“They were just better,” said Ernie Zeigler. “Better than us at every position.”

And after a 68-42 loss against Ohio Saturday in Athens, Ohio, the Central Michigan men’s basketball head coach is now tasked with finding a way to change course. His team has lost seven straight games — at one time looking like it would be able to compete for a Mid-American Conference West Division title, now fighting to stay out of the league basement.

In what has become a sure bet the past few seasons, CMU struggled offensively out of the gate. The Chippewas fell behind 9-1 in the first three minutes after following a triad of 3-pointers from guards Nick Kellogg and D.J. Cooper.

A Trey Zeigler jumper with 10:16 to go in the first half cut the Bobcats’ lead to 15-11, but that was as close as CMU got the rest of the game. And despite its initial scoring burst, Ohio struggled to shoot the basketball in the first half – shooting just 32 percent from the field and went 4-for-20 in 3-point attempts.

The caveat? The Chippewas weren’t any better, and closed the half shooting 30.8 percent and 1-for-12 from long range. Throw in nine turnovers and 12 OU points off those turnovers and the Bobcats end the half with a comfortable 33-20 lead.

“It’s very difficult (to come back) when you’re playing against a good team, and we’ve been playing against some good teams,” Zeigler said, referring to Ohio’s MAC-best 19-4 overall record and the Chippewas recent losses against perennial MAC East contenders Akron (16-7, 8-1 MAC) and Kent State (16-6). “To overcome going down by double digits early, it makes it very difficult to come back against very good teams.”

The defensive struggles continued in the second half, with OU extending its lead to 16 on a 3-point bucket  from Kellogg (14 points on 5-of-11 shooting) within the first 30 seconds. When junior forward Olivier Mbaigoto responded with a jumper on the  next CMU possession, Ohio junior forward Walter Offutt (game-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers) answered with another 3-pointer of his own.

From there on out, scoring droughts stifled any opportunity for the CMU offense. After Mbaigoto’s jumper at the 18:59 mark, the Chippewas could not muster a field goal — Mbaigoto did make three free throws — for more than five minutes. Later in the half, a four-minute scoreless span was ended when Mbaigoto hit a 3-pointer with 7:45 to go, but Ohio’s lead had blossomed to 20 points. The Bobcats improve to 19-4 overall, a MAC-best, and 7-1 in the league.

Mbaigoto led the team with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while the three scorers relied upon for most of the offensive production (sophomore guards Trey Zeigler and Derek Jackson and freshman Austin McBroom) combined for just 24 points and nine rebounds. Trey had most of those with 10 points and six rebounds.

CMU (7-15, 2-7 MAC) converted just 27 percent of its shots in the second half. Ohio shot a much-improved 50 percent, including 7-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.

“You have to give Ohio credit,” Ernie Zeigler said. “They did a really good job of keying in on our main offensive options, and we struggled to make some open shots as well. They came in with a great gameplan, from the coaching on down. They dominated us in every area.”

And now CMU turns its attention to Buffalo, a team that pushed the Chippewas around — beating them by double digits — twice last season, even knocking them out in the first round of the MAC tournament. The Bulls enter Wednesday’s game at McGuirk Arena 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the MAC, and could very well be CMU’s final chance to try and turn around a once-promising season.

Despite the seven-game slide, Zeigler said he and his staff will continue pushing and teaching his players along the way.

“When you have a young team, that’s all you can do,” Zeigler said. “I’m my stated self. I’m always extremely confident in what we’re doing and how we’re going about it.”

Following CMU’s 67-53 win against the Bobcats, highlighted by a first-half fight that resulted in the ejection of two players, players did not speak to the media, and head coach Sue Guevara would not speak about the incident.

Instead, the department issued a four-sentence statement from the university and Athletics Director Dave Heeke touting sportsmanship and accountability before closing: “The incident will be reviewed by the department and by the conference office. Until that process is done and we clearly understand what occurred, it would be premature to comment any further.”

It was clear sportsmanship was thrown out the window during those few minutes, so why not spend a few minutes after the game taking accountability for it? Every one of the 543 listed people in attendance saw what happened. Thousands more that evening on YouTube did, too (and still are).

Officials should have immediately said players involved in the fight would be suspended.

Instead, athletics waited to comment until after the Mid-American Conference had handed down a two-game suspension to CMU freshman guards Crystal Bradford and Jessica Green and freshman forward Jas’Mine Bracey, along with OU junior forward Porsha Harris.

Punches were thrown, benches cleared and, while most tried to stop the melee from worsening, others tried to get involved. Let’s call it what it was: a schoolyard fight on a basketball court. And for what reason? Bracey and Harris may be the only ones to know.

So why not come forward right away and take accountability for the situation? Instead, the athletics department tried sweeping it under the rug by diminishing the incident and not directly addressing it. To this day, no mention of the fight, ejections or suspensions have been made on cmuchippewas.com.

A passionate, unfiltered reaction from Guevara after the game could have gone a long way in taking responsibility for her players’ actions. Letting Crystal Bradford and Jessica Green speak on the team’s behalf, apologizing for what transpired on the court, would have been the adult thing to do.

It wasn’t until 36 hours later, after suspensions were handed down by the MAC, Guevara and her players — reading off a prepared statement apologizing to the school, fans and community — were allowed to discuss the situation.

CMU should not have waited until it was punished to apologize or admit something wrong happened on the court Wednesday night. Enforcing self-imposed suspensions immediately would have been the responsible way to handle the situation.

The punches thrown and reactions caused hits to not only players but to the reputation of this university and, even more so, the reputation of CMU’s athletics department.

Head coach Sue Guevara was unable to comment on the incident and the players were made unavailable to the media At  around 6 p.m. Thursday freshman guards Jessica Green and Crystal Bradford along with fellow freshman forward Jas’Mine Bracey received two-game suspensions from the Mid-American Conference.

Friday, for the first time since the incident, Guevara and her players were able to talk.

“I want to apologize on behalf of myself, Jessica (Green) and Crystal (Bradford) for our behavior in our game against Ohio (University),” Bracey said. “We just want to say we’re sorry to our fans, our community and especially our university, and also to Ohio and their coaching staff.”

The suspensions come at a tough time for the Chippewas (12-9, 4-3 MAC) as they prepare for defending MAC champions Bowling Green (17-3, 7-0 MAC).

“Our team, the last two days at practice, have responded very well,” Guevara said. “We understand what we’re losing and it’s a good opportunity for other players to get in and step up.”

These next two games will show how much this bench has come from a year ago. CMU this season has pride for its bench play this season and it’ll need the remaining players to take their game to another level.

“We have to play as a team and come out there and pick up what we don’t have,” said sophomore forward Taylor Johnson. “It’s unfortunate, but we as a team need to come together and leave it all out on the floor.”

Bradford, Green and Bracey are the teams top three scorers and top two rebounders.

“We’ve got to crash, our guards have to crash, and our posts have to be strong and big because Bowling Green is physical and they want to get every rebound,” Johnson said.

“Offensively we have Kerby (Tamm), we have Niki (DiGuilio) and we Skylar (Miller) working the middle we have a bunch of people who can score and it’s an unfortunate situation but we have a deep bench.”

CMU still has a strong 3-point game and Guevara mentioned that the fans that come to the game can expect to see a few more shoots from behind the arch.

The Falcons come in with some matters of their own.

Head coach Curt Miller suffered a mild stroke late in the team’s 70-54 win over Eastern Michigan last Sunday and his return to the bench is still unknown.

A benches clearing brawl broke out during the first half of Wednesday night's women's basketball game between Central Michigan and Ohio University at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant. Ohio's Porsha Harris and Central Michigan's Jas'Mine Bracey were ejected following the altercation, and the Chippewas went on to beat the Bobcats 67-53. (Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer)

The Mid-American Conference announced Thursday that Central Michigan freshmen guards Crystal Bradford and Jessica Green and freshman forward Jas’Mine Bracey will each serve two-game suspensions for their involvement in a bench-clearing brawl Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena.

Ohio junior forward Porsha Harris will also serve a two-game suspension for her role in the fight, which occurred at the 11:08 mark of the first half in the Chippewas game against Ohio.

“The behavior of the involved student athletes was unacceptable and has no place in basketball,” stated MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher. “I appreciate the quick action of the coaches from both institutions who prevented this incident from further escalating.”

RAW VIDEO: Women’s basketball brawl from CMLifeVideo on Vimeo.

During a timeout, Harris and Bracey began exchanging punches. Shortly after, both benches cleared and a brawl ensued before players, coaches and officials could separate the two teams.

Bradford, Bracey and Green will miss the remaining two games of the home stand, Saturday against Bowling Green and Miami on Wednesday.

The suspensions will not be easy for CMU to deal with. The three suspended players are the top three scorers on the team. Bradford leads the Chippewas with 14.6 points per game, Green is second at 12.2, and Bracey third at 9.8.

“We as an institution and athletics department hold sportsmanship in the highest regard as a key principle in developing our Championship Culture at Central Michigan University. Last night’s actions do not reflect that culture,” said CMU Director of Athletics, Dave Heeke. “The sanctions imposed by the Mid-American Conference are appropriate and will be used to strengthen our student athletes and our sport programs moving forward.”

CMU women’s basketball head coach Sue Guevara will address the situation with media members Friday afternoon.

John Manzo/Staff Reporter

The unavailable information from Central Michigan University within its athletics program needs to be stop.

Obviously it is public relations’ job to make a negative story have minimal exposure. So sweep it under the rug and do not talk about it.

But guess what? When it is a big deal you have to do damage control.

Damage control is not solely keeping people hush-hush. Ignoring something doesn’t make it go away.

A fight broke out between CMU women’s basketball player Jas’Mine Bracey and Ohio player Porsha Harris in the first half of the Chippewas 67-53 win Wednesday night.

I was courtside and saw what happened.

The coaches know what happened. Those players know what happened.

During the post game press conference, players were unavailable for comment and head coach Sue Guevara did not talk about McGuirk Arena’s version of the Palace brawl.

The university athletics program should allow its players, or at least its coaches to speak about the incident. An awful fight broke out Wednesday. The head coach should be allowed to say how awful it was.

Instead, CMU released this:

“Central Michigan University, the athletic department, and our teams stand for the highest degree of sportsmanship. Any of our student-athletes who don’t adhere to this standard will be held accountable. The incident will be reviewed by the department and by the conference office. Until that process is done and we clearly understand what occurred, it would be premature to comment any further.”

That’s laughable. It says literally nothing. That statement is not sending the proper message to players, coaches, students and alumni that this is going to change.

You know what would? Guevara talking about how embarrassing it was and how it will not be accepted or tolerated.

Your head coach is in charge. She should take responsibility and explain how and why this will not happen again. Get those players up there and explain what happened and if you want to have good pr, make them apologize.

Players on both teams threw punches. Players on both teams were knocked down. Benches cleared.

It happened, so talk about it.

Do you want to make your image look better in this bad light? Take responsibility and explain that it won’t be tolerated or accepted.

The statement doesn’t tell the true meaning of what happened Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena.

Send a message … a real one.

If you simply looked at the score you’d think it was an ordinary 67-53 win for the Central Michigan women’s basketball team over Ohio University Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena.

It was anything but ordinary for the 543 people at the game.

Early in the first half during a timeout CMU freshman forward Jas’Mine Bracey and Ohio junior forward Porsha Harris started a fight on the court. Punches were thrown by several players, benches were cleared and both Bracey and Harris were ejected from the game.

“Central Michigan University, the athletic department, and our teams stand for the highest degree of sportsmanship. Any of our student-athletes who do not adhere to this standard will be held accountable,” said CMU in a statement from its athletic department and Athletic Director Dave Heeke.

“The incident will be reviewed by the department and by the conference office. Until that process is done and we clearly understand what occurred, it would be premature to comment any further.”

After a long break for the officials to clear up the situation and assess the fouls and ejections the game continued and the Chippewas (12-9, 4-3) rolled over the Bobcats (9-12, 2-5).

CMU head coach Sue Guevara would not comment on the fight after the game, and players were not available to talk to reporters.

Guevara adjusted the starting lineup putting in sophomores forward Taylor Johnson and guard Niki DiGuilio in place of sophomores guard Kylie Welch and Jordan LaDuke and it paid off greatly.

Johnson led the team in scoring with 16 points. She also had seven rebounds and three steals, while DiGuilio had 10 points and two steals.

Sophomore forward Taylor Johnson splits the Ohio University defense during Wednesday night's game at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant. Johnson lead the team in scoring with 16 points, two assists and seven rebounds during the 67-53 win over the Bobcats. (Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer)

“I liked the lineup change,” Guevara said. “We had our top five leading scorers and four of our top five rebounders so instead of bringing them off the bench we started off with them and it worked.”

Freshmen guards Crystal Bradford and Jessica Green also had big games for CMU.

Bradford had a double-double scoring 10 points with 11 rebounds to go with her four blocked shots.

“Crystal (Bradford) is a baller, but she doesn’t quite get it yet,” Guevara said. “She’s still learning to play with other people.”

Green had a big game as well with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

“I thought Jess Green did a really good job of pushing the ball today,” Guevara said.

It was a much needed win for the Chippewas after losing their last two against Kent State and Eastern Michigan.

“It’s a confidence builder to get back on the winning streak,” Guevara said. “I think for our freshman, after the game against Kent State, have to understand you have to come in from the get go.”

CMU needs the confidence with defending Mid-American Conference champions Bowling Green come at 3 p.m. Saturday to McGuirk Arena.

This season ended with the Chippewas playing their best volleyball of the season, coming away with a Mid-American Conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance.

CMU earned the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament. A shot at the title looked slim playing the top three seeds in the tournament.

Starting off by sweeping the No. 3 seed, rival Western Michigan and three-time defending MAC champions No. 2 Ohio was huge for the Chippewas.

They then found themselves against the No. 1 seed Northern Illinois and its dominating sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wicinski with the MAC title on the line.

Defense stepped up holding Wicinski to a .158 hitting percent and CMU won a dramatic five-game match earning its first ever MAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance.

Senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Schultz anchored the title run. She finished her career as the most decorated player in program history by adding a MAC title and tournament MVP to her four All-MAC first team honors. The former MAC Freshman of the Year was also the program’s 14th member of the 1,000 kill club.

The season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing to the eventual runner-up Illinois.

The Chippewas were swept as the Fighting Illini were just too much.

CMU had come a long way since losing the season opener to Iowa on Aug. 26.

Injuries during the season to Schultz, junior right-side hitter Jocelyn VerVelde and outside hitter Val DeWeerd kept the Chippewas on their heels.

Schultz had the best hitting percentage on the team (.407), and sixth best in the nation.

Schultz is leaving, along with fellow seniors like defensive specialist Kelsey Detweiler who didn’t have eye opening statistics, but her presence was felt on the floor and was vital to her team’s success. Setter Catherine Ludwig is also done, but CMU will recover and reload.

Freshman outside hitter and All-MAC freshman team honoree Kaitlyn McIntyre is back. She led the team in kills on the season, setting a new freshman single-season program record with 409.

Three sophomores will all be returning for their junior years. Sophomore setter Kelly Maxwell was the floor general for the offense leading the team with 1,314 assists. That putting her at No. 40 in the nation with 10.95 assists per game.

Maxwell’s classmate Jenna Coates was the leader on the defense recording 544 digs, the fourth most in program history in a single-season. Rounding out the impressive returning sophomores is middle blocker Danielle Gotham. She will help on the defensively after leading the team in total blocks (116) this year.

The team was young this year and with experience returning, the Chippewas have a great chance of repeating as MAC champions.

Sturgeon endured the offensive attack by Johnson and avoided the pin to seal the 17-15 win for the Chippewas over Ohio Saturday night at McGuirk Arena.

“Peter was pretty tired,” said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli.  “He had a real tough match yesterday and that was probably a little bit emotionally draining.  But again, that’s good practice for the national tournament.”

It was the first Mid-American Conference game for CMU. Starting off 1-0.

CMU jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after No. 19 sophomore Joe Roth and junior Christian Cullinan posted decisions at 125 pounds and 133 pounds.

“That was the difference in the dual meet,” Borrelli said.  “If we don’t win those first two matches then we don’t win the dual meet.”

The Bobcats responded by winning three decisions in a row taking a 9-6 lead.

With Ohio leading 12-9, No. 9 Ben Bennett came up big for the Chippewas.  Bennett was relentless on the attack, displaying a combination of power, skill and endurance.  He won the match by technical fall giving CMU a 14-12 lead.

“My mindset was to pick up bonus points and score a lot of points,” Bennett said.  “And that’s when I think things open up when you’re just wrestling and not trying to force things.”

During the meet, Borrelli contemplated moving Bennett up to wrestle at 197-pounds instead of senior Chad Friend.  He decided against it to see if Friend could handle the pressure.

Friend responded by earning the win and increasing the Chippewas lead to 17-12.

CMU 6-2 overall after losing yesterday to No. 4 Minnesota. The Chippewas don’t play again until Dec. 3 at Buffalo at 1 p.m.

To make it back to the MAC championship game, the Huskies needed to win out. And they did just that, winning their next seven games.

“We’ve been in a seven-week playoff march for our guys to get back to Detroit,” said NIUhead coach Dave Doeren. “Our goal was to get back to Detroit and erase some bad memories (from) a year ago.”

NIU will try to erase last year’s memories at 7 p.m. tonight against Ohio at Ford Field in Detroit. The Huskies lost last year to Miami of Ohio, 26-21.

In that game, NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish threw three touchdowns, but only rushed for three yards on eight attempts.

Harnish has shown off his rushing skills, rushing for 1,351 yards this year. His skills both rushing and passing have made people draw comparisons between him and former CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour.

“(LeFevour) is an unbelievable player and a great person,” Harnish said. “To be compared to him is something I’m proud of and I don’t know if I completely deserve it. One thing he’s remembered for is he’s a champion. He’s won the MAC champ two times. If I can be compared to him in that aspect too, it’d be a great career.”

LeFevour never was able to rush for as many yards as Harnish did this year.

But Harnish never threw for as many yards as LeFevour did in any of his four years for the Chippewas.

“I think there are similarities there,” said Ohio head coach Frank Solich. “Look at their size, around 220 pounds and nice height. The thing about both those quarterback’s is they’re just playmakers filled with confidence.”

The Bobcats beat CMU Nov. 10, 43-28 in Mount Pleasant. Ohio was led by the second-best scoring defense in the MAC, allowing 22 points per game.

“It comes down to if we make the plays when we need to make them,” said Ohio linebacker Noah Keller. “As we see, NIU’s offense can light up the scoreboard like a basketball team.”

The Central Michigan women’s soccer team opened up conference play this weekend looking to be the first team to do so.

CMU responded with a 3-0 victory on Sunday at Ohio University after playing to a 0-0 draw Friday night against Akron.

“I just felt like we connected a lot more today,” said CMU head coach Neil Stafford. “I think we looked a little bit more lively than we did on Friday.”

The Chippewas (7-1-2, 1-0-1 MAC) opened the scoring 24:33 into the game when sophomore Jennifer Gassman deflected senior Liesel Toth’s free kick into the back of the net.

Four minutes into the second half, junior Autumn Hawkins scored her third goal of the season to give CMU a 2-0 lead. Hawkins tapped the ball in the bottom right corner after a cross from sophomore Ashley Mejilla.

“I thought her and Ashley starting together today gave us a little bit more depth in the midfield,” Stafford said.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Grace Labrecque entered the game in the second half and made a key save early to keep the lead at a two-goal margin. Ohio midfielder Kelsey Pichel fired a shot from 30 yards out that Labrecque tipped over the bar.

Both CMU goalkeepers have played a vital role in the team’s success so far.

Labrecque and junior Stefanie Turner combined for the team’s fifth shutout of the season.

“They are doing awesome and make a huge impact,” said freshman Morgan Wilcoxon. “I think it’s great we can put Grace in and we can depend on her just as much as Turner.”

CMU added to its lead in the 75th minute as Wilcoxon scored her first career goal. She banged home the rebound after Hawkins hit a header off the post.

The Chippewas held the advantage in shots (17-15), and corner kicks (4-3).

On Friday, the Chippewas could not get their offense rolling, as they played Akron to a 0-0 draw.

“I just thought we were a little slow and lethargic in certain areas,” said head coach Neil Stafford. “I didn’t think we applied our game.”

CMU has played four overtime games this season, posting a 1-1-2 record.

It made a bid to score late after taking a corner kick during the last minute of the second overtime period, but could not find the back of the net.

Turner made three saves in the game, posting her second shutout of the season.