Women's basketball blasts Toledo, 85-47
Central Michigan women’s basketball dominated Toledo from the opening tip for their 12th consecutive victory.
The Chippewas (20-3, 12-0 MAC) defeated the Rockets (15-10, 6-7 MAC) 85-47 at McGuirk Arena on Saturday.
CMU head coach Sue Guevara was pleased with today’s performance but remains hungry going forward.
“We are always going to try and chase perfection,” Guevara said. “I was happy with our defensive effort and I was with the way we were able to get the ball inside.”
The seniors set the tempo early for Central Michigan. Cassie Breen and Tinara Moore scored the first 15 points of the game giving the Chippewas a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
CMU led 24-8 at the end of the quarter due to a strong defensive effort. Toledo shot 3-17 (17.6%) from the field in the first quarter.
“I thought we played a really good game today,” Moore said. “We got a lot of stops and we scored.”
With just under seven minutes remaining in the second, the Rockets scored their first points since the 3:09 mark of the first quarter. Toledo continued to struggle scoring shooting just 9-35 (25.7%) from the field in the first half.
Central Michigan took a 45-20 lead into halftime. 20 points is the least amount the Chippewas have given up in the first half this season.
“Our players really executed the game plan defensively,” Guevara said. “I thought we did our job.”
The Rockets began the second half on a 6-0 run, but a Presley Hudson 3-pointer shifted the momentum for CMU.
Toledo almost matched their first half total scoring 19 third quarter points, but Central Michigan matched their efforts taking a 65-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
Micaela Kelly scored seven straight points then dished out an assist to Gabrielle Bird giving the Chippewas a commanding 76-39 early in the fourth quarter.
The CMU bench finished the game strong capping Central Michigan’s dominating performance.
Moore led the Chippewas with 22 points. Kelly CMU with 10 rebounds in addition to scoring 10 points. Breen, Hudson and freshman Kyra Bussell all scored in double figures.
“As a freshman it’s such an awesome experience to have such a strong group of seniors and upperclassmen,” Bussell said. “We’re hoping to keep this thing rolling, taking it one game at a time.”
Central Michigan heads to Buffalo on Wednesday for their toughest conference matchup on paper this season.
