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Feb. 16, 2002
MT. PLEASANT, Mich.-Miami University's women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought road contest Saturday at Central Michigan University's Rose Arena, downing the Chippewas, 64-57, and ending a 10-game road losing streak to MAC West Division opponents.
In a tight first half, both teams were plagued by tough defense and poor shooting from the field. Miami scored the first four points of the game, but Central Michigan used a 6-0 run to catch up and led 10-6 by the 16-minute mark. Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) put the RedHawks back in front, 12-10, with consecutive 3-point buckets, but the lead would be short lived.
Molli Munz hit two treys in the final five minutes, pushing the Chippewas' advantage as high as seven points and sending CMU into the half with a 27-22 advantage.
Miami, which shot just 35 percent from the floor in the half, placed only three players in the scoring column. Cusick led the way with 10 points, while Jana Butler (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty-Benton) and Kim Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) each tallied six. Munz led the Chippewas, who shot 40 percent from the field, with eight points. Vershaun Jones had nine first-half rebounds and six points for Central Michigan.
The RedHawks started the second half off quickly, outscoring the Chippewas 6-2 out of the gates to close to within 29-28 by 17:44. Trailing 35-32, Miami embarked on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to seize its largest lead of the game at 41-35. The Red and White built its lead as high as 54-45 with a Cusick trey, but the Chippewas were not done.
Capped by another Munz trey, CMU embarked on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to knot the score at 54-54 with under four minutes to play. A Colleen Day (Independence, Ohio/Holy Name) free throw gave Miami the lead again at 55-54, and Beth Roederer (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) drained a clutch 3-pointer one minute later to put the RedHawks back in control. With a three-point cushion, Cusick clinched the game with four points in the final 23 seconds.
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Miami, which shot a solid 53 percent from the field in the second half, was led on the day by Cusick, who's 24-point effort gave her a Miami record 22 career 20-point games. Cusick, who was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, also contributed four assists and four steals. Lancaster narrowly missed the double-double, tallying 17 points and nine rebounds, while Day finished with a Miami-high 11 rebounds.10-14 and 2-11 in the
The RedHawks, who improved to 14-10 and 8-5 in the MAC, won back-to-back games for the first time in a month, while CMU fell to10-14 and 2-11 in league play.
Miami returns home for its final regular-season homestand next week, facing Marshall University on Tuesday and Ohio University on Saturday. The RedHawks conclude the regular season the following week with a Tuesday contest at the University at Buffalo.
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