Women’s basketball team looks to overcome history against Kent State at MAC Tournament

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The CMU women’s basketball team looks to reach heights the program has not seen in 18 years on Wednesday.

No. 6 seed CMU meets No. 3 Kent State at about 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. CMU plays 30 minutes after Wednesday’s first game — No. 2 Toledo against No. 9 Ball State.

A win would give CMU its first trip to the MAC semifinals since 1992, when the Chippewas defeated Miami 69-59 in the quarterfinals. CMU has not reached the semifinals since it expanded to its current 12-team format in 2000.

“It’s another good step for our program,” said coach Sue Guevara. “This is the second year in a row we get to go to the second round.”

Kent State (19-9) finished the regular season in second place in the East Division with a 12-4 conference record and received a first round bye. The Golden Flashes won five of their past six games, including a 67-55 win against Buffalo on March 2 to close the regular season.

Juniors Taisja Jones and Jamilah Humes, a Saginaw native, lead KSU in scoring, averaging 14.9 and 14.4 points per game,respectively.

CMU (12-17) lost its only meeting with Kent State this season, 82-76 on Jan. 27 in Kent, Ohio. KSU shot 52.8 percent from the floor and jumped to a 17-point first half lead.

While CMU got offensive production from unusual sources — a career-high 18 points from freshman Rachel Mauk and 12 points from Kendra Holman — KSU limited senior Britni Houghton and junior Kaihla Szunko to single digits in points. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes got a balanced offensive attack, with four players scoring in double figures.

CMU snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday with a 69-66 first-round win against Ohio.

Despite the team being 2-14 away from Rose Arena, Guevara said her team has a different mind-set heading to Cleveland.

“I don’t even think we look at it like we’re struggling on the road going to somebody else’s house,” Guevara said. “We get to go play these teams on a neutral court, not in their house. And that’s the best way to think about it.”

Notes

Britni Houghton, Kaihla Szunko and junior forward Shonda Long were named to the All-MAC third team by the conference on Tuesday. Rachel Mauk was named to the conference All-Freshman team.

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Wednesday’s MAC women’s quarterfinals
No. 2 Toledo vs. No. 7 Ball State, noon
No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 6 CMU, 2 p.m.
No. 1 Bowling Green vs. No. 8 Miami, 4 p.m.
No. 4 Akron vs. No. 5 Eastern Michigan, 6 p.m.