Feb. 8, 2006
Final Stats
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's women's basketball team (7-14; 2-8 MAC) lost for the fourth straight time Wednesday night in Millett Hall, as visiting Western Michigan used its work on the offensive glass and timely 3-point shooting to offset a slow shooting night and push past the RedHawks, 70-60.
In an up-tempo first half, Cindi Merrill (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville) banked in a 3-pointer to start the scoring and the two teams went bucket-for-bucket with one another, racing out to a 13-13 tie over the first seven minutes. WMU went ahead with a Shaylen Jackson put-back at 12:47 and would not trail again in the half. With Miami struggling to maintain the torrid pace and the Broncos controlling the offensive glass, WMU would begin to seize the momentum and gradually expand its edge to three possessions.
Trailing 28-23 after a Sarah Hull (Greenfield, OH/McClain) jumper at 5:31, Miami fell into a four-minute scoring drought while the Broncos surged out to their largest lead with a 12-4 run and built a 42-29 halftime edge. Miami was outrebounded 28-18 in the half, while the Broncos shot 42.9 percent from the field.
Miami opened the second half with a 6-1 run that was fueled by a pair of Laura Markwood (Perrysburg, OH/Perrysburg) buckets and rallied within eight points after a Merrill drive at 18:35. A 3-pointer by the Broncos' Casey Rost on the following possession halted the momentum and pushed WMU's edge back into double digits. The teams would go back-and-forth over the next eight minutes, with Miami battling to stay within 12 points. A pair of Markwood charity tosses at 9:20 brought the gap back within single digits at 53-44.
With the Broncos back in their sights, Miami picked up the intensity over the next minute, getting a couple stops, including a Jaclyn Leininger (Winona Lake, IN/Warsaw) steal and Ashley Hawkins (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) layup, while rallying to within six points and forcing a Bronco timeout. WMU responded with three 3-pointers over the next three minutes, including back-to-back treys by Rost at 5:28 and 5:06 to stifle Miami's last gasp and coasted from there.
Miami, which hit just 22-of-62 shots from the field, was led by 13 points from Hull. Merrill added 11, moving her to fourth-place on Miami's career scoring charts with 1,417 points.
WMU, which entered the night leading the league in field goal percentage, won for the sixth time in seven games, connecting on just 36 percent of its shots but making use of 23 offensive rebounds. Rost led the way with 30 points.
Miami embarks on a grueling five-day, two-game road trip this weekend that carries it to MAC West leader Eastern Michigan University on Saturday and MAC East foe Buffalo.
