Central Michigan University
Toledo
CMU Women Go Ice Cold in Second Half, Fall
2/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Chippewas were shorthanded, and it was pretty obvious.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team was without senior Crystal Bradford, the Mid-American Conference's leading scorer, who was ruled out prior to the Wednesday's contest due to a an injured knee, and ultimately fell to Toledo, 61-46.
"Bradford was ruled out for us (Tuesday)," coach Sue Guevara said. "I don't know when she will be back in the lineup. It's a day-to-day thing for her right now.
"She had a little bit of swelling in her knee and it's been giving her some pain. So I think the best course of action is to rest her."
It was CMU's second straight MAC loss and fifth in its last seven games, dropping its record to 11-11, 6-5 in conference play.
The Chippewas played competitively in the first half by utilizing a balanced attack on offense. Six different players scored and the Chippewas were 14-for-31 (40.6 percent) shooting and 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from three-point range.
By halftime, the Chippewas found themselves down two, 33-31, in a tightly contested game.
It wasn't until the second half that the wheels fell off for CMU.
The Chippewas shot 4-for-29 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes and were outscored, 28-15, to close out the game. The 46 points was more than 21 below CMU's season average (67.3), and it was the Chippewas' second-lowest scoring output of the season. Their low, 45, came in a loss to No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Dec. 20.
"We just couldn't put the ball in the hole," Guevara said of CMU's second-half lapse on offense. "I started the five in the second half that were the most productive offensively in the first half.
"We had a couple good looks at the basket, but they just didn't go. I thought that we might have hurried some shots a little bit, from the three-ball especially. But I thought we had some good looks inside and we just didn't convert.
"I don't think it was anything that Toledo did defensively in the second half, because they didn't really change anything. But we got frustrated. I tried drawing up different things to get Kerby (Tamm), Amani (Corley) or (Da'Jourie) Turner going, but the ball didn't fall in the hole for us."
Defensively, the Chippewas had trouble containing Toledo's Jay Bravo-Harriott and Inma Zanoguera, who scored 19 and 17 points, respectively. The two combined to go 13-for-26 from the field and 6-of-11 from deep range.
"We talked at halftime," Guevara said. "Specifically, we talked about (Zanoguera) and making sure we knew where she was the whole time. But they came out to start the second half and there was a misjudgment by one of our freshman and (Zanoguera) was wide open.
"To me, that was a momentum killer for us and (Toledo) kept rolling from there."
Senior Lorreal Jones posted a double-double, her third of the season, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Kerby Tamm finished the night with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and five rebounds.
The Chippewas held a 46-37 rebounding edge.
Freshman Karli Herrington played a season-high 21 minutes and recorded seven points and six rebounds.
"I thought Karli did a really nice job for us," Guevara said. "I thought she got some confidence when she knocked down her first two shots and used the backboard with it.
"I thought she got tired in the second half. She was 3-for-6 in the first (half) and then went 0-for-3 in the second. She had six rebounds though, so I thought overall she played a good game. We just need her getting some cardio in at practice so she can play extended minutes."
After Wednesday's setback, the Chippewas are tied for fifth in the MAC standings with Buffalo, Toledo and Northern Illinois (all 6-5 in the MAC). The margin for error is getting smaller for CMU as it attempts to climb the standings with just seven games left on the schedule.
"It was a really quiet locker room after," Guevara said. I think they were frustrated because the shots weren't going down.
"My message to them was that, OK, teams are looking at us now and we've got these players that are down (with injury) and they're wanting to come after us. So how are you going to accept that challenge?
"Somebody is going to have to take the strain off (the hoop). Everyone is going to have to contribute. I told them that it's my job to get them better. That's what I'm going to do.
"So when we come into practice tomorrow, we're going to get after it. They can either come in with their head hanging down or they can come in ready to go. We have another challenge ahead of us."
The Chippewas go to Eastern Michigan (11-10, 4-6) on Saturday for a MAC game. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
