Canton, Mo. – The 16th ranked Central Methodist University Eagles women's basketball team went on the road Thursday evening and defeated the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats, by a final of 76-64 in Canton, Missouri.
With the victory, the 16th ranked Eagles have now won nine straight games and improve to 14-2 overall and 10-2 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. With the loss, Culver-Stockton College falls to 7-9 overall and 5-7 in The Heart.
"We played pretty well tonight, we just didn't make shots," said CMU head women's basketball coach Mike Davis. "We shot just 28% in the first half, but we started the second half with a 10-0 run. DaJonee (Hale) and Sophie (Thompson) combined to go 8-for-13 from behind the three-point arc, and that really got us going."
Sophie Thompson (FR/Troy, Ill.) got the scoring started on Thursday evening, with one of her three 3-pointers on the evening, to give Central the early 3-0 lead. The Eagles would never look back, leading by as much as 19 in their 76-64 defeat of the Culver-Stockton Wildcats.
Central Methodist got off to a nice start on Thursday, shooting 7-for-18 from the field, and 4-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc in the first quarter of play. The Eagles held a 21-17 lead going into the second quarter.
CMU would struggle to shoot the ball in the second quarter, finishing just 5-of-23 from the field. The Central defense did cause Culver-Stockton to turn the ball over 11 times; eight of which came off steals. The Eagles outscored the Wildcats 14-13 in the second quarter, to take a 35-30 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles found their offense once again. In the third quarter, CMU shot 9-for-17 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc. The Central defense held Culver-Stockton to 2-of-7 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, and forced seven Wildcats turnovers in the quarter as well. CMU outscored CSC 22-14, to take a commanding 57-44 lead into the fourth and final quarter.
The Eagles controlled the fourth quarter, shooting 9-for-22 from the field. Culver-Stockton hit just five shots, but they did convert on 9 of their 14 free-throw attempts. In the end, CMU would come out victorious 76-64.
In the win, DaJonee Hale (JR/Anchorage, Alaska) led the Eagles with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Hale also chimed in with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Only two other Eagles scored in double-figures, Sophie Thompson finished with 13 points, and Chamira Cockerham (JR/Anchorage, Alaska) finished with 10 points and a team high seven rebounds off the bench. Ana Borges (JR/Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored eight points in her ten minutes of action, and she led CMU with a team high seven steals.
The 16th ranked Eagles remain on the road for two more games, first up will be a match-up at Evangel University on Saturday. The women are scheduled to tip at 2pm, followed by the men's game at 4pm.
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.
