CMU women’s basketball upsets No. 12 Purdue 75-62

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The Central Michigan women’s basketball team had only one game at home during winter break.

The Chippewas couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

The Chippewas defeated No. 12 Purdue on Sunday afternoon 75-62, giving them just their third win of the season at McGuirk Arena in from of 704 fans.

Freshman guard Crystal Bradford runs the ball down court during the second half Friday against Purdue at McGuirk Arena. CMU won 75-62 in a second-half comeback. (Jeff Smith/Staff Photographer)

“I am very, very proud of this basketball team,” said head coach Sue Guevara. “I thought we had a total team effort today and I thought our bench came to play.”

The Chippewas are familiar with defeating ranked opponents. They defeated Louisville two seasons ago, who was also ranked in the top-25.

“We have a lot of babies (underclassmen) on this team and this is good experience for them to get a win like this so early in their career,” Guevara said. “It shows our recruits where this program is going and that we can compete with the top 15 teams in the nation.”

At the end of the game the Chippewas had three freshmen on the floor with guards Crystal Bradford and Jessica Green and forward Jas’Mine Bracey. Sophomore guard Niki DiGuilio and junior guard Brandie Baker were also on the floor.

Baker struggled in the first half without scoring going 0-4 from the floor. But in the second half she found her touch, finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists while making all seven of her free throws.

“I could hear my dad in the stands telling me to get into the game and I couldn’t let him down,” Baker said.

Purdue junior forward Sam Ostarello starts to pass the ball as freshman guard Kerby Tamm and freshman forward Jas'Mine Bracey block her on Sunday afternoon at McGuirk Arena. (Bethany Walter/Staff Photographer)

The Chippewas found themselves trailing the Boilermakers by 12 early in the second half but slowly chipped away at the deficit until the 8:19 mark when junior guard Jalisa Olive knocked down a three pointer that put them on top 54-52.

Olive lead a strong bench effort with nine points and sophomore forward Taylor Johnson added eight points.

“Our bench came to play,” Guevara said.

Olive also led the way behind the 3-point arch hitting three of the teams nine. Baker added one, Green had two, DiGuilio had one freshman forward Kerby Tamm had one and Johnson added one as well.

The loss gives Purdue back-to-back loss on the weekend after losing Saturday to No. 3 Notre Dame 66-38.

“We knew Purdue was hurting and they were not going to take it out on us,” Guevara said. “We had a chance to go after a team and we did.”

CMU is on the road the rest of the break starting against Ole Miss on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.