Women's basketball comes up short against Minnesota
Down 67-64 with 10 seconds remaining, Central Michigan University’s women’s basketball team had a chance to tie the game.
But senior guard Crystal Bradford’s 3-point shot missed and the Chippewas lost to the University of Minnesota, dropping their second consecutive game of the weekend.
With the contest tied at 63 with 33.8 seconds to go, Minnesota was fouled and went to the charity strip, where the Gophers connected on both free-throws to take a 65-63 lead.
Bradford went to the line with hopes of tying the game at 65, but she split the pair, leaving the women down by one points with 11 seconds left on the clock.
CMU sent Minnesota to the line again, and the Gophers answered the call extending its lead to 67-64 forcing the Chippewas to attempt a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
The Chippewas are now 4-5 on the season and have lost four of their last five games after finishing the Minnesota Tournament 0-2.
“It’s a tough loss for us,” said Bradford. “It’s pretty sad, it sucks. We really needed this one. We just have to learn from it.”
Bradford put the majority of the blame for the loss on her shoulders.
“I feel like I had a lot to do with the loss,” she said. “I know it wasn’t completely my fault, but I had a huge contribution to our loss. I had four assists, but I had four turnovers, so that didn’t (do) anything but cancel the other out. We just have be better if we’re going to be elite.”
Minnesota started the second half with a 6-0 run, but the Chippewas answered with a run of their own nailing four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 56-55 lead with 10:41 remaining.
CMU extended its lead scoring the next six points forcing the Gophers to call a timeout trailing 61-55. Minnesota erased a six point deficit late to tie the game at 63 with 2:35 remaining.
“We had wide-open looks,” said CMU Sue Guevara on her teams scoring drought. “The ball just didn’t go through the hole. I don’t question shot selection whatsoever.”
The Chippewas were led by Bradford, who had a game-high 27 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team. She also grabbed eight rebounds, and had four assists. Bradford showcased her defensive skill as well recording seven steals and three blocks.
“CB (Bradford) let the game come to her,” Guevara said. “She draws a lot of attention. We just need to get that kind of consistent play out of her. I can’t fault her effort, I think she gave us everything she had today.”
CMU freshman Cassandra Breen showed her range from deep hitting four 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 16 points.
The women were solid from long range as they hit 11 3-pointers in the game. All of CMU's 3-pointers came from either Breen, Bradford or senior sharpshooter Kerby Tamm.
