Womens team drops fourth straight
Lynn Wloszek
“This is a pretty grueling schedule for a young team,” said Head Coach Eileen Kleinfelter after Monday’s loss to Western Michigan.
The Chippewas fall to 1-5 in conference play and 7-10 overall with the 49-43 loss.
Freshman guard Erin Kuhl was the only CMU player in double-digits. Kuhl posted 13 points, six steals, three assists and two rebounds. The freshman posted zero turnovers in 30 minutes.
The Chippewas are remaining upbeat and positive despite their recent streak.
“We just have to keep our heads up and just keep working at it,” Kuhl said. “It’ll come around for us. We have the potential to do it.”
The Chippewas had 12 steals and forced 19 turnovers. The bench helped out the struggling starters (8-of-34 from the field), contributing 18 points.
Central took a 22-16 halftime lead, but could not hold it, as the Huskies bounced back behind the play of Lindsay Secrest. Secrest led the Huskies with 11 points while two others hit double-digits
“We played really hard and it really stinks that we couldn’t get the ‘W’,” said sophomore Lindy Hatfield. “We played great defense tonight. We had a lot of steals and our pressure really seemed to work.”
CMU held preseason All-MAC West pick Jennifer Youngblood to six points on 1-of-4 shooting, although she did have 14 rebounds. Youngblood came into the contest averaging 13.8 points per game and 7.7 rebounds.
CMU’s shooting woes continued, as the team shot 30 percent from the field The Huskies held an edge on the glass, 39-35.
With the win, NIU improves to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in MAC play.
Central has the weekend off before hosting Kent State Tuesday.
