Women’s basketball second half rally defeats NIU, 82-61

Women’s basketball took care of business Sunday with a second half push to beat Northern Illinois 82-61 at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.

After the first half the Chippewas trailed the Huskies 40-36, despite doubling them in rebounds to slow NIU down.

But a 46-21 second half helped the team bring an end to a two-game losing streak.

“Lately offense wasn’t working, we had to stick to defense,” said sophomore guard Crystal Bradford.

“First, we have one more game against EMU on their senior night,” said women’s basketball head coach Sue Guevara. “We need to keep our composure.”

CMU was led by senior guard Brandie Baker with 20 points and six assists. Baker scored 14 points to help the comeback effort in the second half.

“I wasn’t really thinking about scoring, we just had to get it going,” Baker said.

Defensively, the Chippewas shut down the Huskies in the second half, they were held to 21 points after putting up 40 in the first.

Bradford led CMU defensively with nine rebounds and two steals.

The Chippewas took full advantage on turnovers, scoring eight points and creating several fast break opportunities.

The win was crucial for the Mid-American Conference Tournament after dropping two losses to their MAC opponents. CMU will look to add another wint against Eastern Michigan next week to better its seed.

The Chippewas lost in the MAC tournament championship last year to the Eagles by one point, but took care of them by 26 points earlier this season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday ay Ypsilanti. to Ypsilanti.

CMU is holding onto the No. 3 seed with the tiebreaker against Akron, with the No. 3 seed it will be receiving a bye, straight to the quarterfinals.

But, with a loss and if Bowling Green wins its final game, the Chippewas will fall to the No. 5 seed and will have to host a first round matchup at McGuirk Arena.