Dec. 21, 2003

EDINBURG, TEXAS -Central Michigan's women's basketball team pulled away in the second half to defeat The University of Texas-Pan American's women's basketball team, 56-40, Sunday afternoon at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

The Chippewas (3-6) used a 12-5 run at the start of the second half to pull away to a 14-point lead, 35-21, with 15:38 remaining. Texas-Pan American (5-5) got layups from freshman forward MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll HS) and junior guard Dawnne Cheadle (Roswell, NM/Roswell HS/Seminole State College) to cut CMU's lead to eight at 35-27. However, the Chippewas came back and steadily increased their lead, and the Lady Broncs never got closer than 12 points thereafter.

Central Michigan started off quickly, taking a 13-2 lead with 11:56 remaining and holding Texas-Pan American scoreless for a span of 8:19. The Lady Broncs got jump shots from junior guards Jennifer Piwonka (Louise, TX/Louise HS) and Arrita Oler (Rialto, CA/Eisenhower HS/ Coffeyville CC) to cut CMU's lead to 15-10 with six minutes left in the first half. CMU led at the break, 23-16.

"We knew that we had to speed up the tempo of the game today to be successful, and this is the lowest number of shots (49) that we've taken in a game this season," said UTPA Head Coach DeAnn Craft. "That's directly opposite the style we needed to play. We've been playing a lot lately, and I think we were worn out. We were unable to maintain our pressure, we were overpowered on the boards, and we do not match up well with physical teams. We played well in spurts in the second half, but we have to play better overall."

Senior guard Amanda Carlow (Pine Ridge, SD/Rapid City CHS/Northeast CC) led the Lady Broncs with nine points and sophomore forward Stacey Gooden (Houston, TX/J.F. Dobie HS) added seven. Casey Manning had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Chippewas, Erin Kuhl added 13 points, and Amanda Elwer added 10.

Piwonka passed a couple of milestones in the game. Her seven steals made her the eighth Lady Bronc player to record seven steals in a game, and it tied her for fifth place on the all-time single-game list. Her five assists gave her 153 for her career, and she is now in 10th place in that category.

Texas-Pan American will take several days off for the holiday break, returning to action when they visit Tulsa next Sunday afternoon.