CMU women's basketball survives Eastern Illinois to win fourth straight
A tough game for CMU's offense did not slow down the defense on the way to a "gritty win"
The Central Michigan women’s basketball players form a huddle on the court before the game against Eastern Illinois in McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (CMLife | Alivia Cranick)
With 3:03 left in the game, Central Michigan women’s basketball was locked in a close battle with the Panthers of Eastern Illinois.
Almost immediately after making a big-time layup, senior Demetria Prewitt came up with a huge steal and dished the ball to a teammate for another bucket, putting the Chippewas up 53-46 and forcing the Panthers to take a timeout.
Prewitt’s performance in the fourth quarter along with the team’s defense throughout the game proved to be the difference makers in what was a tight 60-54 win by Central Michigan against Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
“That was a gritty win,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “It's good to be in those situations where it's close at the end because we've been fortunate enough to have some really good games the last couple games, so it's good to go through these things and we definitely showed grit and toughness today.”
With the victory, the Chippewas are now riding a four-game win streak and have a 4-1 record.
The opening minutes of Saturday’s matchup were a back and forth affair, with both squads trading baskets and keeping it close.
Both teams slowed down as the game progressed, however, finding it difficult to hit a bucket in the second half of the first. The Chippewas finished the first quarter on an extended 11-0 run that lasted for the final six minutes of the quarter. The run left the Chippewas with a 18-9 lead heading into the second.
On the defensive side of the floor, Central Michigan was suffocating. In the second quarter, Eastern Illinois didn’t score its first points until the 4:33 mark, with its scoring drought that started in the first period lasting more than a full quarter’s length of game time.
Even with the stingy defense, CMU was largely unable to capitalize on Eastern Illinois’ struggles and build much onto the lead it had built in the first. Despite finding themselves with the game’s biggest lead of 15 points midway through the second quarter, overall, the Chippewas found it hard to score, shooting just 3-17 in the second period of play.
On the game as a whole, the Chippewas only managed to shoot 34% from the field, leading to a season low in points.
“ It'll be interesting to just watch and see how many layups we missed,” Haynie said. “We missed a lot of easy buckets. We also missed wide open threes that we've been hitting. So just super proud that they didn't let their offensive woes affect their defense.”
By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Eastern Illinois had closed the gap on the scoreboard to 29-19.
After a solid performance from behind the three-point arc in their last time out against Detroit Mercy in which they went 13-25, the Chippewas struggled from deep for much of Saturday’s game.
The team was 4-14 heading into halftime from three-point distance and was unable to hit any in the second half. The team ended the game having shot 4-21 from deep.
“Yeah, we just tell our players, you can't be great shooters just within practice, you gotta get outside of practice and work on your shooting, your form, and our players are doing that,” Haynie said. “So it's no surprise that we shot like that against U of D (Detroit Mercy) and you know, it's basketball, you have those off nights.”
Central Michigan began the second half by knocking down two baskets, but then found itself amidst a scoring drought of its own.
Eastern Illinois used about half of the third quarter to trim the CMU lead, using a 16-6 run that spanned almost five minutes to bring itself back within four.
At the end of the third quarter, the Chippewas still held onto what had become a narrow 41-35 lead.
The offensive struggles for the Chippewas continued into the fourth. Central Michigan started the period going 1-7 from the field, managing only four points over the first four minutes of the quarter before a layup from the Panthers brought the lead down to just three and forced a timeout.
Coming out of the stoppage with 5:42 left in the game, the Chippewas finally found the rhythm they needed, largely thanks to Prewitt, who made her presence felt in all facets of the game and took firm control over the final stretch.
In the final five minutes of the game, Prewitt racked up nine points, two steals and a block, helping to hold off the pressure from Eastern Illinois and seal the win for Central Michigan.
“ I was just coming in looking to produce for my team and be senior leadership that I know that I've been able to grow this past year and develop,” Prewitt said. “So yeah, just coming through for my team and focusing on my layups and finishing.”
Prewitt ended the game with 17 total points, going 8-10 from the field while also having three of her team’s seven steals. Sophomore Madi Morson was the only other Chippewa to crack double figures, also scoring 17.
Up next, the Chippewas start possibly the hardest part of their season as they travel down to No. 24 ranked Notre Dame on Monday before hosting Purdue, traveling to play No. 6 ranked Michigan and then No. 20 Kentucky, all in the next two weeks.
The focus for Haynie’s squad moving forward into this tough stretch of schedule is on finding improvement.
“We just talk about getting better every day,” Haynie said. “Starting in practice and, whoever our opponents are, we respect everybody. Upsets happen all the time and they continue to happen. That's why we play the game. So we just wanna compete and just get better one possession at a time.”
