CMU women's basketball defeats Kent State in morning matchup
The Central Michigan women’s basketball team (9-5, 3-1) pulled off a 66-57 win at home over the Kent State Golden Flashes (5-10, 0-4) on Wednesday afternoon.
Although Kent State refused to go down without a fight, CMU’s aggressiveness on the boards and defensive effort awarded them this Mid-American Conference win.
“Kent State played super hard, and they just never gave up,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “I’m proud of our players because two games ago, we didn’t finish the game against Ohio.”
This also happens to be the Chippewas’ first win over Kent State since 2021.
Despite a cushy 13-point CMU lead early in the fourth quarter, Kent State cut the deficit to just four points with two and a half minutes in the game. This can be largely attributed to the Golden Flashes' aggressive press, which forced several Chippewa turnovers.
“They sped us up, and then we were getting sloppy and not taking care of the ball,” Haynie said. “We just got to keep our composure and poise, and we do it in practice, now we just got to translate it to the game.”
Although, the Chippewas capitalized at the end of the game with a few quick buckets from Sophomore guard Madi Morson and a lay from Sophomore forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington.
CMU also hit several free throws at the end of the game to extend their lead to eight, going 5-7 from the line.
According to Haynie, though, defensive effort was the key to Wednesday’s win.
“We talk about it being on the defensive end. That’s how we got the win, just getting stops at the end of the game,” Haynie said.
The Chippewas started the game off with the same defensive intensity they ended with, holding Kent State to only four points in the first quarter.
“We talked about starting the game off quick and throwing the first punch because we’ve been starting games off flat,” Haynie said. “[I’m] super proud of them for starting the game off quick. Just being tough, knowing our personnel, and executing that defensive game plan.”
This suffocating Central Michigan defense held Kent State to a 15% FG percentage in the first quarter.
Despite a dominant 19-4 start to this early morning matchup, the Chippewas could not maintain that lead for much longer.
Efficient three-point shooting by the Golden Flashes and CMU turnovers allowed Kent State to get back into the game in the second quarter. They ended the half down by just two to the Chippewas (25-23).
This didn’t discourage the Chippewas, though, and extra effort on the boards helped them maintain their lead for the remainder of the game.
Central Michigan outrebounded the Golden Flashes 47 to 27 and picked up 17 offensive rebounds as well.
“We talked about not getting outrebounded two games in a row. We got outrebounded against Bowling Green, so we knew that was a huge key and emphasis for us today,” Haynie said. “Super proud to see two players get double-digit rebounds.”
Senior guard Taylor Anderson led the team in rebounds with 12, followed by Darrington, who picked up 10.
Morson and Darrington were the leading scorers for the day with 18 apiece. Darrington was efficient from the field, shooting 70%.
Central Michigan hits the road this Saturday to take on the University of Massachusetts. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
