Trailing 35-34 at the half, Giden and Manley stepped up to deliver a one-two offensive punch and the Broncos played inspired defense to capture their second win of the season.

Giden put on a show, scoring the first nine of 11 Bronco points out of the break. She displayed a new wrinkle in her game, hitting three straight three-pointers in the second half and made a career high four for the game. Her 31 points were the most scored by a Bronco since All-American Carrie Moore dropped 34 against Miami on March 4, 2007. Coincidentally, the two share the same jersey number - #33.

Manley scored almost all of her points attacking the basket, and was solid at the free-throw line making eight of 10 free throws. Manley set a new career high with five steals and tied a personal best with six assists.

The Broncos took the lead for good at the 15:19 mark in the second half on a three by Giden, followed by a Manley jumper. WMU held off runs by Southern Illinois and built up its lead to as many as 12 with 3:07 remaining.

Western Michigan stepped it up on the defensive end in the second half with Molly Dwyer setting the tone, tipping passing and getting into passing lanes. WMU forced the Salukis to give the ball away 24 times leading to 28 points.

Both teams shot in the low 40's for the game and SIU edged WMU out on the boards, 42-37. Sara Vest led the Broncos with seven boards, also adding nine points, while Giden grabbed six and Dwyer had five.

Southern Illinois' Christine Presswood hit three early three's to lead all scorers with 13 points at the half and finished with 20 on the night. Stephany Neptune recorded a double-double for SIU with a team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Salukis dropped to 0-4 on the season.

Western Michigan continues its five-game road trip at Chicago State Monday, Nov. 30, with a 8 p.m. (ET) matchup.

UW-Milwaukee 73, Northern Illinois 65
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Northern Illinois women's basketball team reduced a 20-point halftime deficit to four, but couldn't finish the comeback against Milwaukee, falling 73-65 at the Klotsche Center, Wednesday night.

"This game is a learning experience for us," NIU head coach Carol Owens said. "We're going to take some lessons from tonight and apply them to the rest of the season."

The Huskies (3-2) were led in scoring by Marke Freeman (Springfield, Ill./Lanphier) with 16. Freeman hit a lay-up, got fouled and connected on the free throw with 23 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to four, 69-65. Panther leading scoring Lindsay Laur, who scored 20 points, answered with two free throws second later. An NIU turnover on the next possession led to a pair of game-sealing free throws by Ashley Imperiale.

Northern Illinois scored 45 second half points, the most this season. The Huskies connected on 17-of-41 shots (41.5 percent), connected on four three-pointers and outscored the Panthers by 12 points in the period.

"We played a lot better in the second half," Owens said. "We need to realize we have to play like that for the entire game."

NIU scored 23 points of 21 Milwaukee miscues. NIU turned the ball over just five times in the second half, and 16 time sin the game. The Huskies grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, the third time they've hit the 20-offensive rebound mark this season, and cashed in for 14 second chance points.

The night started poorly, as the Huskies went 0-for-12 from the field. The Huskies trailed 20-1 when Freeman hit Northern Illinois' first shot of the night more than nine minutes in.

Behind Freeman, sophomore Tenisha Wilson (Chicago, Ill./Bogan Computer Technical) scored a valiant 10 points, providing a much needed spark off the bench. Junior Ebony Ellis (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Township) led the Huskies with 10 rebounds, her third double-digit rebounding game of the year.

For Milwaukee, Laur added nine rebounds to her 20 points. She was followed by Jodie McClain with 11 points and nine assists, while Imperiale and Amanda Viehauser each contributed 10 points.

Northern Illinois returns home to face DePaul, Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Tickets are available by calling (815) 752-6800 (815) 752-6800, or online at www.niuhuskies.com.

Georgetown 94, Central Michigan 69
MOUNT PLEASANT -- A record 5,195 fans rocked Rose Center, but the Central Michigan women's basketball team couldn't hold off the Georgetown Hoyas, 94-69, on Wednesday.

Jalisa Olive scored 17 points off the bench and Britni Houghton added 14, but the Hoyas used 34 fast break points and 54 points in the paint to claim the victory.

"It was a great crowd, I just wish we could have given them more to cheer about in the second half," head coach Sue Guevara said. "This was a different team today than the one that showed up on Saturday, so there's improvement, but it's not enough. Not yet."

CMU shot 40 percent from the field and 36 percent from long range (11-of-31) while GU hit on 49 percent of its field goals and 29 percent of its threes (5-of-17).

After a blistering pace to the opening 10 minutes, the Chippewas trailed by just two, 34-32, when Kaihla Szunko picked up her second foul.

With Szunko on the bench, the Chippewas couldn't come up with clutch rebounds and the Hoyas went on a 15-3 run over the next eight minutes before a three by Shonda Long at the horn sent CMU into the break down 11, 49-38.

"We had to sub for Kaihla, and they go on a big run because we don't have any rebounding," Guevara said. "We need more production out of our bench, and I haven't found that substitution who can rebound the ball and not turn the ball over."

Georgetown would build its lead to as many as 20 in the second half, 72-52 with 11:22 left. Central Michigan would respond with an 11-0 run to draw back within nine, 74-65, with eight minutes left on a four-point play by Olive.

After a Long lay-in at the 6:41 mark drew the Chippewas within seven, 77-68, the Hoyas would hold Central without a field goal the rest of the way and close the game on a 17-1 run.

"We had stretches in the second half where we would turn over the ball four times in five possessions, and that's not good enough," Guevara said. "If we take better care of the basketball, this might have been a different game. We had it down to seven, and we committed some key turnovers."

Long gave CMU three players in double-figures with 13 points and Szunko led the way on the glass with 12 boards to go with seven points and three assists. GU's Sugar Rodgers led all players with 29 points.

The Chippewas will return to the road after the brief two-game homestand to face Indiana State on Nov. 29.