Women’s basketball falls at Toledo with poor second-half shooting

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For 37 minutes it looked like the Central Michigan women’s basketball team was heading to its second-straight conference win on the road, but Toledo scored the last six points of the game to win 58-53 Sunday afternoon at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

“We struggled to score,” head coach Sue Guevara said. “Crystal (Bradford) scored at will in the first half, but not in the second. We had a lot of shots in the paint and they just wouldn’t fall.”

The Chippewas shot 30 percent from the floor and scored a season low for points.

CMU freshman guard, Bradford, scored the first seven points of the game establishing an early lead. Sophomore forward Taylor Johnson hit a 3-point shot at the 12:18 mark of the first half to give CMU a 17-7 lead.

CMU led 30-22 at the half.

The Chippewas shot poorly in the second half allowing Toledo to get back in the game.

A layup by Toledo sophomore guard Andola Dortch gave the Rockets a 50-49 lead with 3:12 left.  It was their first lead of the game.

Jordan LaDuke quickly reclaimed the lead for CMU with a jumper from the left baseline to get back up one.

With 1:12 left senior forward Skylar Miller made a layup to give CMU the 53-52 lead, their last points game. After a free throw by Dortch, and Miller turned the ball over Rockets forward Lecretia Smith hit a 3-point shot to make it 57-53 with 29 seconds left to seal the victory.

Bradford led CMU with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Jessica Green added 12 points and seven rebounds. Miller had seven points.

“This will be a learning experience for our young team,” Guevara said. “We need to get more from our bench, specifically people who have played for us before.”

The loss drops the Chippewas record to 9-7 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo improves to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the MAC.

The Chippewas are next in action Wednesday when they host Western Michigan.