Women’s basketball team loses halftime lead, bows out of MAC Tournament

CLEVELAND — The Central Michigan women’s basketball team struggled all season with rebounding and turnovers. On Wednesday, deficiencies in those two areas ended its season.

CMU junior forward Kaihla Szunko, center, attempts to score against Kent State's Jamilah Humes, left, and Lorraine Odhiambo on Wednesday during the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Kent State overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to win 68-55 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Daniel Monson/Senior Reporter)

No. 6 seed CMU was eliminated from the Mid-American Conference Tournament after losing 68-55 against Kent State in the quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena.

“When you cause 30 turnovers, you’re supposed to win the game, aren’t you?” said coach Sue Guevara. “Unfortunately, we had 26 and we had them at some key times.”

Tied 40-40 with 10 minutes remaining in a game that went back-and-forth throughout, Kent State made three consecutive 3-pointers that proved to be the difference in the game.

“We could not answer that,” Guevara said. “Problem is, we come down on our end and turned it over. That happened three times in a row. It spiraled, and we just could not get out of it.”

CMU (12-18) tried to make a comeback, closing the lead to 51-45 with 6:46 remaining. But three missed shots and two turnovers on ensuing possessions allowed junior guard Jamilah Humes to hit a 3-pointer and secure the victory for Kent State.

Humes, who averages 14.4 points per game, scored a game-high 24 points after getting into foul trouble and scoring only four points in the first half.

CMU was outrebounded 47-30.

CMU sophomore forward Skylar Miller attempts to score against Kent State's Leslie Schaefer on Wednesday in Cleveland. (Daniel Monson/Senior Reporter)

“In the second half, we just struggled,” said junior forward Kaihla Szunko. “We seemed to want to do a lot of one-on-one play and you can’t go against five girls like that — that’s why we struggled scoring. We couldn’t get stops on the defensive end and that really hurt us.”

Szunko led the Chippewas with 16 points and seven rebounds. No other CMU players scored in double figures.

CMU took a 28-21 lead into halftime on 40.6 percent shooting, holding Kent State to 21.4 percent from the field in the first half.

“I told our team that we played pretty poorly in the first half,” said Kent State coach Bob Lindsay. “The second half was entirely different. I thought we played great defensively and went to the offensive boards with a lot more energy, and that was the difference in the game.”

Senior forward Britni Houghton, who started despite an injured left knee, scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in her final game. Houghton finishes her career second all-time in scoring at CMU with 1,555 points.

Fellow seniors Heidi Warczinsky and Kendra Holman scored seven and zero points, respectively.

“It’s been a good run but I wish we could have ended on a better note,” Houghton said. “I hope the seniors have left a legacy for our future teams to follow.”

Check back at cm-life.com on Thursday for coverage of the men’s quarterfinals as CMU goes against rival Western Michigan.