Baldwin City, Kan. The 16^th ranked Central Methodist University Lady Eagles basketball team once again were battle tested and were forced to play to the buzzer, holding off the Baker Wildcats by a final 68-63 on Wednesday evening in Baldwin City, Kansas.
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With the victory, the 16^th ranked Lady Eagles improve to 21-2 overall and remain in first place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings at 16-1. With the loss, Baker University; who are currently receiving votes in the latest Top 25 National Poll fall to 18-6 overall and 12-5 in The Heart.
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Wednesday's contest was close throughout between the Lady Eagles and Wildcats. When these two teams met in Fayette in early January, Central Methodist came out on top by nine points; this affair was even closer.
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"We don't care how we get them, as long as we get them," said CMU associate head coach Greg Ray following his team's victory. "We didn't play with our normal pace tonight. Baker did a great job slowing the game down to their pace. We found opportunities to get out and push though."
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Central Methodist struck first on Wednesday with a bucket in the first minute of the contest and would continue to keep pace with the Wildcats. After a quarter of play, CMU led 19-18, while shooting 41% from the floor.
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Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the second quarter, as CMU finished at just 35%; but outscored Baker 13-12. At halftime, CMU led 32-30.
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In the third quarter, CMU shot 70% from the floor and yet were still outscored 21-19 after a strong showing. The Lady Eagles shot 75% from the three-point arc and went a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
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The Lady Eagles struggled in the fourth quarter, being held to 27% shooting from the field, but made it count from the free-throw line. Central Methodist scored the final seven points in the contest, all from the free-throw line. CMU shot 11-for-16 from the charity stripe in the final quarter.
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Three Lady Eagles finished in double-figures scoring in the victory, led by DaJonee Hale's (Anchorage, Alaska) game high 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Alissa Campanero (San Diego, Calif.) finished with 15 points, four assists, three steals, and two rebounds in all 40 minutes of action. Campanero also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
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"These ladies don't get rattled," added Ray. "We have been in enough close ones; where we have played four or more players 35 plus minutes a game, that they are ready for whatever comes their way. We have another big one at home on Saturday, as we look to even the series with Grand View."
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The 16^th ranked Lady Eagles return home to Puckett Field House this Saturday to host Grand View University at 2pm. The Vikings are the only team to defeat the Lady Eagles this season in conference play. The Eagle men will follow the ladies at 4pm.
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For more information about Central Methodist University athletics, visit http://www.cmueagles.com. Follow CMU athletics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cmathletics and on Twitter twitter.com/cmueagles. � �