.
The Huskies waited until overtime to make its lone three-pointer of the game as Corral nailed one from the corner to tie the game again, 46-46. NIU built its lead up to six points in the half as it was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the stanza. Corral hit four from charity stripe while Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creek) and Smith each made two.
EMU’s Sweeney finished with a game-high 21 points. The Eagles only dished one assist in the game.
The Huskies tied their season-high in shots made from the free throw line as they closed the game 21-of-25 (.840) from the line. NIU’s rebounding was at its best as it accounted for 49 boards, including 35 on the defensive glass which bested Eastern Michigan’s 34 defensive rebounds.
It was the second time this season Northern Illinois University had held a foe under 50 points, holding SIUE to 47 on Dec. 17.
NIU will return to action next Saturday Jan. 10 as it heads to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to take on Central Michigan. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPN3.com.
Ohio 61, Buffalo 50
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team suffered a 61-50 setback to Ohio in its Mid-American Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.
The Bobcats (10-2, 1-0 MAC) won their fourth straight game and their second consecutive over the Bulls (7-5, 0-1 MAC).
"We knew that Ohio would bring a great game. Mariah (Byard) did a tremendous job disrupting our zone play," stated third-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "I thought we did a great job on the inside with (Kristen) Sharkey, but we're going to have to work to become a better rebounding team."
A Joanna Smith layup opened scoring in a game that featured seven lead changes. The contest bounced back-and-forth before the Bulls pieced together a 7-0 run to claim a 17-11 advantage. The six-point gap proved to be UB's largest lead of the game. The Bearcats answered with a 12-0 streak. Ohio remained a step ahead down the stretch, but a Christa Baccas and-one play inched the Bulls within 31-28 at the half.
Smith and junior Mackenzie Loesing tallied back-to-back buckets for a 32-31 edge at 18:42 of the second – UB's final lead of the game. Ohio held the Bulls scoreless over the next five minutes, while tallying 10 straight. Senior captain Kristen Sharkey, who was 7-for-8 from the line, hit two at the charity stripe to tip off a 7-0 UB run. The Bearcats again silenced the Bulls to take an indefinite two-possession gap. Ohio held a 12-point margin, 59-47, at 1:29 en route to a 61-50 victory.
Sharkey paced the Bulls with her 17th career double-double putting up 15 points and matching a season-high with 13 rebounds in her 100th career game. Baccas swatted a season-high seven blocks, one shy of her career high, and added eight points. Loesing added nine points and Smith eight. Junior Karin Moss had a season-best four steals.
Ohio's Mariah Byard, who was 5-for-8 from downtown, led the game with 16 points. Kiyanna Black added 15 and Quiera Lampkins 11. Lexie Baldwin pulled down a Bobcat-best nine rebounds and Kat Yelle made four steals.
The Bobcats narrowly edged UB shooting 34.5 percent from the field to UB's 33.3 percent showing. Ohio also led rebounding efforts 42-39. The Bulls committed 22 turnovers that resulted in 22 Bobcat points.
UB will hit the road for a pair of conference matchups. The Bulls travel to Central Michigan for a 7 pm game on Wednesday and will take on Miami (OH) on Saturday at 2 pm.
Toledo 63, Miami 53
TOLEDO, OH – Toledo secured a 63-53 victory against Miami in Saturday’s Mid-American Conference opener in Savage Arena. With the win, the Rockets improve to 8-4 overall, 1-0 in the league.
Sophomore Janice Monakana paced a balanced attack with a career-high 19 points to guide the Rockets to their season-high fourth-consecutive triumph. Monakana shot an efficient 6-of-10 from the field versus the RedHawks (3-9, 0-1 MAC), including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe to score in double figures for the fifth time this season.
Joining Monakana in double digits were senior Inma Zanoguera, junior Ana Capotosto and junior Brenae Harris with 11 points each.
The aforementioned quartet of Monakana, Zanoguera, Capotosto and Harris accounted for 52 of UT’s 63 points in the MAC opener for both teams.
As a squad, UT converted 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the floor, includign 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from three-point range, and 76.9 percent (20-of-26) from the free throw line to snap a three-game losing skid in league lifters.
Courtney Larson and Jessica Ruright paced Miami with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Western Michigan 67, Akron 61
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan took down the defending conference tournament champion, defeating Akron 67-61 in the 2015 Mid-American Conference opener Saturday at University Arena.