Women’s basketball team seeks revenge against NIU

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The women’s basketball team travels to Northern Illinois for a 5 p.m. Saturday game to continue its quest for the second West Division bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

CMU ranks fourth in the MAC West Division, with NIU one game ahead.

The Chippewas’ first conference loss came against NIU 75-70 Jan. 7. Jessie Wilcox paced the Huskies with 18 points and Ebony Ellis added 17.

Sophomore Shonda Long led CMU with 17 points and senior Angel Chan followed with 16.

Both teams exchanged leads 16 times and the biggest lead during the game was nine for both teams.

The Huskies out-rebounded CMU 46-34.

“They were a much more physical team when we played them,” said head coach Sue Guevara. “We have been stressing the boards all week during practice.”

Guevara spoke to her players about toughness and how it will help them beat NIU.

“She (coach) made sure that we knew exactly what it meant,” said freshman forward Skylar Miller. “Now that we know what it is, we have play like we have it.”

Miller, along with freshman Brandie Baker served a one-game suspension for violating team rules.

“Now that I am back, I plan to bring energy and hustle in the next game,” Miller said. “I think that is how we beat Western.”

Wednesday’s win

CMU (15-13 overall, 7-6 MAC) beat Western 64-60 Wednesday in Kalamazoo. The 64 points is the fewest under Guevara, but it helped the Chippewas sweep WMU in the season series and their first win in Kalamazoo since 1998.

“I was very happy for our team,” Guevara said. “We had some key misses down the stretch, but we ran the floor well and we had players come in and make key plays.”

Junior Britni Houghton, who started in the game, finished with 17 points. Junior Kaihla Szunko had her eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 17 rebounds.

“They honestly gave us some good minutes and played well,” Guevara said.

Chan scored her 1,000th point with a 3-pointer in the second half to give CMU a 37-31 lead with 16:21 remaining in the game.

Chan, who finished with 16 points against WMU, is the 18th member of the 1,000-point club along with her teammate Houghton, who scored her 1,000th point against Kent State on Feb.4. It is the fourth time in school history where CMU has two 1,000-point scorers on the same team.

“It was good for our team,” Guevara said. “I was relieved when she made it (3-pointer) so I could only imagine that she was relieved.”

NIU (13-13 overall, 8-5 MAC) has only lost to Toledo and Bowling Green at home this season.

Miller does not believe that CMU is at a disadvantage.

“We can beat anybody anywhere if we play like a team,” Miller said.

sports@cm-life.com