Women's basketball savors win against Cardinals
The CMU women’s basketball team ended its winless start to the season in stunning fashion Wednesday against No. 25 Louisville.
CMU won its first game of the season, 84-75, in front of 625 at Rose Arena.
“I was just really, really pleased with our performance today,” said coach Sue Guevara. “It was a real big win for us.”
Junior Shonda Long led the team in scoring with 29 points, while senior forward Britni Houghton scored a career-high 28 points.
Louisville (4-2) jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. Despite the slow offensive start, the team more than made up for it on the defensive end by grabbing rebounds and going after loose balls, something that was scarce during the team’s first five games.
CMU (1-5) switched up its defense for the first time this season, alternating between a triangle-and-two and two-three zone, stifling Louisville’s offense early on and preventing it from going on any significant runs.
“(After) our last loss, we really emphasized defense,” Long said. “We were really mad with ourselves for our defensive play.”
Unexpected contributions
Redshirt freshman Cheritee Green came off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots in 18 minutes. She had seen two minutes of playing time before Wednesday.
“It gave me the confidence that she can get in there,” Guevara said. “She went in there and did something that we haven’t been able to (do) when people come off the bench, and that’s rebound.”
Sophomore Skylar Miller, who started in four games prior but lacked significant production, also contributed, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.
Any doubts that Louisville would break open its 35-33 halftime lead were put to rest early in the second half as the Chippewas continued to match the national runner-up’s intensity.
“We played to win and instead of playing not to lose,” Houghton said.
Fire alarm
With 10:44 remaining in the second half and Louisville ahead 53-51, the fire alarm to Rose Arena sounded and forced the building to evacuate, creating a 30-minute delay.
Following the back-and-forth scoring that characterized the game, Long hit a long two-point field goal with 5:31 remaining, tying the game at 64 and foreshadowing a 11-3 run over the next several minutes that led CMU to victory.
“This is absolutely what we needed,” Guevara said. “We put 40 minutes together.”
Junior forward Kaihla Szunko recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Becky Burke led Louisville with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Monique Reid scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
“They came out here needing a win and it showed,” said Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. “I thought they played with a lot heart — they played harder than we played, and that’s a real concern for me.”
CMU will travel to Indiana on Saturday to play 3-2 Valparaiso. Tipoff is set for 2:35 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on the Horizon League Network (www.horizonleaguenetworktv.com).
