Women’s basketball aims to advance in MAC Tournament against Miami (Ohio)
Senior forward Tinara Moore dribbles the basketball during the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
After a last-second 67-64 victory over No. 9 Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals, the No. 1 Central Michigan women’s basketball team is set to take the hardwood again.
The Chippewas (26-4, 18-1 MAC) battle No. 4 Miami (21-9, 12-6 MAC) in the semifinals at 11 a.m. on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
"You never stop learning," said CMU head coach Sue Guevara. "Miami is playing better now, and so are we. I think we're going to get their absolute best game. It's the same boring mantra: It's one game at a time.
"We have to give them our best shot because we are going to take their best shot. It's just one game. It's the next game we're going to play."
Central Michigan womens basketball team celebrate after the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
CMU turned the ball over 23 times in the three-point win over the Eagles. Meanwhile, EMU gave the ball up just seven times. Junior forward Reyna Frost allowed three of the 23 turnovers.
“We moved on from last game, but we know we need to take care of the ball and get the offense going,” Frost said.
In the first quarter, CMU senior forward Tinara Moore went down with a right knee injury. She returned to the game in the third quarter and said she will be 100 percent when the Chippewas go up against Miami.
“I never had a serious injury before, so I didn’t know how it was going to be. I knew I had to get back in the game,” Moore said. “When I fell, I told myself to ignore the pain and that I wasn’t going to die.”
Coming back from a slight injury, Moore plans to take it one game at a time in order to survive and advance in the month of March.
“I’m just trying to take it game-by-game,” Moore said. “I am approaching this game the same as I would with any other game. It’s just another game and it happens to be in the tournament. I’m going to relax and get after it.”
Hudson said Guevara told her team to move on from EMU and put the focus on the upcoming game against the RedHawks.
“We have to focus on us, improve offensively and get big stops down the stops,” Hudson said. “We want to contain defensively and get rebounds. We buy into what Coach G and all the coaches are all about.”
Scouting Report
To get into the semifinal game against CMU, Miami defeated Ohio, 69-66, in the quarterfinal at Quicken Loans Arena on March 7.
Sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson pushed Ohio’s defense to the limit, posting 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals on 8-of-15 shooting from the field in the victory. Sophomore forward Savannah Kluesner recorded a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Along with Dickerson and Kluesner, junior guard Leah Purvis came off the bench to drop in 13 points, two rebounds and two assists.
On the season, Dickerson leads the RedHawks with 19.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Junior guard Kendall McCoy is the only other Miami player in double figures scoring, averaging 12.7 points and 6.0 assists per contest. She was held to five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 32 minutes against the Bobcats.
Last Meeting
Earlier this season, CMU blew away Miami, 84-66, on the road on Jan. 6. However, the upcoming game at Quicken Loans Arena is more important than any other.
“Coach keeps telling us to focus on one game at a time,” Frost said. “We know we need to take care of business and improve.”
Next Up
The winner of CMU and Miami will play in the tournament championship at 11 a.m. on March 10 against either No. 2 Buffalo or No. 6 Western Michigan. The winner of the MAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
