Buzzer beater shocks CMU women's basketball against Louisiana
Central Michigan junior guard Lisa Tesson dribbles down the court, Wednesday, Feb. 7, in McGuirk Arena.
After being down seven points at halftime, Central Michigan women’s basketball tied the game at 39 in the second half against Louisiana on Saturday. With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Chippewas sent the ball to guard Tiana Timpe for a shot beyond the arc, giving them the lead.
Timpe followed with two more three-pointers, giving CMU a three-point lead going into the final five minutes. Fans were on the edge of their seats as the lead bounced back and forth, tying with only 26 seconds left in the game.
In the end, a buzzer beater from Louisiana ended the game in a 54-51 loss for CMU. In a game themed for girl power and a chance to interact with alumni, the Chippewas hoped to get a win to add to their overall record.
“We like girl power, and we like our alumni coming back,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “To play uninspired ball (today) was disappointing.”
Throughout the first half, the momentum was slow as CMU only scored seven points in the first quarter. According to Haynie, there was a spark missing from the team which forced many mistakes.
“We weren’t consistent at all,” Haynie said. “We were consistently bad. Honestly, I don’t know where our heads were at today. It’s an unfortunate thing because we’re playing an opponent, we’ve never played to give us confidence heading into playing Kent State."
On the offensive standpoint, CMU struggled only shooting 28.6% overall. Despite Timpe’s burst in the fourth quarter, the Chippewas shot only 29% beyond the arc.
Turnovers also continue to negatively affect the team, suffering 16 against Louisiana.
“I just didn’t feel like we were being aggressive on the offensive end,” Haynie said. “I thought we were moving the ball pretty early, and then we were missing wide-open layups. I think that’s what got us down.”
Defensively, the Chippewas fell behind by giving up open shots, including the final shot of the game.
“We just (have) to lock down defensively,” Haynie said. “Even though (Louisiana) only scored 54 points, we still gave them too many easy buckets. It honestly just looked like we didn’t want to be here and that is what was disappointing. People would die to be in their shoes and play division one basketball.”
CMU now stands 11th in the Mid-American Conference standings, dropping from ninth place after the win against Miami (Ohio). The Chippewas now hold a 3-8 conference record and a 5-16 overall record.
Their upcoming game on Saturday against Kent State at 1 p.m. will hold the power to move up the standings in hopes of qualifying for the MAC tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
“We have a few days to recover and get ready for Kent State,” Haynie said. “We (have) to get our defense better, so we’re going to spend a lot of time on the defensive end this week. We have to be gritty, we have to be tough…Kent State is a really good team and we have an opportunity to move up in the standings and we have a great opportunity to make it to Cleveland.”
