Central Michigan University
Dayton
Late Dayton Surge Does In Chippewas
12/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
DAYTON, Ohio - The Central Michigan women's basketball team was up by as many as 11 in a back-and-forth game with Dayton Saturday afternoon, but lack of bench contribution and missed opportunities by the Chippewas allowed the Flyers to close out the game in the final minutes to top CMU, 86-76.
The loss dropped CMU's record to 3-3 on the season, while Dayton extended its home win streak to 30 games, best in the nation.
"We lost the game in the last 3:23," CMU coach Sue Guevara said. "It was tied at 72 at that point, and we missed too many shots and free throws, and we allowed too many rebounds. We got tired down the stretch and we settled for too many threes (attempts) rather than penetrating to the basket.
"We only played six players today, and that's why we got tired. But this is where we need to do a better job, when we're tired. We need to keep attacking instead of settling for jump shots and we need to box out and get rebounds."
Outside of Crystal Bradford -- who came off the bench in Saturday's game -- no other CMU reserve totaled more than six minutes.
"We aren't getting much contribution from our bench at this point in the season," Guevara said. "And when you play a team like Dayton, it's tough to play nine people if they are not all going to contribute like they can."
"Jess Green played a phenomenal game for us, but she got tired. Our other two guards need to be able to step in at that point, because you can only ask so much from your starters until they begin to fatigue. And today, that was the difference in the game."
Green, a senior, totaled a season-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover. Bradford finished with 22 points as well, along with seven rebounds and five assists.
As a team, the Chippewas shot 45.4 percent from the field, but allowed Dayton to shoot 50 percent.
"The thing about Dayton is they have five players that are capable scorers," Guevara said. "I didn't think we could play man-to-man defense against them because of how efficient they are on offense, so we played a zone. You have to give credit to them for making the extra pass and knocking down their open shots."
Dayton seniors Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, while adding nine rebounds apiece. Hoover, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, led the Flyers in assists with six.
The Chippewas play host to Delaware State at noon, Tuesday, Dec. 16, before heading to Minneapolis for the Subway Classic, Dec. 20 and 21, where they will play top-ranked South Carolina and the host Gophers.
