Central Michigan University
Duquesne
CMU Win Streak Ends At Duquesne
12/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
PITTSBURGH - The Central Michigan women's basketball team squandered a 16-point lead and was outscored, 35-19, in the second half on Sunday in falling to Duquesne, 64-61, in a nonconference game at the Dukes' Palumbo Center.
The loss ended CMU's win streak at eight games. The Chippewas (8-2) play host to Quinnipiac (5-4) in their nonconference finale on Thursday, Dec. 21 (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena.
Julijana Vojinovic scored 20 points to lead Duquense (10-2), which won its eighth straight game.
CMU entered the game ranked eighth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and ninth in the ESPN mid-major poll. Duquesne is ranked eighth by ESPN.
Tinara Moore scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Chippewas, who led 31-15 midway through the second quarter and were up 42-29 at halftime. Duquesne outscored CMU, 23-11, in the third quarter to close to within one, 53-52, heading into the fourth.
A Vojinovic 3-pointer with just under 7 minutes remaining put the Dukes in front for good, 58-55. Down 64-61, the Chippewas gained possession with 17 seconds remaining, but Moore's 3-point try just before the buzzer missed.
CMU coach Sue Guevara said the Chippewas were looking to free up guard Presley Hudson for a 3-point attempt on their final possession, but "they did a good job of D'ing up on her and (Moore) had a wide-open shot that was a very high percentage 3-point shot that was short.
"We executed very poorly in the second half," Guevara said. "In the third quarter they wanted it more. They did a better job of rebounding and getting 50-50 balls and that's probably the most disappointing thing about this whole game."
Cassie Breen added 14 points and Presley Hudson had 11 points and five assists for CMU. Junior forward Reyna Frost added eight points and 13 rebounds.
The Chippewas made just five of their 20 3-point field goal attempts (25 percent), and finished at 36.1 percent from the field overall. It was a season low for the Chippewas in 3-pointers, 3-point percentage, and overall field goal percentage.
