Women's basketball loses to Northern Illinois on road
Junior guard Da'Jourie Turner scored 23 points in the Central Michigan University women's basketball team's 63-51 victory over Western Michigan University on Saturday at McGuirk Arena. (Photo by Greg Cornwell)
Trailing 55-54 with 2:42 remaining in the game, Central Michigan University's women’s basketball team had the lead within its sights.
But the Chippewas never found a way to get out in front, and fell to Northern Illinois University on Wednesday 69-62.
The loss drops CMU to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in the Mid-American Conference this season. CMU and NIU are now tied for eighth place in the MAC.
After a 6-0 run, CMU had the ball and a chance to take the lead, but senior guard Crystal Bradford’s 3-point shot went high off of the backboard and NIU extended its lead to 57-54.
The Chippewas turned the ball over on the next possession, and Huskies freshman Kelly Smith scored giving NIU a 59-54 advantage.
Any hopes of a CMU comeback vanished after NIU’s Amanda Corral connected on an and-one to give the Huskies a 62-54 lead with 1:50 left to play.
NIU snapped a seven-game losing streak to CMU, earning its first victory over the Chippewas since the 2010-2011 season.
Corral was too much for CMU to handle as she finished with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds and four assists. Smith added 16 points for NIU.
Bradford scored 19 points eclipsing the 2,000 career-point mark, becoming the first CMU women’s basketball player to achieve the milestone. Bradford fouled out in the final minute and NIU connected on two free-throws to seal the deal and escape with the seven point victory.
CMU junior Da’Jourie Turner scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the second half, which helped CMU stay within in distance. Senior Kerby Tamm scored eight points.
In what began as an offensive battle, quickly turned into a defensive struggle. Both teams had problems scoring in the first half. CMU nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and led 8-4 early, but struggled down the first-half stretch.
The Huskies forced 12 CMU turnovers and kept the ball out of the paint, holding senior forward Jas’Mine Bracey to seven points.
The Chippewas didn’t score a field goal for the final 5:20 of the first half and trailed 29-23 at halftime.
