Women’s basketball loses nail-biter at Green Bay
Despite a slow start to the contest, the Central Michigan women’s basketball team found an answer to its offensive struggles in junior guard Molly Davis.
After being held to one point through the first half, Davis caught fire in the second half and put pressure on Green Bay. However, the Phoenix came out victorious on their home court beating the Chippewas 71-67, on Monday.
The loss pushes the Chippewas’ losing streak to four games, as they fall to 2-7 on the season. Green Bay is 2-2 in Horizon League play and improves to 6-4 on the year.
Although the first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, Green Bay turned up the heat on Davis and senior center Jahari Smith. With its top-scorers blanketed, CMU struggled to find a rhythm on offense. With Smith and Davis in foul trouble, head coach Heather Oesterle sent senior guard Kalle Martinez to the scorer's table to check in.
Martinez quickly made her presence felt as she recorded nine points in the quarter, breaking her previous career-high in points. However, the rest of the offense struggled to match her efficiency and Green Bay took a 10-point lead into the break.
Following the break, Davis came to life from three-point land. When it was said and done, she recorded 15-points in the third as the Chippewas closed the quarter on an 11-0 run.
CMU maintained its offensive onslaught against the Phoenix in the fourth, as Davis attacked the rim with her patented floater.
Due to mounting fouls on Smith and Davis, Oesterle began adding players into the defensive rotation. Green Bay looked to take advantage offensively, but the Chippewas remained rock-solid in the paint.
With the Chippewas firing on all cylinders, Green Bay struggled to keep pace as its lead shrunk to three with five minutes left.
Unfazed by the raucous crowd, Davis worked off the ball and lost her defender in traffic. Freshman guard Tiana Timpe noticed the opportunity and dished it to Davis, who buried a deep three-point shot to tie the game at 61.
CMU looked to pull ahead, but when Smith fouled out with 2 minutes remaining, that was as close as the Chippewas would come to Green Bay the rest of the way.
Davis finished led all scorers in the contest with 27 points, in addition to recording six rebounds and four assists. Davis' performance moved her into sole possession of ninth place all-time for career three-point makes with 153.
Martinez added 13 points and shot 5-of-9 from the floor. Redshirt junior Anika Weekes led all players with nine rebounds, to go along with six points and three blocks.
Junior guard Hailey Oskey led the Phoenix with 19 points and five rebounds. Green Bay redshirt freshman Cassie Schiltz recorded a career-high in points with 18.
The Phoenix found success getting to the free-throw line, finishing 23-of-30 from the stripe in the game, compared to 6-of-8 for CMU. Green Bay scored 19 points off the Chippewas' 20 turnovers.
The Chippewas open Mid-America Conference play at Buffalo on Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 1 p.m.
