Women's Basketball February 27, 2010 Kristin Keirns, associate director of athletic media relations

Women?s Basketball Tops Central Michigan, 64-56

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Miame Giden led three players in double figures as Western Michigan beat rival Central Michigan, 64-56, Saturday at University Arena. The Broncos trailed by two at the half, but shot 45.2 percent from the field and outscored CMU by 10 in the second.

Central Michigan launched a three pointer in the final possession and junior Brenna Banktson let out a shriek as the ball bounced off the basket, knowing her team had won. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Broncos and was their first win over Central Michigan in their last four tries.

After a quiet first half, Banktson stepped up to score all but two of her 12 points and grab five of her seven rebounds in the second half. Giden too, turned up her production in the final 20 minutes where she netted 12 of her game-high 16 points. Giden also finished with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

WMU built a five-point lead at the start of the game but Central Michigan worked its way back and took a one-point lead, 14-13, with 12:39 left in the first. The two duked it out through the remainder of the half and a pair of free throws in the final minute gave CMU a 30-28 halftime lead.

The Broncos got off to a quick start again in the second half, taking a 43-36 lead with 14:12 remaining. The Chippewas fought their way back once more and briefly pulled in front, 46-43 with 11:39 left. Banktson scored seven points in the next two minutes and 16 seconds, and Kemmy Dominique added a layup to put WMU back on top, 52-48. Central Michigan twice cut the deficit to one, but Western Michigan held the lead the rest of the way.

Freshman DeAirra Goss was the third Bronco to reach double digits, scoring 11 points. Many of her points came early as a result of taking the ball to the basket and off of offensive rebounds. Dominique had a solid performance of nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Ebony Cleary added eight points and seven rebounds.

The Broncos also got the job done defensively, holding Central Michigan well under its season average. The Chips entered the contest averaging 72.9 points per game. CMU's top two scorers, Britni Houghton and Kaihla Szunko were held to just 12 points combined. They came in averaging almost 25 points between the two. WMU converted 22 Chippewa turnovers into 23 points.

Western Michigan shot 41.7 percent for the game. The last time WMU shot over 40 percent was also its last win, Feb. 6 at Miami. The Broncos won the battle on the glass, 40-33, and had 16 offensive rebounds to CMU's nine.

Shonda Long led Central Michigan (11-16, 8-7 MAC) with 16 points and Heidi Warczinsky had nine.

Western Michigan (8-20, 3-12 MAC) closes out the regular season at home against Northern Illinois on Tuesday. WMU will honor its three seniors, Molly Dwyer, Jenny Loney and Sara Vest prior to the game. Tip off is at 2 p.m.