Even after locking up No. 3 seed, women treat game against Toledo seriously

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The No. 3 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament is locked up. A first-round bye is already clinched.

So, the regular season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Toledo (21-7 overall, 13-2 MAC) is meaningless.

Wrong.

The Central Michigan women’s basketball team looks to add on to its 3-game winning streak and carry its current momentum into the MAC tournament.

To do so, CMU (19-8 overall, 11-4 MAC) will need to travel into Savage Arena and beat UT on senior day.

“We know how all the emotion will be,” said head coach Sue Guevara about the atmosphere of Wednesday’s senior day finale. “I know we can compete because we beat Toledo.”

In that first meeting, it came down to the final minutes. The Rockets held a 74-69 lead with less than 90 seconds to play.

The Chippewas closed out that final minute and a half on a 9-0 run and sent UT back home with its first loss in conference play.

“We know it’ll be a tough game at their place,” said senior forward Kaihla Szunko.

If CMU wants to get a win, it’ll need to do a better job containing the Rockets’ two leading scorers.

Junior guard Naama Shafir is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game. Senior forward Melissa Goodall averages 12.9.

In the previous meeting against the Chippewas, Shafir scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Goodall scored 15, shooting 4-of-9 from the floor.

In addition to containing Shafir and Goodall, CMU needs to continue its balanced scoring attack. Szunko, sophomore forward Brandie Baker, senior guard Shonda Long and freshman forward Taylor Johnson all scored 14 points or more in the 78-74 win against UT on Jan. 19th.

“We want to get this game and have momentum in the tournament,” Szunko said.

The Chippewas can use their new defensive mentality to its advantage on Wednesday. They struggled defensively on Shafir and Goodall, but still won.

Now it has a more defensive mindset.

This mindset has been proven over the past eight games, including the final possession of the clinching win on Saturday against Eastern Michigan.

“We are going to have to match their enthusiasm and emotional state,” Guevara said. “We need to just do what we do.”

After the regular season finale, CMU will be off until Mar. 9th so it can rest up while it waits to find out who its MAC tournament quarterfinal opponent is.