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KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team stretched its home winning streak to nine games dating back to last season with an 80-66 win over Mid-American Conference (MAC) East opponent Miami Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
WMU improved to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in the MAC while moving its home record to a perfect 7-0 this season. The RedHawks fell to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in the MAC with the loss.
"I was really happy with our total effort tonight, it was the second game in a row where we had really solid offense and defense," Head coach Shane Clipfell said. "I thought it was a real high-energy physical game and I loved our teams composure and the response we gave at the end of the game."
After one quarter of play, the Broncos led 16-13 but trailed 20-18 with 8:37 left in the second. WMU never trailed again after sophomore LaTondra Brooks had a steal and drove it down for a layup and a foul to give the Broncos a 22-20 lead with 8:12 in the second quarter. After the layup, the Broncos went on a 9-0 run as they went on to outscore the RedHawks 26-17 in the second quarter and take a 42-30 lead into the half.
Miami made it a closer contest in the third quarter however, outscoring WMU 24-18 and coming within two points of a tie. The Broncos led by three with 29-seconds left in the third quarter, but senior Jessica Jessing connected on a three-pointer in the corner to extend the lead to six points heading into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, the Broncos shot 6-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-12 from the free-throw line to pull away in the end.
Senior Miracle Woods led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting and also grabbed five rebounds, tied for second on the team. Woods moved into the top-10 on the all-time scoring list at WMU passing Shannon Pickell with 1,350 career points. In Woods last two games, she has 44 points on 20-of-26 shooting.
For the Broncos, the team committed just two turnovers in the first half and nine total en route to a new season-low. WMU also set a new season-high in points with 80 and offensive rebounds with 18. WMU came into this game ranked No. 9 in 3-point field goal defense at .245, but the RedHawks shot 5-for-10.
Three other Broncos finished in double-figures along with Woods as Jessing and senior Alex Morton each had 12 points and Deborah Meeks finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Meeks led the team with four offensive rebounds and five assists. WMU shot 45-percent (27-for-60) from the floor while the RedHawks shot 42.1-percent.
The Broncos hit the road for their next contest on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Buffalo with game time slated for 7 p.m.