Szunko battles foul trouble to record 19th double-double of the season
CLEVELAND - It is not often Kaihla Szunko takes a back seat to a fellow teammate.
The Central Michigan women’s basketball team often has gone as far as its 6-foot-1 senior forward has taken it. But in Wednesday’s 90-69 Mid-American Conference quarterfinal win against Buffalo, the Saginaw native did her work outside the spotlight.
It’s not the norm for the player that came into the game with 18 double-doubles.
It started with foul trouble in the first half, as Szunko grabbed two quick fouls 36 seconds apart with 12:02 remaining.
Szunko spent nearly the entire remainder of the half on the bench, watching fellow senior Shonda Long and MAC Freshman of the year Niki DiGuilio dig CMU out of an early hole with a combined seven first-half 3-pointers.
“I was really happy going into halftime with that lead without (her),” said CMU coach Sue Guevara, whose team advances to the MAC semifinals Friday against Bowling Green.
And while CMU expanded on its 47-31 halftime lead, it went about it the way it wanted to from the start: Using Szunko to establish it’s inside presence.
Szunko had just two points and four rebounds in the first half. When it was all over, she quietly compiled 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Make that 19 double-doubles.
It was not as glamorous as Long’s career-high 40 points and seven 3-pointers, which tied a MAC tournament record. And it could have all went down differently.
Szunko nabbed her second foul with the Chippewas trailing 14-8. Things could have turned for the worse without their star.
“Going out with two fouls early in the first half, usually I let that get to my head,” Szunko said. “But this is one and done. So, I’m thinking, people are going to step up, play the role and, when I came back in the second half, I knew it was my time to get things going.”
And she did, but her defensive job on MAC Player of the Year Kourtney Brown should not be overlooked, either.
Brown still finished with 24 points — she averaged 22.1 — but Szunko made it clear that was the plan all along.
“We knew she was probably going to get her average, but we didn’t want her to get above her average,” Szunko said.
Baker nears triple-double
Szunko wasn’t the only CMU player doing unheralded work against the Bulls.
Sophomore guard Brandie Baker neared a triple-double, finishing with six points, nine assists and 10 rebounds.
She collected six assists in the first half, mainly kicking it out to Long and DiGuilio. In the second half, she drove to the basket more and, more often than not, found Szunko open underneath the basket.
Baker did her work from everywhere on the court. It’s what Guevara loves about her physical 6-0 guard.
“Brandie is one of those — she’s a very special player,” Guevara said. “You saw today. She ran at (point guard). She ran at the perimeter, and she ran at (power forward) for us. She’s a nightmare as far as a matchup.
“Between Szunko and Brandie, I thought they did a really nice job of controlling the boards.”
