Women's basketball Broncos fall in MAC semifinals

February 28, 1999

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Kent State University outscored the WMU Broncos, 17-8, in the final six minutes of the MAC women's basketball semifinals to break open a close game and post a 60-50 win. The Mid-American Conference semifinals were played today (Feb. 28) at the Seagate Centre in Toledo.

Western Michigan University shot just 26 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed by only two points, 25-23, at the intermission. Kent State was held to only 31 percent shooting in the first half, but improved to 56 percent from the field in the second half. The Broncos were able to keep the game close by hitting 15 of 17 free throw attempts. WMU also led the taller Kent team in rebounds, 36-35, for the contest.

WMU senior Kelly DeLong opened the scoring in the second half to tie the contest at 25. Neither team was able to gain a significant advantage through the first 14 minutes of the second half. The Broncos took the lead, 41-40, with 6:45 remaining to play before Kent pulled away on a 17-6 run.

WMU junior Shelsea Erving, who was named to the All-MAC first team this past week, led all scorers with 24 points. She also had a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Star Harris scored 10 points and had seven rebounds for WMU.

Kent State posted its third consecutive 20-win season in 1998-99 and tied Toledo for the best regular season record. WMU was third in the conference (11-5 MAC) behind Toledo and Kent State, which will meet for the conference championship Monday, March 1, in Toledo.

The Broncos, which had only seven wins the previous season, finished with a 19-9 overall record. The season-to-season improvement was the best in WMU history and second-best ever in Mid-American Conference women's basketball.

Broncos defeat Eastern Michigan in MAC quarterfinals

The women's basketball Broncos led by as many as 33 points enroute to a 95-68 victory over Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference tournament.

The game was played Friday (Feb. 26) in Kalamazoo in front of 1,249 fans. WMU scored the first seven points in the contest and led the entire game.

Senior Kelly DeLong led the Broncos with 26 points, one shy of her career high. Shelsea Erving added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Brooke Gallert had 15 points, and Star Harris had 11 rebounds. Brianne Gallert had 12 assists, and Danielle Meuller came off the bench to score eight points.

In other MAC quarterfinals, Toledo defeated Central Michigan, 88-78; Kent State defeated Buffalo, 84-48; and Akron defeated Bowling Green, 74-56.

Media contact: Geoff Brown; 616 387-4138; geoff.brown@wmich.edu


Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
616 387-8400
univ-rel@wmich.edu

http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news