Redshirt freshman Micaela Kelly locks down Miami’s Lauren Dickerson
Miami Ohio guard Lauren Dickerson dribbles the basketball past Central Michigan redshirt freshman guard Micaela Kelly during the basketball game against Miami Ohio on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Coming into the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal game against Central Michigan, Miami (Ohio) sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson averaged 19.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Even though she scored 21 points in Miami’s loss to CMU at Quicken Loans Arena, it was not pretty, due to the defense from redshirt freshman guard Micaela Kelly.
“I had to work, I had to work hard,” Kelly said. “I knew that she was going to come to play and attack, so I had to be smart and hold my composure through whatever.”
Dickerson, a 5-foot-3 guard, shot 7-of-28 from the field, which is just 25 percent. She went 2-of-16 from 3-point range and made 5-of-6 shots from the free throw line in a team-high 39 minutes.
While Kelly is a starter for CMU, she had to step up when fellow junior guard Presley Hudson was taken out of the game in the first quarter with two fouls.
Hudson missed the final 12 minutes of the first half, so Kelly made her presence felt on both sides of the ball.
“I felt like I needed to step up because I had to handle the ball, take care and be the leader on the floor at that moment,” Kelly said.
As for Hudson getting in foul trouble, junior forward Reyna Frost said it will not happen in the championship game at 11 a.m. on March 10.
“Our offensive leader got into foul trouble, but she won’t tomorrow,” Frost said. “That’s something we need to fix. We need to hold off and not let them throw punches back. If they do, we have to respond quicker.”
