Turnovers plummet CMU women's basketball in loss to Ohio
As the fourth quarter wound down Wednesday, Central Michigan women's basketball were tied at 54 until a turnover by forward Nadége Jean led to points for Ohio. Further mistakes from the Chippewas helped the Bobcats seal the win, 68-58 .
Throughout the game, the Chippewas suffered from a season-high 33 turnovers. Thirty four points were put up off CMU turnovers, ultimately giving Ohio the lead.
According to head coach Kristin Haynie, turnovers have been a struggle for this team all year. So far this season, the Chippewas average 21 turnovers per game, compared to their opponents' 15.
“Thirty four points off our turnovers is obviously why we lost the game,” Haynie said. “We got to watch the film with them. I told them to watch it tonight so they can see what they did to turn the ball over and how they can get better.”
Leading in turnovers was guard Capria Brown with seven, followed by guard Karrington Gordon with five. Gordon also led the team in points, totaling 14. She additionally shot 71% overall and was 75% from beyond the arc.
In the previous games, CMU has proved to be a ‘first-half team’. The Chippewas usually excel in the first half but lose consistency in the final quarters.
"We lost 67% of our scoring last year," Haynie said. "If you look at our team, they haven't played a lot of minutes. For the majority, it's inexperience and being able to close games. I felt like the maturity of our team we let our offense and turnovers frustrate us and it turned over to our defense...we have to be tougher."
While CMU drowned in turnovers, they were able to grasp air with rebounds. Throughout the majority of the season, rebounding has been a positive for this team. The Chippewas completed 41 total rebounds, 29 being defensive.
"Rebounding is effort and attitude," Haynie said. "That was one of our keys, to dominate the boards and we did. Unfortunately, with the turnovers rebounding didn't help us. We have to continue to stay consistent with the rebounding and with our efforts for the future."
With the loss, the Chippewas now stand 3-14 overall and will push back their record to 1-6 in the conference. CMU now sits last in the standings for the Mid-American Conference.
The team will face a quick turnaround and prepare to battle long-time rivals Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday at McGuirk Arena. CMU will look for only its second win in the conference and a possibility to climb the MAC standings.
