2008 Woodie Awards
Tuesday's game against Northern Illinois canceled
By: Dave Jones
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Sports
Women's basketball coach Sue Guevara said whenever Northern Illinois coach and good friend Carol Owens wants to play their game is fine with her.
"It's tragic," Guevara said of the campus shooting Thursday in DeKalb, Ill., that killed five students. "I don't know what that's like."
But the teams will have to wait to play their game, which was scheduled for Tuesday, after NIU's Athletic Department announced Saturday that all events, home and away, will be suspended until Feb. 25.
"Coach Owen's main thing is to take care of her players," Guevara said. "I don't know if (basketball) is maybe a good distraction. I just know you have to keep perspective."
The Chippewas' next game is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Western Michigan.
Moments of silence were taken at all Mid-American Conference athletic events during the weekend. This included the Chippewas' second MAC win of the season, an 80-57 victory against Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.
CMU scored 50 points in the second half and held UB to 27 after the teams entered halftime tied at 30.
"You got to love it, you just got to love it," Guevara said. "This is a team (Buffalo) that beat Ball State, Miami and Toledo."
Guevara credited the second-half surge to the team's ability to start hitting shots it missed in the first half. The Chippewas improved their 35.7 percent shooting in the first to 51.5 in the second.
"(Senior guard) Candace Wilson, (junior guard) Angel Chan and (sophomore forward) Britni Houghton did a good job of attacking the glass," Guevara said. "Then it got contagious."
Central hit a season-high 13 3-pointers.
"We did a better job attacking the bucket in the second half," Guevara said. "We did better on the offensive glass and cut down on the turnovers."
This also caused Buffalo to commit 16 fouls, sending the Chippewas to the line. They hit 13-of-18, while UB was 3-of-7.
The Chippewas have been hindered because of their inability to secure the ball lately. They turned the ball over 19 times in their five-point loss to Bowling Green. This resulted in 14 points for the Falcons.
CMU turned the ball over 19 times again against Buffalo. But the turnovers only resulted in 12 points for the Bulls.
Guevara also was pleased with her team's ability to force turnovers on defense. Central forced 24 turnovers and scored 31 points off of Buffalo's miscues.
Wilson said the team was more focused and aware on defense.
"On defense, we had better communications and that led to getting steals," she said.
Wilson finished the game tied for the game-high with 19 points.
She was one of four starters who scored in double-figures. Houghton had 16, Chan scored 15 and sophomore guard Kendra Holman had 13.
Junior guard Latisha Luckett rounded out the starters with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
"We also got good contributions from (senior forward) Dana Westover, (senior guard) Stacy Verhoff and (freshman guard) Shonda Long," Guevara said.
sports@cm-life.com
"It's tragic," Guevara said of the campus shooting Thursday in DeKalb, Ill., that killed five students. "I don't know what that's like."
But the teams will have to wait to play their game, which was scheduled for Tuesday, after NIU's Athletic Department announced Saturday that all events, home and away, will be suspended until Feb. 25.
"Coach Owen's main thing is to take care of her players," Guevara said. "I don't know if (basketball) is maybe a good distraction. I just know you have to keep perspective."
The Chippewas' next game is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Western Michigan.
Moments of silence were taken at all Mid-American Conference athletic events during the weekend. This included the Chippewas' second MAC win of the season, an 80-57 victory against Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.
CMU scored 50 points in the second half and held UB to 27 after the teams entered halftime tied at 30.
"You got to love it, you just got to love it," Guevara said. "This is a team (Buffalo) that beat Ball State, Miami and Toledo."
Guevara credited the second-half surge to the team's ability to start hitting shots it missed in the first half. The Chippewas improved their 35.7 percent shooting in the first to 51.5 in the second.
"(Senior guard) Candace Wilson, (junior guard) Angel Chan and (sophomore forward) Britni Houghton did a good job of attacking the glass," Guevara said. "Then it got contagious."
Central hit a season-high 13 3-pointers.
"We did a better job attacking the bucket in the second half," Guevara said. "We did better on the offensive glass and cut down on the turnovers."
This also caused Buffalo to commit 16 fouls, sending the Chippewas to the line. They hit 13-of-18, while UB was 3-of-7.
The Chippewas have been hindered because of their inability to secure the ball lately. They turned the ball over 19 times in their five-point loss to Bowling Green. This resulted in 14 points for the Falcons.
CMU turned the ball over 19 times again against Buffalo. But the turnovers only resulted in 12 points for the Bulls.
Guevara also was pleased with her team's ability to force turnovers on defense. Central forced 24 turnovers and scored 31 points off of Buffalo's miscues.
Wilson said the team was more focused and aware on defense.
"On defense, we had better communications and that led to getting steals," she said.
Wilson finished the game tied for the game-high with 19 points.
She was one of four starters who scored in double-figures. Houghton had 16, Chan scored 15 and sophomore guard Kendra Holman had 13.
Junior guard Latisha Luckett rounded out the starters with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
"We also got good contributions from (senior forward) Dana Westover, (senior guard) Stacy Verhoff and (freshman guard) Shonda Long," Guevara said.
sports@cm-life.com
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