Saturday, December 3
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
66
vs
65
North Dakota State
Photo by: Jack Reeber
First Win Comes in Dramatic Fashion
12/3/2022 5:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Freshman Sydney Harris hits 3 pressure-packed free throws, lifting CMU to 66-65 win over North Dakota State
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Not to overstate it, but it could prove to be a seminal point in the season for the Central Michigan women's basketball team.
Freshman Sydney Harris made three free throws with under one second remaining on Saturday, lifting the Chippewas to a thrilling and dramatic 66-65 nonconference victory over North Dakota State at McGuirk Arena.
It was CMU's first win of the season, and it came against a 6-1 team that is ranked 19th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
"I was just really proud of the fight that we showed," said CMU coach Heather Oesterle, whose team (1-6) entertains Cleveland State on Thursday, Dec. 8 (11 a.m.). "Huge win for us. It takes a little bit of the pressure off because now we know we can pull out games. It gives us some confidence."
The Chippewas led by as many as 12 points in the first half and were up nine, 39-30, at halftime. The Bison outscored CMU, 21-10, in the third quarter and led by eight, 57-49, with under eight minutes remaining.
But CMU hung in and trimmed its deficit to two, 65-63, on a Nadége Jean layup with 1:11 to play, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Harris' 3-point attempt with 4 seconds remaining missed the mark. The Bison rebounded and called timeout. CMU freshman Taylor Anderson then forced a turnover as the Bison attempted to inbound the ball.
With 2.8 seconds remaining, the Chippewas got the ball to Harris some 35 from the basket. She was fouled on her 3-point attempt and went to the free throw line, where she calmly swished all three attempts.
Harris, who has made 88.9 percent of her free throw tries this season, finished with 21 points after scoring a career-high 27 a week ago in a 78-66 loss to Tulane at the Cancun Challenge.
"We knew we were recruiting an impact player when we recruited her," Oesterle said of Harris, who leads CMU in scoring at 15 points per game. "She's got the composure of a junior or senior at the end of the game. There's nobody else at the line I'd want at that point."
Freshman guard Bridget Utberg added 11 points and senior guard Anika Weekes had 10 for the Chippewas. Karrington Gordon came off the CMU bench to grab a career-high 11 rebounds in just over 12 minutes. The Chippewas outrebounded the Bison, 37-32.
It was indeed a confidence-building win for a CMU team searching for a spark and some cohesiveness with so many new faces and personalities.
"We needed this win as a team," Harris said. "It showed how much we've improved in practice and how hard we work every day. We have all the pieces; we just have to put them all together.
"I think we outworked them. We got on the floor more. Coming into this game, our coaches told us why we lose those games is those teams end up outworking us, and I feel like we came out and were dogs for 40 minutes and we just wanted it more than them."
That was a point of emphasis, Oesterle said, since the Chippewas returned from Cancun last week.
"I wasn't the nicest person in the world this week, and I had to get that out of them so that this can lead to wins and I think they saw that today," she said. "I think we're just getting used to playing with each other. It was going to take a minute with all the new pieces.
"We had to get back to winning the 50-50s, (making) the toughness plays, and that's how we're going to beat people, by outworking them."
Freshman Sydney Harris made three free throws with under one second remaining on Saturday, lifting the Chippewas to a thrilling and dramatic 66-65 nonconference victory over North Dakota State at McGuirk Arena.
It was CMU's first win of the season, and it came against a 6-1 team that is ranked 19th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
"I was just really proud of the fight that we showed," said CMU coach Heather Oesterle, whose team (1-6) entertains Cleveland State on Thursday, Dec. 8 (11 a.m.). "Huge win for us. It takes a little bit of the pressure off because now we know we can pull out games. It gives us some confidence."
The Chippewas led by as many as 12 points in the first half and were up nine, 39-30, at halftime. The Bison outscored CMU, 21-10, in the third quarter and led by eight, 57-49, with under eight minutes remaining.
But CMU hung in and trimmed its deficit to two, 65-63, on a Nadége Jean layup with 1:11 to play, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Harris' 3-point attempt with 4 seconds remaining missed the mark. The Bison rebounded and called timeout. CMU freshman Taylor Anderson then forced a turnover as the Bison attempted to inbound the ball.
With 2.8 seconds remaining, the Chippewas got the ball to Harris some 35 from the basket. She was fouled on her 3-point attempt and went to the free throw line, where she calmly swished all three attempts.
Harris, who has made 88.9 percent of her free throw tries this season, finished with 21 points after scoring a career-high 27 a week ago in a 78-66 loss to Tulane at the Cancun Challenge.
"We knew we were recruiting an impact player when we recruited her," Oesterle said of Harris, who leads CMU in scoring at 15 points per game. "She's got the composure of a junior or senior at the end of the game. There's nobody else at the line I'd want at that point."
Freshman guard Bridget Utberg added 11 points and senior guard Anika Weekes had 10 for the Chippewas. Karrington Gordon came off the CMU bench to grab a career-high 11 rebounds in just over 12 minutes. The Chippewas outrebounded the Bison, 37-32.
It was indeed a confidence-building win for a CMU team searching for a spark and some cohesiveness with so many new faces and personalities.
"We needed this win as a team," Harris said. "It showed how much we've improved in practice and how hard we work every day. We have all the pieces; we just have to put them all together.
"I think we outworked them. We got on the floor more. Coming into this game, our coaches told us why we lose those games is those teams end up outworking us, and I feel like we came out and were dogs for 40 minutes and we just wanted it more than them."
That was a point of emphasis, Oesterle said, since the Chippewas returned from Cancun last week.
"I wasn't the nicest person in the world this week, and I had to get that out of them so that this can lead to wins and I think they saw that today," she said. "I think we're just getting used to playing with each other. It was going to take a minute with all the new pieces.
"We had to get back to winning the 50-50s, (making) the toughness plays, and that's how we're going to beat people, by outworking them."