Central Michigan University
Toledo
Slow Second Half Dooms CMU Women
2/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Central Michigan women's basketball team just cannot catch a break in the latter portion of its Mid-American Conference campaign.
In senior Crystal Bradford's absence, junior Da'Jourie Turner totaled 21 points on Saturday, but the Chippewas fell to Toledo, 62-53.
It was CMU's second consecutive loss and the sixth of its last seven games, dropping its record to 12-15, 7-9 in the MAC. The Chippewas now sport a .444 winning percentage, which ties their season-low, which came after a 4-5 start.
Toledo's victory sealed the season sweep for the Rockets, who topped the Chippewas, 61-46, in Mount Pleasant earlier this month.
Bradford, CMU's top scorer with 19.6 points per game, was ruled out prior to the start of the game due to knee pain. She was sidelined for three consecutive games earlier this month with the same injury.
The Chippewas led, 34-31, at halftime but went stone cold, hitting just one field goal and totaling five points, in the first 9 minutes, 32 seconds of the second half. Toledo outscored CMU, 31-19, over the final 20 minutes.
"Our inability to finish inside hurt us (in the second half)," coach Sue Guevara said. "If you look, we took 25 shots. Only eight were threes, so we had 17 shots that I guarantee you were from the first hash in the paint to the basket."
The Rockets outrebounded the Chippewas, 44-40, and totaled 18 offensive rebounds. Guevara said her team's inability to secure boards played a crucial part in its second-half lapse.
"It wasn't a matter of boxing out, (our players) just had the ball taken away from them," Guevara said. "That's the worst thing for me to understand. There was a sense of urgency for us to rebound the ball, but we had it taken away from us. That's really concerning to me."
CMU freshman Tinara Moore, who entered the contest averaging 2.9 rebounds per game, hauled down a career-high 13 boards while chipping in seven points.
"(Moore) was more aggressive going after the ball," Guevara said. "I thought she did a really nice job of securing the ball, keeping it above her head, pivoting and looking out.
"In the second half, though, I though she got a little soft on offense. I thought (Toledo's 6-foot-3-inch sophomore Sophie Reecher) maybe intimidated her a little bit. That's the part of her that will grow up when she gets stronger, that she can use her size and look to attack the basket instead of falling away from it."
Turner scored 20-plus points for the third consecutive game with 21 in 30 minutes of playing time on Saturday.
The junior point guard was 6-for-15 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. She also tallied five rebounds and four assists.
"You're seeing (Turner) be a little more consistent with what she's doing," Guevara said. "She is a penetrator. I thought she did a really nice job of taking her time, of going slow.
"She finished with a nice line of 6-for-15, but with some of those shots, I think she needs to watch tape and get that kickout instead of trying to get a foul called and ending up on the floor. And one aspect of her game that I'd like to see improve is her three-point shooting."
CMU held a slight shooting advantage over Toledo, going 34.6 percent overall while holding the Rockets to 33.3 percent. However, the Chippewas had 15 turnovers in the contest, six more than the Rockets.
Three Toledo players notched double-digits in scoring, with senior Inma Zanoguera leading the way with 18 points. Freshman Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott and sophomore Janice Monakana ended the day with 16 and 11, respectively.
CMU's final two games of the regular season will be on its home court, taking on Ball State on Wednesday, March 4, and then closing with Eastern Michigan on Saturday, March 7.
"I told the kids in the locker room that if we can put 40 minutes together, that'd be great," Guevara said. "Right now, this is the last way we want to send our seniors out. Our seniors have put too much blood, guts and sweat into our program to have us not put 40 minutes together.
"I'm going to need everybody to get in the gym a little more this week. We can still have a little bit of momentum, even winning one in a row, getting the momentum for when we play in the (MAC) tournament.
"I told (the players) that there is no guarantee that we're going to Cleveland. There is no guarantee. We have to work our (butts) off if we're going to get there."
