MOUNT PLEASANT -- Freshman
Jalisa Olive fit in just fine in her first appearance in a Central Michigan uniform, finishing with a game-high 25 points to lead the women's basketball team to a 106-71 victory over Saginaw Valley State in exhibition action at Rose Center on Sunday.
Olive hit 9-of-15, including three three-pointers, and grabbed five offensive rebounds to go with six steals as a reserve.
Fellow freshman
Stefanie Mauk hit 5-of-12 three-pointers to finish with 17 points, and junior
Shonda Long added 15 on 6-of-12 shooting. Senior
Britni Houghton added 12 points to give the Chippewas four in double-figures.
"I thought all three of our freshmen looked very comfortable in their first game," head coach
Sue Guevara said. "The twins usually shoot the ball a little better, but it's their first game and those three balls will start to fall."
Redshirt freshman
Cheritee Green contributed a team-best eight rebounds and was flanked by juniors Sherriya Armstrong and
Kaihla Szunko, who each added seven.
CMU hit 50 percent of its shots in the first half to take a 68-30 lead into the break. The Chippewas cooled off a bit in the second half, hitting at just 37.5 percent, to finish at 44.3 percent in the contest.
SVSU hit 44 percent in the first half and 62.5 percent in the second frame to finish at 53.1 percent in the game.
The Chippewas forced an eye-popping 40 turnovers, in large part thanks to 28 steals, with its full-court pressure defense. Those turnovers became instant offense, leading to 61 points.
"Our press is something we're going to rely on the entire year," Guevara said. "We haven't put in all of our looks yet, but with this many people who can contribute, pressing keeps the pressure on the other team and the depth allows us to keep fresh legs on the floor."
The exhibition is CMU's lone warm-up game on the 2009-10 schedule. The Chippewas open the regular season on Nov. 13 at DePaul.
Courtesy: Tim Fitzgerald/CMU Athletics
