Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? Western Michigan women's basketball stopped a two-game skid with its first home win of the season, 72-63, over Chicago State. The Broncos had their highest point total of the season in the victory as Miame Giden recorded the second double-double of her young career, posting a career-high 20 points and 11 boards, also a career high.
Giden's second-career double-double was her first since Nov. 29 when she posted 10 points and 10 rebounds in a road loss at UMBC. Senior Tiera DeLaHoussaye passed a milestone on Thursday night, tying Shelly Klare (1984-87) for second on WMU's career steals list at 273.
The Broncos kept the Cougars at arm's length for most of the second half, only allowing CSU to take a one-point lead, 40-39, at the 16:24 mark of the second half. That brief advantage was wiped away thanks in part to six of Ebony Cleary's 10 second-half points, finishing with 14 points, giving WMU a five-point advantage a mere two and a half minutes later, 45-40.
The Cougars would tie the game once more, on a pair of Laureen Pierson free throws at the 10:45 mark, but Western Michigan back to eight on a Sara Vest layup. Vest played controlled basketball throughout the second half, playing with four fouls on her way to eight points. The Broncos continually pushed the lead back to five, six and seven points, outscoring their opponent by seven points in the second half, out rebounding the Cougars, 20-9, in the final 20 minutes. WMU kept Chicago State off the offensive glass, holding the Cougars to 11 offensive boards and just three in the second half. Western Michigan outscored its opponent, 18-9, on second-chance points, out rebounding CSU, 25-13 on the defensive glass.
CSU's Pierson would hit two more freebies to bring her Cougars within two but the visiting team could never get it even the rest of the way despite 20 WMU turnovers and a 17-10 advantage in points off those turnovers.
Western Michigan took a lead into halftime for the fourth time this season, now holding a 3-1 record when doing so, leading 35-33 at the break. The Broncos' 35 points were also the highest halftime output to this point in the season.
Giden paced the Broncos' offensive effort during the first 20 minutes, posting 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting (71.4 percent) as WMU shot 51.9 percent from the floor. DeLaHoussaye followed with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. The senior point guard put Western Michigan on the board first 30 seconds into the game but Chicago State ripped off six-straight points to grab an early 6-2 lead.
Maria Iaquaniello stopped the run with her first three-point field goal of the season, sinking the shot from the right baseline. She would make another in the second half to match her career high of two treys in a game, the fourth time she has accomplished the feat thus far in her career. DeLaHoussaye followed with a pair of layups to give the Broncos the lead, 9-6.
DeLaHoussaye (12) joined Cleary and Giden in double figures to give the Broncos three players in double digits for the fourth time this season and the first since WMU's last win on Dec. 2, 68-52 over Central Connecticut State.
The Cougars were able to stay in the game early due to 11 untimely turnovers by Western Michigan, which led to 12 points for Chicago State in the first half. The Bronco defense was stingy on the perimeter, holding the Cougars to just 1-for-8 shooting (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc over the first frame.
CSU's Alyssa Walden led her team with nine first-half points off the bench, while Western Michigan's best off-the-bench effort came from Vest, who was 2-for-4 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line over the first 20 minutes of play. She led the Cougars for the game with 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting. She led three players in double figures as Jasmin Dixon and Elana Wroten finished with 10 points apiece.
Western Michigan will board a plane on Friday en route to California for the Orange County Clash in Irvine, Calif., Dec. 21-22. WMU will take on Illinois State on Dec. 21, followed by UC-Irvine or UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 22.
