CMU women’s basketball drops season finale versus Akron
After leading for three quarters, Central Michigan women’s basketball was unable to hold on to its lead after it was outscored 21-8 in the fourth quarter ultimately falling to Akron 61-54, in its season finale on Saturday.
The Chippewas ended the season 6-23 overall and 4-14 in Mid-American Conference play.
During the final home game CMU held its senior day honoring its four graduate students Jahari Smith, Mikala Hall, Anika Weekes and Jnaya Walker.
Freshman guard Sydney Harris led the team in scoring with 20 points along with five rebounds. Harris ended her freshman campaign averaging 17.4 points per game while starting in all 29 games of the season.
After battling the whole season with an injury, Smith got the start in her final game as a Chippewa, securing eight rebounds, six points and one block.
CMU struggled from beyond the arc, going 1-of-15 (6.7%) with the only one landing in the first quarter.
After trading shots to begin the first quarter, the Chippewas went on a 6-2 run aided by four points from freshman guard Taylor Anderson to give CMU the 16-11 lead going into the second quarter.
The Chippewas picked off right where they left off in the first, going on a 7-2 run to give them a 23-15 lead to start the second quarter. CMU was able to hold the Zips to 10 points in the quarter to give them the 29-21 advantage into halftime.
A 7-2 run from Akron got it within three, 33-30 to begin the third quarter. However, graduate student Nadége Jean secured nine-straight points for the Chippewas to push their lead back up to nine, 46-37. The Zips ended the quarter with three unanswered points to cut the deficit to 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Akron started the final 10 minutes out hot, outscoring CMU 9-2 to take its first lead of the game since the first quarter, 49-48. After securing the lead, the Zips finished the game on a 10-2 run to seal the win over the Chippewas.
