Central Michigan University
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Western Michigan
Balanced, Explosive Chippewas On Verge Of MAC Title
3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - If you're stopping them in the paint, they'll drain 'em from the outside.
If you're aggressively defending their leading scorer, they'll put up the numbers off the bench.
With the Central Michigan women's basketball team, you gotta' pick your poison.
Tinara Moore scored 29 points to lead five Chippewas in double figures as CMU took a huge Mid-American Conference road win against rival Western Michigan on Wednesday, defeating the Broncos, 94-73, at University Arena.
CMU improved to 22-7, matching the 2015-16 team for the highest win total in Sue Guevara's 10 years as the Chippewas' coach, and 14-3 MAC. They maintained their share of the top spot in the MAC West and in the overall league standings with Ball State, a 65-54 winner at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.
Moore, named on Tuesday the MAC West Player of the Week, wore the title well, scoring eight of her points in the first quarter to stake the Chippewas to a 20-12 lead. It was the 12th consecutive game that the 6-foot-3 junior has scored in double figures. She also had eight rebounds.
The Chippewas had four additional players score in double figures, including Aleah Swary, who had 19 points off the bench, 12 of them on a 4-of-6 shooting performance from 3-point territory. It was two points shy of her career-high 21 she scored against Northern Illinois on Feb. 8.
CMU's Reyna Frost recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Presley Hudson added 14 points and six assists, and Cassie Breen had 13 points.
"That's why we can be hard to defend, when we have an inside-outside game like that," Guevara said. "Tinara wanted the ball, she got the ball. I was really happy with Reyna Frost, how she was aggressive and went to the basket."
Central Michigan, which never trailed, led 41-30 at halftime and its lead was seven, 52-45, with three minutes to play in the third quarter.
Breen ignited a 15-7 quarter-closing run with a 3-pointer, the first of five from the Chippewas in the final 2:59 of the third. When the dust settled, CMU went into the fourth up 15, 67-52, and Western never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
CMU was 7-for-14 from long distance in the second half, and finished 10-for-23 from beyond the arc for the game.
"Cassie got going, Presley hit a three, Aleah has been a trooper coming off that bench," Guevara said. "To have the balanced scoring we had, I was really happy how we attacked."
CMU extended its win streak over the Broncos to five games. The Chippewas have won 17 of the last 20 meetings with Western (16-12, 7-10).
Meredith Shipman scored 24 points for Western and Breanna Mobley, who had 27 against CMU earlier this season, scored 19 and had 11 rebounds.
CMU plays host to Eastern Michigan on Saturday (1 p.m.) in its home finale and its Senior Day. Seniors Jasmine Harris and Jewel Cotton will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. CMU rolled past the Eagles, 104-63, in their first meeting this season on Feb. 4 in Ypsilanti. EMU is 6-23, 1-16.
Ball State closes the regular season on Saturday at home against Toledo.
If the Chippewas win on Saturday, they guarantee themselves a share of both the MAC West and overall league regular-season titles. Win or lose on Saturday, CMU is guaranteed to be one of the top two seeds in the MAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, March 8, in Cleveland.
The 22nd win ties the '15-16 team for the second most in a single-season in program history behind the 1983-84 squad that finished 27-3.
