Women's basketball beats rival Western 64-60
The women's basketball team swept Western Michigan in a season series for the first time since 1998 in its 64-60 win Wednesday in Kalamazoo.
"It feels very good to beat our rival twice this season," said senior guard Angel Chan.
The Broncos came out fast, taking a 10-2 lead just three minutes into the game. Led by junior Britni Houghton, CMU would come back to take a 12-10 lead just over four minutes later.
For the rest of the half, the two teams would exchange leads ten different times, ending with the Chippewas taking a 30-26 lead into half.
CMU would start to pull away about eight minutes into the second half. With a layup by Houghton the Chippewas would go up by 11 points, 44-33.
The Broncos made a final push though. Late in the half, the Chippewas saw a game high 16-point lead dwindle down to just a four after an 18-6 run by the Broncos. But CMU was able to maintain their lead throughout the rest of the game.
Chan finished the game with 16 points, bringing her career total to over 1,000 total points.
"It feels really good, especially on a win," she said. "I got my 1,000 points finally, but the most important thing is that we got a W."
Guevara was thrilled that Chan finally became a member of the scoring club.
"I was relieved so I would imagine she was relieved," she said. "I know she had nine at half and I know she needed 11. We ran a play called push which is specifically for Chan. Being the second player to do that this season, it is good for her and good for our team."
Junior Britni Houghton reached that milestone on Feb. 4 against Kent State. This season is the fourth season in CMU history which has had two players join the club in the same season.
The Chippewas were without two of their consistent starters, freshmen guard Brandie Baker and forward Skyler Miller. The two were suspended for this game for "violating team rules," Guevara said.
"We were without Baker and Miller," Guevara said. "Those are two very key players for us but we had key players step up and I am very happy for our team."
Miller has started 21 games this season, while Baker has started 26.
Leading the way for the Chippewas was Houghton with a game-high 17 points, followed closely by Chan's 16. Junior forward Kaihla Szunko finished the game with 13 points and 17 rebounds, earning her eighth double-double of the season.
"I have to give the team all the credit in the world tonight," Guevara said on the win. "We pulled this game out with two key players out for us. We just had players step up and make plays tonight."
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