CMU women's basketball victorious over Eastern Michigan
Chippewas grab the win, powered by a double-double from Madi Morson
Central Michigan University sophomore guard Madi Morson walks out during starting player introductions at McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. Morson had 10 rebounds and scored 24 points. (CM-Life | Jasmine Brookins)
Locked in a tight game against its in-state rival, Central Michigan women’s basketball was looking to build on a strong start to the second half against Eastern Michigan. With 3:04 left in the third quarter, sophomore Madi Morson sank a three pointer to increase the Chippewa lead over the Eagles to 11, its largest in the game at that point.
The Chippewas’ offensive success in the third quarter, led by 11 points from Morson, was enough to build out a lead Central Michigan would defend for the rest of the game. At the final buzzer, CMU was on top with a score of 77-64.
“ We were locked in for 40 minutes, and that was really encouraging to see because we haven't been doing that lately,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “So, it was a fun game to coach. They played really well together, both on offense and defense.”
With the victory, the Chippewas move to 10-6 on the season and 4-2 in Mid-American Conference play.
It was a cold start to the game for the Eagles, who missed their first four shots before finally knocking down a triple. Because of turnovers, however, the Chippewas were largely unable to capitalize on Eastern’s opening struggles.
Central Michigan made a living at the free-throw line in the first, knocking down five of its six shots from the charity stripe in the quarter. In the game as a whole, Central Michigan shot a clean 81.8% from the free-throw line.
Neither team was able to break away from the other in the first, the Chippewas holding a slight 19-14 lead after the first ten minutes.
The Eagles were led by junior Fernanda Ovalle and senior Sisi Eleko, both of whom scored six points in the period. Ovalle finished the game as the leading scorer for Eastern Michigan, putting up 17 points. Eleko was close behind with 15.
Going into halftime, Central Michigan held the advantage on the scoreboard, 34-31.
Three-point shooting was a strong point of Eastern’s game in the first half. The team shot 4-9 from behind the arc in the opening two quarters. The second half, however, was a bit of a different story. Central Michigan’s defense was able to lock down the perimeter and hold the Eagles to just 2-11 from deep.
“ Those were some of the mistakes we made, just mental errors,” Haynie said. “We weren't supposed to help off the shooters and we did a couple times, so that's where they got a couple of their shots from. So, when we can limit that, mental errors, we're gonna be really good.”
As has been typical for the team this season, Central Michigan came out of the locker room after halftime looking better than they had in the first half. The Chippewas opened the third with a 7-2 run to extend its lead to eight points.
The Chippewas were very efficient from the field in the third quarter, shooting 64.7%.
Central Michigan also dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Eagles 12-4 in the period.
The success in shooting and rebounding allowed Central Michigan to build out an 11-point lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Morson was the driving force in the third, scoring 11 points. For the seventh time this season, Morson crossed into 20+ point territory in the game as a whole, contributing 24 points. Morson also finished the game with 10 rebounds, earning her first ever collegiate double-double.
“Now she set the bar high,” Haynie said. “Now she needs to continue just to be consistent with that, getting us extra possessions. To have Taylor Anderson and (Ayanna-Sarai) Darrington and now a third one, Madi, crashing consistently is gonna help us win and get us extra possessions.”
While the Eagles did their best to claw back into the lead, Central Michigan shut the door in the fourth quarter to win the game.
Following up Morson on the stat sheet, two other Chippewas totaled double-figures in scoring. Sophomore Ayanna-Sarai Darrington ended the game with 12, and freshman Lilah Turnbull scored a new career high, racking up 14.
“What's helped her is she's super coachable,” Haynie said. “She works her butt off, she listens, she's a sponge. So, it’s super fun to see her growth. And when players are in the gym, their confidence grows, and she's put the time in over break and she's continuing to do that. To get that consistent third scorer, that would be great from that position.”
Senior Taylor Anderson finished the game with 10 rebounds, the fifth time she has totaled double-digit boards this season.
Up next, the Chippewas will head down to Ohio to play the Akron Zips on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
With the season now over halfway done, Haynie is most happy with how her team has connected on the court.
“We're doing a really good job playing together, which has been really good to see,” she said. “It's fun to coach when they play together, and we've been consistent, getting better every single game in that area.”
In terms of what the team needs to improve on moving forward, Haynie pointed to the defense.
“We need to just continue to work on defending,” she said. “Sixty points is our goal to hold teams to defensively, so just got to minimize the mental errors that we do sometimes.”
