Women's basketball holds off Oakland to win sixth straight
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Junior guard Micaela Kelly got a screen, took two dribbles and launched a 3-pointer.
It was her first shot of the night. Coming in fresh off her career-high 38 points in a win over South Dakota State, Kelly brimmed with confidence as her first shot soared toward the basket.
The ball went straight through the net.
Kelly scored a game-high 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting to lead the Chippewas (6-3) to a 65-47 road victory against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Wednesday night at the O'rena in Auburn Hills.
The win is Central Michigan's sixth consecutive since starting the season 0-3.
The Chippewas shot the ball well offensively, using 10 points from Kelly and a triple from Maddy Watters to close the opening stanza on a 12-2 run and take a 15-8 lead after the first quarter. Junior forward Kyra Bussell got involved in the second, scoring 10 points and grabbing five boards in the second quarter alone.
Despite committing nine first half turnovers, the Chippewas were able to take a 10-point lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Chippewa defense showed its teeth. After forcing a shot clock violation with 30 seconds of impenetrable defense, Central Michigan got a Bussell layup to begin a 7-0 run that stretched the lead to 17 points before the Golden Grizzlies would score again.
After limited playing time in the first half due to foul trouble, freshman guard Molly Davis began to facilitate, dishing out four third quarter assists and finishing the quarter with a 3-pointer as the clock ticked to zero. Davis finished with 11 points, all after halftime, and five assists.
The Chippewas also got 14 points from Bussell, 6 from Watters and eight rebounds from sophomore forward Jahari Smith.
With the win, the Chippewas improve to 6-3 while the Golden Grizzlies fall to 4-6. The Chippewas will next hit the court Dec. 28 in Daytona Beach when they take on Bethune Cookman.
