Central Michigan University
Saint Joseph's
Chippewas Win OT Thriller
12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Trailing by 12 points with just over 3 minutes left in regulation, a victory did not seem to be in the cards for the Central Michigan women's basketball team.
Then Presley Hudson happened.
The sophomore guard nailed a game-tying triple with three seconds left in regulation, then scored on contested layup as time expired in overtime as the Chippewas pulled out a thrilling 73-71 nonconference win on Friday over Saint Joseph's at McGuirk Arena.
Hudson drove the left side and beat her defender to the basket for the winning bucket as the Chippewas improved to 7-3.
"In those moments I want the ball in my hands," said Hudson, last year's Mid-American Conference freshman of the year. "I want to be able to make that big play. We were just able to execute our plays and get those two big scores."
CMU has now won a pair of overtime games this season. The first, 70-67, over Oakland on Nov. 22, came in two extra sessions.
The Chippewas trailed, 62-50, when Cassie Breen hit the first of back-to-back 3-pointers with 3 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in regulation. Hudson scored twice on drives then drilled a triple with just 2 seconds left as CMU closed regulation on a 13-1 spurt, sending it to OT tied at 63-63.
"I don't think you can question the heart of this team," CMU coach Sue Guevara said. "There wasn't a panic when we were down. It was a determination and taking it one possession at a time."
Hudson finished with a team-high 20 points and shared the team lead with sophomore forward Reyna Frost in rebounds with seven. The Chippewas held a 43-32 rebounding edge.
Breen made four of her nine triple tries en route to 14 points. Junior forward Tinara Moore finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks, both of which came in the fourth quarter.
Alyssa Monaghan led Saint Joseph's (2-6) with 20 points. Adashia Franklyn added 18.
Dampening the excitement of the win was an injury to CMU senior forward Jewel Cotton, who was carried off the court in the third quarter and did not return. No injury determination was made, but she was seen on the Chippewa bench with ice on her knee and ankle.
"Right now we don't know that status of Jewel," Guevara. "The best thing is we don't play again until (Dec. 19) so there is a lot of time for everybody to heal up."
Cotton, who missed the majority of the 2014 season with an ACL injury, entered the game as the Chippewas' leading scorer (14.4 points per game) and scored 15 points before leaving.
"We're just going to need everyone to step up if (Cotton) has to miss time," Moore said. "She has guard play and post play so we need everyone to be on board and step up as leaders. I think we'll be fine."
The Chippewas next matchup will be against Big Ten opponent Illinois (3-6) on Dec.19 at McGuirk.
