Women’s basketball advances to MAC Tournament Championship
Central Michigan womens basketball team celebrate after the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Mid-American Conference tournament semifinal game was much like the quarterfinals for the Central Michigan women’s basketball team – a close one.
The No. 1 ranked Chippewas (27-4, 19-1 MAC) saw their lead dwindle against No. 4 Miami (21-10, 12-7 MAC), but eventually pull away in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament, 61-58, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
“At the end of the day, it’s survive and advance,” said CMU head coach Sue Guevara. “That’s exactly what we did.”
Senior guard Cassie Breen shoots the ball during the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
CMU redshirt freshman Micaela Kelly opened the scoring one minute into the first quarter, giving the Chippewas a 2-0 lead.
However, Miami wouldn’t let Guevara’s squad roll like it did at Millett Hall on Jan. 6.
“I’d like to give Miami and coach (Megan) Duffy big props,” Guevara said. “That team has come a long way from January 6 when we played them. We took their best shot and thank goodness we have a survival vest on.”
The Chippewas started the game 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from downtown to push the lead to 17-8 with 3:27 to play in quarter one.
With 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter, freshman guard Maddy Watters jumped CMU’s lead to double digits, 21-10, on her second bucket of the game.
Watters played the end of the first quarter and the entirety of the second quarter as junior guard Presley Hudson sat out with two fouls.
“She was totally different than she was on Wednesday,” Guevara said. “To see her respond that way was really good. We have to have fresh legs.”
After a 6-0 run by CMU, Miami closed the gap with a four-point run of its own. The RedHawks trimmed their deficit to 27-16 with 5:31 to play in the first half.
Junior guard Kendall McCoy dropped in a 3-pointer just under the two-minute mark to trim Miami’s deficit to seven points. On the next offensive possession, sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson made it a four-point game, 27-23.
At the first half buzzer, Dickerson drove the lane and tossed in a layup to chop Miami's deficit to 27-25 at halftime. Dickerson and McCoy had 23 of Miami's 25 points in the first half, which is 92.0 percent.
“I had to work hard (guarding Dickerson),” Kelly said. “I knew she was going to come out to play.”
MAC Player of the Year Tinara Moore, a CMU senior forward, had one point and 11 rebounds at the break. She finished with seven points and 13 rebounds.
On the first play of the second half, sophomore forward Savannah Kluesner scored inside to tie the game for Miami against CMU, 27-27. Kluesner scored on the next possession to give Miami a 29-27 lead.
As the clock hit 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Hudson swished a 3-pointer, celebrated as she ran down the court and most importantly gave CMU a 45-42 lead heading into the final quarter of action.
Miami took a 58-55 edge over CMU with 2:11 left in the game on a jumper by Dickerson. Frost gave the lead back to CMU, 59-58, with under a minute to play on a mid-range jumper from the corner.
Frost led the Chippewas with 18 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Kelly tossed in 16 points and dished out three assists.
“I was playing in the zone and I didn’t want to go home,” Frost said. “I had a few big players down low and Cassie made two free throws to seal the deal for us.”
Junior guard Presley Hudson dribbles the basketball down the court during the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Three straight 3-point misses from the RedHawks allowed CMU a 61-58 victory.
For Miami, Dickerson scored a team-high 21 points but went 7-of-28 from the field. She added four rebounds and four assists. McCoy scored 10 points in the loss.
CMU 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.
“Tomorrow is just another game,” Guevara said. “For us to be able to get to where we are says a lot about the focus of this team. They will be excited and ready to go.
“I don’t care (who we play).”
