Central Michigan University
Ohio
Perfect-At-The-Line CMU Women Hold Off Ohio
2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Tinara Moore scored all 18 of her points in the second half Wednesday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team bounced back from consecutive losses with a 64-59 Mid-American Conference victory before 1,460 at McGuirk Arena.
The win against MAC East-leading Ohio improved the Chippewas to 15-6, 7-2 MAC. CMU is third in the West behind Northern Illinois and Ball State at the midpoint of the conference schedule. Ohio fell to 16-5, 7-3 MAC.
The Chippewas were coming off back-to-back road losses, the first to Buffalo, the second to Toledo.
"In this league it's hard to win on the road." said CMU coach Sue Guevara, whose team has won 10 straight at home and is 11-1 this season at McGuirk. "The thing is, how do we mentally prepare? Because it's still 94 feet (court), (the basket's) still 10 feet high.
"Every game is a championship game. You have to get your mindset into that because Cleveland (MAC Tournament) is on the road. You've got to get ready. It's the same thing."
Foul trouble limited Moore's first-half playing time. The junior forward responded in the final two quarters, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Five of her six rebounds came in the second half.
"I had to make sure I made a difference on the court because I wasn't scoring." Moore said. "I started doing other things and that helped me score."
The game was close throughout with eight lead changes, six ties, and neither team leading by more than six points.
A Moore bucket with under 3 minutes to play in the third quarter put CMU in front for good, 39-38, but Ohio hung tough the rest of the way and turned it into a white-knuckler.
The Chippewas finished a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line, marking just the third time in program history they have finished at 100 percent from the charity stripe. CMU teams went 11-for-11 against Northern Illinois in a 2015 game, and were also 11-for-11 in a 2004 game against Detroit.
CMU was 10-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter. Moore and Cassie Breen combined to go 8-for-8 over the final 23 seconds to ice it.
Reyna Frost added 13 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Chippewas. It was the fourth double-double of the season for the sophomore forward, who entered the game sixth in the nation at 11.4 rebounds per game.
Ohio finished with a 42-35 edge on the boards, marking the third consecutive game that CMU has been outrebounded. Quiera Lampkins scored 24 points to lead the Bobcats, who saw their win streak end at four games.
"You can tell where the ball is going off the rim and I just go after it every time." Frost said. "Rebounding is important, they out-rebounded us tonight so we need to work on that. Just hustling after the ball is a big part of it."
Presley Hudson added 13 points for CMU and Breen had 10. The free throw shooting helped CMU overcome a 4-for-19 performance from 3-point range.
Central Michigan goes back on the road Saturday when it travels to Ypsilanti for a date with Eastern Michigan (6-15, 1-8).
