COLUMN: Women's hoops' season isn't over yet, team controls its finish
It wasn't suppose to be this way for the Central Michigan women’s basketball team.
After an historic season for the program, going 23-7 and 15-3 in the Mid-American Conference to be crowned as the outright regular season MAC champions for the first time in 32 years, this team could seemingly do no wrong.
But sports aren’t always fair, and neither is life for this team right now.
As the No. 1 seed in the MAC tournament this year, CMU was looking for redemption from a season ago, when the Chippewas lost in overtime in the conference title game to Buffalo.
CMU was matched up in the quarterfinal with its rival, Western Michigan, who the Chippewas beat just over a week ago, 94-73 on WMU’s home court.
The Chippewas swept the season series against WMU, making it five straight wins over the Broncos. On paper, CMU had every advantage you could possibly think of.
But it’s March, common sense doesn't apply, and the better team doesn't always win.
That was the case for head coach Sue Guevara and her team. CMU was leading by by six points with just 1:20 left in regulation, when this team just lost its footing and the floor fell out underneath them.
The Broncos went on a 10-0 run to end the game, CMU turned the ball over a couple times and let them have a chance, and WMU ran with it until they advanced.
I’ve watched CMU play 31 games this season, and they never finished a game like that. They choked down the stretch, and there is no better way to put it.
All season long, Guevara has preached to her players about taking it one game at a time, and the Chippewas picked the wrong time to look ahead. They seemed to lose their focus, and it ultimately cost them a trip to the semifinal round of the MAC tournament.
WMU was blown out 83-55 in the next game to Northern Illinois, which kind of proves the point that the Broncos aren't a better team than CMU, they just were for the final stretch of that game.
Regardless, Toledo went on to win the MAC tournament, and CMU will always be left wondering what could have been, with a team that in my opinion, had so much more to offer.
Their season isn't over though, as they have received an invite to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) due to their overall success this campaign.
While the 64 team bracket isn't announced until Monday between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, whoever this team gets matched up with, will have a battle ready for them.
If there is one strength to this team I could point to, it is their ability to bounce back and play their game no matter what the situation is.
While not winning the MAC Tournament is a high disappointment, and you can’t hide that, this team can still make more history.
CMU has never won a postseason game outside of the MAC Tournament. If this team can bounce back from a bad loss to WMU that had to hurt them mentally, it would say a lot about who they are.
They've shown it all season long that they will respond, and I wouldn't be surprised if this team shocked the world this March in the WNIT.
