Women upend EMU on road; Shonda Long sets program record for 3s

• Tweet
• 

Records are meant to be broken.

And that’s just what the Central Michigan women’s basketball team did during its 76-67 win on Wednesday night at the EMU Convocation Center in Ypsilanti.

Senior guard Shonda Long scored a game-high 22 points, but her two 3-point field goals meant more than just any ordinary basket.

With them, Long surpassed Molli Munz, a former CMU player with 192 career 3-point field goals made, to become the program’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals made.

“She puts in a lot of time and will continue to,” said head coach Sue Guevara about Long. “It’s a nice record for her.”

Long helped contribute to the Chippewas second consecutive Mid-American Conference road win. With it they exceeded last season’s total of one.

“We came into the game confident because this team believes in themselves and how they can play,” Guevara said. “Anytime you can get a win on the road in this conference it’s a good win.”

Freshman guard Kylie Welch played extended minutes due to CMU foul trouble and she didn’t disappoint.

In her 21 minutes of game time she scored two points, both from the free throw line, and pulled down four rebounds.

However, the stat sheet won’t show what Welch truly did for the Chippewas.

“She did a nice job of pushing the ball up the floor,” said Guevara. “She put the ball in great position for players to catch and shoot the ball.”

Welch didn’t limit herself to one side of the ball against the Eagles (11-6 overall, 2-1 MAC). She used her 5-foot-4 frame to muscle up against taller opponents and played solid defense in relief.

“I don’t back down from anybody,” she said. “I work hard on defense to help translate to our offense.”

CMU (11-4 overall, 3-0 MAC) expected the Eagles to run the floor just like itself, but early on it appeared to be another low scoring game. The score was deadlocked at 32 at halftime.

With 7:21 remaining and the Chippewas down 55-54, sophomore forward Brandie Baker put it up for good with a rainbow three.

EMU’s Tavelyn James, a junior and its leading scorer, knocked down a free throw to cut the lead to one. That was the closest it would get to CMU. James tied for the team lead in points with 18; although, she took 18 shots to earn it.

Long shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line and knew she could get to the line if she kept her feet on the floor and used her pump fake.

“We knew they were shot blockers, so we kept our feet down and used the shot fakes,” she said. “We had to attack them and get to the free throw line.”

Senior forward Kaihla Szunko posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

CMU continues its road trip with a game at 4 p.m. Saturday against Ball State in Muncie, Ind.