Women's basketball snaps five-game losing streak to Toledo
Struggling would be a word to describe how the Central Michigan women’s basketball team has been against Toledo as of late – losing their last five meetings against the Rockets.
Saturday – in another offensive struggle – junior forward Cassie Breen was there to pick her team up for the second straight game.
Breen led the Chippewas in scoring with 22 points, going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, willing her team to a 72-61 victory against the Rockets, extending the Chippewas winning streak to six games.
With the scored dead locked at 49 all in the fourth quarter, Breen put her head down and got an and-one basket to get the bench and crowd on their feet. Breen converted the free-throw, giving CMU a 52-49.
After more back and fourth play, CMU was ahead 63-59 when senior forward Jewel Cotton hit an and-one basket putting CMU up by six.
Then it was Breen again to take the game into her own hands, taking a charge and then drilling her third 3-pointer to put the Chippewas up 68-59, putting the dagger through the Rockets.
Breen said she understands the defense is going to guard her hard around the perimeter, but she just has to keep shooting.
“I take the same shot every time, and I know the defense is going to key heavy on me, but if I take the shot I need to either make it or look to get fouled,” she said.
Head coach Sue Guevara said she thinks Breen has her mind in the right place right now.
“I think she's got her head on right,” Guevara said. “She’s not letting misses effect her and keep her from getting going, and she's not letting me effect her because I ride her pretty hard then lover her up, but she's just staying in the moment.”
CMU was shooting 50 percent from the field and took a 22-17 lead into the second quarter – then, it got ugly.
After a 5-0 run to open the quarter for the Rockets, neither team could seem to find the bottom of the basket.
CMU (20-6, 12-2 Mid-American Conference) was scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the second quarter until junior forward Tinara Moore hit a straight-away 3-pointer to give the Chippewas a 25-22 lead.
Breen hit a triple to end the half making the score 29-26 in favor of CMU heading into the locker room. That was CMU’s lone triple in 11 attempts in the second quarter.
CMU shot 10.5 percent (2-for-19) from the field in the second quarter, and neither team scored more than ten points.
Toledo went on a 8-4 run to open the quarter, putting them in front 34-33 with 4:53 left in the third.
CMU continued to turn the ball over, allowing the Rockets to take a 47-45 lead into the fourth quarter. CMU turned the ball over 14 times through three quarters while Toledo only committed seven.
While CMU did turn the ball over 15 times to Toledo’s 10 turnovers, the Chippewas out-rebounded the Rockets 54-36, with 23 of those coming on offense.
Toledo shot 36.5 percent from the floor and seven percent (1-for-14) from 3-point range. CMU only shot 32.8 percent from the floor while shooting 19.2 (5-for-26) percent from beyond the arc.
Guevara said she believes the defense was the difference in the game again.
“I go back to this all of the time, offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,” she said. “If you've watched our team the last couple of games, we've controlled the boards. The last time out against Toledo we didn’t. (Today) we had 54 rebounds, 23 offensive, that's perusing the ball.”
Four Chippewas finished in double figures including Breen. Moore finished with 11 points to go along with eight rebounds. Hudson, who got into foul trouble in the fourth, finished with 13 points.
Cotton finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double, with nine of those being offensive boards.
Cotton said she knew they would have to be aggressive against Toledo, and she came in with that mindset.
“When I watched the game of the last time we played Toledo, I noticed I wasn't playing as aggressive on offensively and defensively,” Cotton said. “My goal this game was to crash the glass as hard as I could, get my hands on the ball, and not let them box me out. I think that kind of helped us as far as them playing off of me.”
Tribute to coach
After the game, Guevara was honored for now holding the all-time program wins record (currently at 173) with a video that had comments from former star Crystal Bradford, Guevara's father and coaches from all over the country – including Michigan State's Tom Izzo.
Guevara said she felt all kinds of different emotions during the post game video.
“I was surprised, I was touched, and I was overwhelmed,” Guevara said. “All of those people on (the video) have played a big part in my career and it means a lot to me.”
CMU will face Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. Wednesday at McGuirk Arena. The Chippewas defeated the Huskies 109-94 last Saturday.
