Women’s woes continue through break

Turnovers equated into missed opportunities for the women’s basketball team as it went 2-6 over the holiday break.

“We need to make adjustments. That’s the big answer right there,” said coach Eileen Kleinfelter.

CMU is 1-7 in games when it turns the ball over more than 20 times.

“We make the dumbest turnovers because we are not being patient and executing,” said sophomore Chasidy Myers.

Junior Lindy Hatfield agrees that patience was something the team lacked.

“If we stick to our offense it will work, but lately we have been impatient,” she said. “Turnovers killed us the most and we just need to stay focused when we get rattled.”

The team had a chance to play without the pressure of classes on their mind over the break.

However, they could not put two solid halves together in any single game. They held the lead at halftime on several occasions, but could not finish the game strong.

“We need to get tougher mentally,” Kleinfelter said. “I think our youngsters have to step it up. I expect higher leadership and maturity out of them. We just have to decide which side of the fence we are going to fall on. Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice.”

Senior Amanda Elwer has stepped up her level of play after sophomore Chasidy Myers sustained an injury to her back.

Elwer scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Dec. 28 against Colgate.

“I am very pleased with how she stepped in,” Kleinfelter said. “She is a positive, hard-working teacher on the floor, and that is nice to have.”

Toledo 60, CMU 53

The Chippewas could not hold a 14-point halftime lead in the second half as the Rockets opened up with a 27-9 run to put the game away. Sophomore Lindsay Mecoli tied the game-high with 14 points including four three-pointers. All of Mecoli’s points came in the first 20 minutes of play.

Sophomore Erin Kuhl struggled to hit shots in the game.

“Erin was on the All-MAC freshman team last year and she didn’t even have a basket against Toledo,” Kleinfelter said. “She has to step it up.”

IUPUI 71, CMU 61

Mecoli once again led the team with 18 points and six rebounds. Also posting double-figures were freshman Morgan Wills with 14 and Kuhl with 10 points. The game was tied at the half, but shooting woes hindered CMU’s chances of winning.

The team shot 24 percent in the second half, while IUPUI shot 57 percent.

CMU 69, Colgate 64

Trailing 40-32 at the half, CMU was able to make a comeback by outscoring Colgate 37-24 in the second half. In addition to Elwer’s outburst, three other players also scored in double figures. Mecoli added 16 points, while Hatfield and Manning each had 10 points.
CMU only committed 11 turnovers for the game, its lowest during the break.

CMU 56, Texas-Pan American 40

Manning led CMU with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Central once again committed 21 turnovers in the win. Kuhl added 13 points, while Elwer had six rebounds.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christie 66, CMU 49

Manning continued her stellar shooting with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The guard also had six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Kuhl added five points as she posted the second highest point total on the team. The Chippewas turned the ball over 20 times, and shot 1-of-11 from beyond the three-point line.

Detroit 63, CMU 45

Miserable shooting and turnovers once again cost the team any chance of a victory against the Titans. The team shot 11-of-45 from the floor, and had 19 turnovers.

“Our shooting is not aggressive,” Myers. “I am so confused and I just don’t know what we have to change. We need to get the ball in the post and then be able to kick it back out but we are not doing that. If we played basketball chemistry-wise like we are friends-wise, we would be awesome. But we just cannot read each other on the floor.”

Mecoli’s 18 points led the team.

Wright State 62, CMU 61

Kleinfelter said she would like to have the Wright State game back.

“If there was one game I thought we should have won it was the Wright State game,” Kleinfelter said.

Freshman Sharonda Hurd came off the bench to post a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, seven which came on the offensive end.

“She is very aggressive and that is definitely what we need from her,” Hatfield said.

Hatfield thought CMU’s 22 turnovers were too many.

“We played a solid game but it was the little things that killed us. Turnovers killed us the most though,” she said.