The Chippewas defeated Toledo 59-48 in Savage Arena.

The win snapped a seven game losing streak in Toledo. The Rockets had won 12 of the last 13 meetings coming into Saturday’s game.

“We knew that if we had aspirations to compete in the top of our division you’ve got to win out on the road,” said CMU coach Ernie Zeigler.

CMU held Toledo to just 36.1 percent shooting and outrebounded the Rockets 34-24.

“We were really focused to take away their driving gaps, really be physical among their cutters, (and) contesting every shot,” Zeigler said.

CMU led by as many as 20 and were led by senior guards Robbie Harman and Jordan Bitzer, who finished with 17 and 15 points respectively.

Senior forward Chris Kellermann finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Toledo (3-12, 0-1 MAC) was led by freshman guard Jake Barnett, who finished with 19 points.

CMU (6-7, 1-0 MAC) plays next against Ball State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Rose Arena.

Check Monday’s edition for expanded coverage on CMU’s victory.

CMU falls to 3-11 overall and 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference with the loss.

Junior forward Kaihla Szunko scored a career-high 27 and added 14 rebounds to lead the way for the Chippewas.

Toledo (12-3, 2-0 in the MAC) jumped out to an early lead but the Chippewas were able to stay within single digits until the Rockets went on a 12-2 run during the final six minutes of the first half to close with a 46-30 lead on 47.5 percent shooting from the field.

CMU went 12-for-31 from the floor in the half, including 2-of-14 from three-point range.

“We had some wide open looks today and they just didn’t go,” said coach Sue Guevara. “When your outside shot isn’t falling you need to shot-fake and drive in, and we didn’t do a very good job of that today.”

The second half saw more of the same as the team continued to struggle from the field (35.3 percent) and three-point line (2-of-15), falling behind by as many as 19 points with 8:45 remaining in the game.

CMU continues conference play against Ball State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Rose Arena.

Check Monday’s issue of CM Life for a full recap of the game.

Senior forward Britni Houghton led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Chippewas (3-10, 0-1 in the MAC) used a diverse scoring attack of Houghton, junior forward Kaihla Szunko (eight points, eight rebounds) and freshman guard Stefanie Mauk (six points, three rebounds) to jump out to an early 14-5 lead five minutes into the game. Following an 18-7 advantage, Eastern Michigan responded with a 14-3 run to tie the game at 21 with six minutes remaining in the first half.

CMU ran into foul trouble, committing 18 personal fouls, sending the Eagles to the free throw line 27 times before trailing 36-29 at halftime.

“I don’t think we were very smart today,” said coach Sue Guevara. “The foul trouble was because we weren’t moving our feet. People would get by us and we’d reach for the ball.”

An 11-4 run to start the second half, led by junior guard Shonda Long and Britni Houghton, helped tie the game and give CMU a 42-40 lead, one that would be relinquished very quickly.

The Eagles would answer a minute later with a three-point field goal from De’Ja Willis and subsequent 10-2 run and never look back.

“If you look at red zone shots … they were not very good today,” Guevara said. “If you have someone who goes in and is 2-for-8 in the red zone (sophomore forward Skylar Miller) or you have someone who is missing layups, that’s tough. We are getting the shots and they’re just not falling.”

Just like in the first half, CMU’s foul trouble inability to get to the free throw line (0-for-1) in the second hampered its comeback effort.

Long, whose two 3-point field goals in the game moved her into fourth place all-time at CMU in career 3-point field goals made, fouled out while Miller and Szunko finished with four fouls.

EMU (11-2, 1-0 MAC) had four players score in double figures. Guard Cassie Schrock led the Eagles with a game-high 15 points while Chenise Miller had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“We’re going to have one hell of a hard practice tomorrow on the defensive-end of the floor,” Guevara said.

The team will continue conference play at Noon Saturday when it travels to Toledo.

Leading the Chippewas was junior forward Marko Spica, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guards Jordan Bitzer and Robbie Harman also put together strong games, scoring 16 and 12 points respectively.

The loss was Alcorn State’s 17th straight.

CMU (5-7) start Mid-American Conference play on Jan. 9 at Toledo.

Continue to check cm-life.com for updates on all CMU sports throughout the winter break.

CMU (3-9) shot 32.1 percent from the floor for the game while 10 of its 25 made field goals came from 3-point range.

“Right now, we don’t seem to respect our opponents unless they’re in the Top 25,” said coach Sue Guevara after the loss. “We don’t come out with the same type of intensity and fire.”

Quinnipiac jumped out to an early 12-5 lead after the Chippewas shot 2-of-13 from the floor to begin the game. CMU quickly answered, tying the game at 12, after a pair of free throws and 3-point field goal from senior guard Heidi Warczinsky, who led the team with a career-high 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

The game remained close for much of the first half before Quinnipiac ended the first half with a 35-28 lead on 41.4 percent shooting. CMU shot just 8-for-38, good for 21.1 percent, from the floor.

The Chippewas’ shooting woes continued in the second half as Quinnipiac extended its lead to double-digits early and never looked back. CMU trailed by as many as 21 points, 80-59, with 3:22 remaining in the game.

“I don’t know where we get the attitude that we’re all that and a bag of chips, because we’re not,” Guevara said. “We’re not good enough of a team to have that type of mentality. We have to be the hungry dog and we’re not.”

Junior forward Kaihla Szunko recorded her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds while senior forward Britni Houghton added 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals.

With the four steals, Houghton leapfrogs Latsiha Luckett (2006-09), Betsy Yonkman (1983-86) and Vershaun Jones (1999-2002) to move into sixth place all-time for career steals at CMU with 187.

Senior guard Kathleen Neyens had 20 points for Quinnipiac (5-6), who shot 50 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Chippewas 40-34.

No. 17 Texas, who defeated CMU in the first round Monday, beat host Miami 76-65 earlier in the afternoon win the tournament.

The non-conference portion of the team’s schedule is now complete as it will open Mid-American Conference play against Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Jan. 6 in Ypsilanti.

Freshman Jalisa Olive scored a career high 22 points coming off of the bench but the Chippewas lost 94-83. Fellow freshman Stefanie Mauk added 11 points and senior Britni Houghton had 12 points and eight rebounds.

“She (Olive) played with a lot of confidence and defensively she was a big presence,” said head coach Sue Guevara. “We have been waiting for the freshmen to have a game like this and we need this kind of effort more consistently.”

The Chippewas got off to a slow start in the first half only shooting 36 percent from the field and were outscored 52-37.

But the team battled back in the second half outscoring the Longhorns 46-42 and hit 54% of their shots.

“We never stopped fighting, we really battled and they really just went inside on us late and overpowered us,” said Guevara.

The Chippewas got 45 points from their bench compared to just 22 for the Longhorns and head coach Sue Guevara said they play games like this to get ready for the Mid-American Conference schedule.

After finishing the Miami Holiday Tournament down in Florida Tuesday night, the Chippewas will head back north to take on Eastern Michigan in their first MAC game of the season Wednesday, January 6th.

“We are looking for a positive and productive performance in every game we play,” said Guevara when asked about preparation for the MAC schedule.

Texas was the third top 25 team that the Chippewas have faced this year.

The Chippewas committed 26 turnovers in the game, allowing the Titans to score 29 points off of turnovers.

Detroit outshot CMU from the field, 53.1 percent to 44.

The Chippewas started off hot, going up 7-0 quickly. The team led by as many as 11 before Detroit took off. With CMU up 19-8, the Titans went on a 17-0 run, retaking the lead with 9:14 remaining.

The Titans led 42-32 at half. Detroit scored 16 points off of turnovers and outscored CMU 8-0 in fast break points in the half.

In the second half, the Titans gradually increased its lead. With 10:52 remaining Detroit went up by 21, its largest lead of the game.

Juniors Marko Spica and Amir Rashid finished with 13 points each. Senior guard Robbie Harman had 12 points and five rebounds.

Junior forward Jalin Thomas sat out Tuesday’s game due to injury.

Detroit guard Chase Simon, who played at Central Michigan in 2007-08, scored 10 points and had six rebounds.

CMU (4-7) plays next against Alcorn State 7 p.m. CT on Dec. 30 in Lorman, Miss.

Alcorn State’s current university president, George Ross, was named Central Michigan University’s next president on Dec. 3. Ross is to begin his job at CMU on March 1.

Continue to check cm-life.com for more updates on all CMU athletic programs during the winter break.

The Jackrabbits outscored the Chippewas 35-14 from the free throw line. CMU gave up 43 free throw attempts in the game.

CMU outshot SDSU from the field 47.3 percent to 38.2%.

In the first half the Chippewas jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead. However foul troubles caused CMU problems. It committed 10 fouls within the game’s first 10 minutes and seven seconds, sending South Dakota State to the line 22 times in the half.

South Dakota State tied the game at 12 with 12:16 remaining and capitalized on the team’s 18 made free throws, leading 39-24 at half.

Senior guard Jordan Bitzer was held to limited playing time in the first half after two quick fouls forced him to sit the bench.

In the second half, CMU closed the deficit to eight points, but that was as close as it would get.

Bitzer led the Chippewas with 15 points. Senior guard Robbie Harman and junior forward Marko Spica each finished with 12.

CMU (4-6) plays against the University Detroit-Mercy at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Detroit.

Junior guard Shonda Long scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Chippewas, who fall to 2-7 on the season and 1-5 away from home.

CMU, unable to find the basket for the second straight game, shot 36 percent from the field.

“Right now, we’re just having trouble scoring,” said coach Sue Guevara. “It’s really tough.”

Alabama A&M (4-3) jumped out to a 21-11 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first half after junior forward Kaihla Szunko (six points, six rebounds) picked up her second foul and left the game.

CMU fought back, eventually tying the game at 32, after a trio of three-point field goals from junior guard Shonda Long and strong play from freshman guard Jalisa Olive (12 points) and freshman forward Cheritee Green (six points) off the bench.

Key turnovers and a lack of rebounding down the stretch allowed the Bulldogs to go on an 8-2 run to close the half with a 40-34 lead.

The Chippewas opened the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 43-42 lead with 15:34 left but could not sustain the momentum. Szunko, who fouled out for the second straight night, picked up her third personal and A&M would fire back with a 14-2 run to take control of the game.

“Three of her fouls, she’s helping people,” Guevara said. “We’ve got to get better defensively so she doesn’t have to help.”

The rest of the team provided little production as senior forward Britni Houghton was shut down once again (eight points on 1-of-9 shooting), junior forward Laura Baker and senior point guard Kendra Holman combined for seven points in 56 minutes of total playing time and starting forward Skylar Miller accounted for two points and one rebound in 14 minutes.

“Consistency is repetition and, right now, I need some positive consistency out of the players,” Guevara said.

Senior guard Katrich Williams scored 23 points while sophomore guard Whiquitta Tobar had 15 points and nine rebounds for A&M.

The Blazers out rebounded CMU (50-26) and were more efficient getting to the free throw line, shooting 13 more times than the Chippewas.

The team plays next at 8 p.m. Saturday in Rose Arena against Howard.

CMU (2-6) could not find its rhythm throughout, shooting 27.1 percent from the field, including going 4-of-17 from beyond the 3-point arc for the game.

“We lost the game because we didn’t have anybody that could make a layup,” said coach Sue Guevara, citing the team’s 17 missed layups.

Guevara said the long layoff had nothing to do with the team’s shooting performance.

“It’s more a lack of focus and maybe a fear of getting hit,” she said. “(It’s) like we were in quick sand.”

Junior forward Laura Baker scored a season-high 12 points off the bench, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, and grabbed nine rebounds. Senior guard Kendra Holman also had 12 points to lead the way for the Chippewas.

While Baker’s performance was noted, Guevara said a lack of production from others hurt the team.

Freshman guards Jalisa Olive and Stefanie and Rachel Mauk combined for one point in 30 minutes of playing time.

“We’re just not very consistent at all and we need to get some consistency,” Guevara said.

Junior Kaihla Szunko had 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out early on in the second half.

The game remained a close, back-and-forth affair for much of the first half as both teams struggled to score.

But a 3-point field goal from UAB freshman guard Amber Jones gave the Blazers a 20-18 lead with 5:51 remaining in the first half and proved to be the turning point as CMU never regained its lead after that. UAB closed the half on a 15-4 run to extend its lead to 32-22 on 40.6 percent shooting from the floor, compared to CMU’s 21.6 field goal percentage.

The Blazers held a double-digit lead for much of the second half on 45 percent shooting.

Guard Jala Harris finished with 20 points while Amber Jones chipped in with 18 points and six rebounds for UAB (4-5).

For the first this season, CMU beat its opponent on the glass, out rebounding UAB 45-40.

The team travels to Huntsville, Ala., for its second game in as many days at 8 p.m. Tuesday against Alabama A&M.