Women's basketball loses to ranked DePaul
The CMU women’s basketball team picked up right where it left off last season in terms of offensive production.
However, the defense could not stop No. 17 DePaul as CMU lost its regular season opener 86-76 Friday in front of 2,132 at McGrath Arena in Chicago.
“It’s a tough place to play, and I thought we played really hard,” said coach Sue Guevara.
Junior guard Shonda Long led the team in scoring with a career-high 30 points. Long scored 29 points in the team’s Feb. 15 loss to Bowling Green last season. She also tied her career high in 3-point field goals Friday with seven on 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.
The Chippewas got off to a fast start, with senior forward Britni Houghton (18 points) scoring a quick four points to put the team up 8-4 early, its largest lead of the game. DePaul (1-0) responded with 11 unanswered points.
Following eight first-half lead changes, CMU was down 41-37 at the half on 45.8 percent shooting. It held DePaul to 37 percent shooting from the field.
“Our press and the pace of the game was really there,” Guevara said.
But the Blue Demons improved in the second half, shooting for more than 53 percent from the field and opening up leads of seven, nine, 11 and 13 points. CMU did not get closer than its four-point halftime deficit.
Late-game run
The Chippewas made a late-game run, closing the lead to 80-74 with 2:38 remaining in the game. Turnovers by Shonda Long and senior guard Kendra Holman sealed the game for DePaul. The Chippewas were outrebounded 49-31.
“They were a lot bigger than we were,” she said. “We have to get a lot more physical going after the ball with two hands.”
Junior forward Kaihla Szunko had 10 rebounds and two points while freshmen Stefanie Mauk scored seven and had six rebounds off the bench.
Freshman guard Jalisa Olive, starting in her first game of her college career, scored five points. Four players scored in double figures for DePaul. Sophomore Keisha Hampton led the Blue Demons with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
CMU will make its second trip in a week Wednesday to the state of Illinois to play Illinois in Champaign, Ill. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at Assembly Hall.
