Women’s basketball team winning despite poor free-throw shooting

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Despite struggles from the free-throw line the Central Michigan women’s basketball team remains successful.

During their 2-5 start they went 107-for-142 from the free throw line, 75.4 percent.

Since then CMU is 9-2, but have made just 263 of its 415 free throw attempts (63.4 percent), including 53.3 percent in its most recent win against Ball State.

“If (you) start making a big deal of it, it becomes a bigger deal than what it is,” said head coach Sue Guevara. “Once you miss that first one you have to mentally click it over and make the next one.”

The statistic reveals a strange pattern when considered in the contexts of wins and losses.

When the Chippewas have lost this season they are 89-of-110 from the charity stripe, 81.1 percent.

When they win, they have made just 177 of their 310 attempts, 57.1 percent.

“It’s more about focus,” said freshman Crystal Bradford. “We practice them; we just have to knock them down.”

If the team keeps winning despite missing from the foul line, why worry? That is the approach CMU has taken.

“We work on them and put them under pressure in practice and it will improve,” Guevara said.

She said she would like to see consistency.

This season the Chippewas have shot 63.3 percent from the line, and have shot around that mark in the past 11 games where they have gone 9-2.

That may be the most important element for the team.

They don’t have to be good or bad from the line, they just need to be consistent.

“It needs to be consistent, it can’t go up and down,” Guevara said.

The team believes with practice its free throw percentage will increase.

“Our free throw percentage will improve,” Guevara said.