CLEVELAND – The season came to a close on Wednesday for the CMU women’s basketball team after it lost in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season.

During the post-game press conference of the team’s 68-55 loss against Kent State, you could see the emotion on the faces of senior Britni Houghton and junior Kaihla Szunko.

CLEVELAND — The Central Michigan women’s basketball team struggled all season with rebounding and turnovers. On Wednesday, deficiencies in those two areas ended its season.

No. 6 seed CMU was eliminated from the Mid-American Conference Tournament after losing 68-55 against Kent State in the quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena.
“When you cause 30 turnovers, you’re supposed [...]

The CMU women’s basketball team looks to reach heights the program has not seen in 18 years on Wednesday.
No. 6 seed CMU meets No. 3 Kent State at about 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. CMU plays 30 minutes after Wednesday’s first game [...]

The CMU women’s basketball team is headed to Cleveland for the Mid-American Conference tournament for the second consecutive season.

No. 6 seed CMU advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sunday by defeating No. 11 seed Ohio 69-66 in front of 416 fans at the final game played at Rose Arena.

The Central Michigan women’s basketball team will have an opportunity to start with a clean slate Sunday when it hosts a Mid-American Conference tournament first round game.

No. 6 seed CMU (11-17, 8-8 MAC) stumbled down the stretch of conference place, but will play No. 11 Ohio at 5 p.m. Sunday at Rose Arena. The Chippewas have lost three consecutive games heading into the tournament, including a 77-74 loss against Ball State on Tuesday.

CMU finishes the season 11-17 and 8-8 in the MAC after a 77-74 loss to Ball State on Tuesday.

The guard tandem of senior Kendra Holman (13 points) and junior Shonda Long led a 3-point blitz that helped CMU open a 24-13 lead with 7:58 remaining in the first half. But the exit of junior forward Kaihla Szunko with two fouls allowed Ball State to go on a 12-5 run to get back into the game with 3:29 remaining in the first half.

“I wasn’t playing smart and had picked up those two early fouls, which was pretty frustrating, and had a few turnovers,” Szunko said.

CMU held on to a 38-30 lead at halftime after shooting 41.2 percent from the floor, including going 7-of-15 from 3-point range.

Szunko scored CMU’s first 10 points, but Ball State seniors Audrey McDonald and Danielle Gratton took over the game after being held scoreless in the first half. Gratton scored eight of her 11 points at the start of the second half to help close the Chippewas’ lead to four points, while McDonald hit a 3-pointer with 14:56 remaining in the second half to give Ball State its first lead.

“They did a really nice job with their size and physicality of beating us down low,” Guevara said. “With Shonda Long and Stefanie Mauk having to play down low, we’re just not as strong and big as Ball State was.”

After both teams traded leads for more than seven minutes, McDonald (13 points) hit a 3-pointer with 8:15 remaining to put Ball State up 61-58, a lead that CMU would never overcome.

Szunko led CMU with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, her 10th double-double of the season. Long added 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting.

Ball State (13-16, 7-10 MAC) outrebounded the Chippewas 50-38, grabbing 25 offensive rebounds.

The CMU women’s basketball team was riding high about a week ago.

It had just beaten second-place Eastern Michigan in double overtime to extend its home winning streak to nine games and pull within a game of a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference tournament.

The CMU women’s basketball team can improve on its road woes at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it travels to Muncie, Ind., to play Ball State.

CMU (11-16, 8-7 Mid-American Conference) is 2-13 away from Rose Arena this season and coming off a 64-56 loss against Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Saturday.