Loss to UT keeps women's hoops third in MAC West
After dropping its first Mid-American Conference game of the season, the Central Michigan women's basketball team fell to Toledo, 74-72 Saturday.
It was the first time all season the Chippewas have lost back-to-back games, falling to 2-5 in road games. CMU (14-6 overall, 6-2 MAC) remains in third place in the MAC West Division.
Sophomore guard Presley Hudson drove down the lane with six seconds left and was called for a charge, which resulted in the Rockets gaining a two-point lead.
With five seconds remaining, the Chippewas got the ball up the court quickly, giving senior forward Jewel Cotton a chance at tying the game, but she couldn't convert the jumper as time expired.
Head Coach Sue Guevara said she believes her team played a tough game, but gave up too many rebounds.
“We did battle back and played the best we could,” Guevara said. “However, we gave up too many offensive rebounds. When you give up 21 offensive boards and allow 22 points off of them, you won’t win.”
Momentum seemed to be shifting when CMU went on a 15-3 run to end the third quarter, resulting in a 57-52 Chippewa lead. However, UT responded with a 10-2 run to open the final quarter, and from there it was close to the finish.
CMU was out-rebounded by the Rockets 40-38 and turned the ball over 18 times. Seven of those turnovers came from Hudson, who finished 2-for-10 shooting from the floor.
The Chippewas shot under their season average in field goal percentage on the road. CMU shot 39.6 percent from the field and just 30 percent (6-for-20) from 3-point distance.
For the third straight game, it was junior forward Tinara Moore doing most of the scoring for the Chippewas. Moore finished with a season-high of 33 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the field and made a couple 3-pointers while adding eight rebounds and two blocks.
One other Chipppewa finished in double-figures and that was junior guard Aleah Swary. She tallied 11 points while adding five rebounds and two steals.
Moore was the only starter to finish in double figures, and for Guevara that was a problem.
“Right now Tinara (Moore) is the only weapon that we have on offense,” Guevara said. “If we want to win, we are going to need a lot more than one player doing the scoring. We are struggling against physical teams and missing open shots when we have them.”
CMU will head back to Mount Pleasant where they will take on Ohio. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
