Central Michigan University
Ball State
Dramatic & Sweet
2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Happy? Yeah, you bet.
Satisfied? Not by a long shot.
In what will surely go down as one of the most memorable nights in Central Michigan women's basketball history, the Chippewas came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter on Wednesday to top Ball State, 88-80, and clinch a share of the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship before a loud and proud 2,132 fans at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas (24-4, 16-1 MAC) can wrap up the outright title - their second straight - with a win on Saturday (2 p.m.) at Toledo. And then it's on to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament. It is there, at Quicken Loans Arena, that the Chippewas take aim at their ultimate goal of adding the league tournament crown, and with it an NCAA Tournament berth.
"It's on to the next one," senior guard Cassie Breen said. "Like coach always says: Celebrate now, but we're looking on to Toledo."
Perhaps, but for one night, one oh so memorable and emotional night, the Chippewas could bask in the glory of their hard work as the cut down the nets inside McGuirk Arena, celebrating with teammates, the coaching staff, and the fans.
It was perhaps most special for the likes of Breen and Tinara Moore, two seniors (along with Aleah Swary and Amani Corley) who have been at the core of a program that has now won back-to-back regular-season titles, the first time the program has accomplished that feat since the mid-1980s.
"It's emotional for all of us (seniors)," Breen said. "It's the last time we'll be playing in this building and we had tough times from our freshman year. That emotion, the practices in the gym, getting yelled at by coach - all of it paying off tonight, winning on Senior Night, beating a good Ball State team and getting it done in the most grueling way. ... It's something we've worked on for four years."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Breen entered the fourth quarter having made just one of her 10 3-point field goal attempts on the night.
But she delivered when it mattered most.
The Chippewas trailed by nine, 73-64, with just over eight minutes remaining, then went on a 20-3 tear, feeding off the energy of the crowd that grew into a frenzy. Breen drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:10 remaining to put CMU up, 78-76. It was CMU's first lead since midway through the first quarter.
Sixty-one seconds later, Breen hit another triple from nearly the same spot on the court, making it 81-76. Kyra Bussell then added a free throw and Presley Hudson hit two charity tosses to up it to 84-76 with 30 seconds left.
"We knew defense was going to win this game tonight," Moore said. "I had no doubts in my mind. I'm confident in my teammates to get those stops and to score offensively. No doubts, we just had to keep our composure."
THE LEADERS
All five CMU starters scored in double figures. Hudson finished with 26 points, Moore had 19, Micaela Kelly added 15, Breen had 13, and Reyna Frost added 11. Moore finished with 11 rebounds for her team-leading 13th double-double of the season.
Nakeya Penny and Moriah Monaco scored 18 points apiece to lead the Cardinals (23-5, 12-5).
THE CROWD
Without question, the McGuirk Arena crowd was a difference-maker, particularly in the fourth quarter. CMU trailed 45-36 at halftime, and was down by as many as 12 points in the third quarter.
"We had 2,100 people here tonight and that was absolutely awesome," Guevara said. "I just want to make sure that I say thank you from the bottom of my heart from all 2,132 people that were here.
"Because I'll tell you what, boy you sure carried us in that fourth quarter, you carried us on both ends of the floor and for our seniors, our seniors to go out like that. And give Ball State a lot of credit, Ball State's a good basketball team and they took it at us in the first half. You want to talk about adjustments that were made, I'd say it was more challenges that were thrown out there."
MILESTONES
Perhaps overshadowed, understandably, by the victory, the dramatic fourth quarter, and the title share, were three CMU milestones.
• Breen became CMU's all-time leader in 3-pointers. Her second triple of the fourth quarter, the one that put CMU up 81-76 and was, perhaps, the biggest shot of the night, was the 289th of her career. She passed NIki DiGuilio, who made 288 from 2010-14.
• Frost, the MAC's leading rebounder at 12 per game, finished with eight boards which put her over 1,000 for her career. The junior is the sixth player in program history to have reached the 1,000 plateau.
• The win was Guevara's 200th as CMU's coach.
Game balls were presented during the post-game celebration to Breen, Frost, Guevara and to Hudson, who on Saturday became CMU's single-season leader in 3-point field goals, surpassing DiGuilio, who made 100 triples in 2013-14. Hudson now has 108 on the year.
BREEN ON THE CAREER 3-POINT MARK
"I actually deleted my Twitter app because I didn't want to hear about it. It was hard because I've been wanting it since freshman year. Seeing NIki DiGuilio and Kerby Tamm (another former Chippewa who was a standout 3-point shooter) be great shooters, that's what I looked up to and that's why I set my goal so high. NIki DiGuilio was an amazing 3-point shooter and I wanted to be like her."
FROST ON THE REBOUNDS MILESTONE
"I saw it on Twitter, but I wasn't thinking about it in the game. I just knew I had to do my role and help the team get the win, get a win for the seniors."
GUEVARA ON WIN No. 200
"I've just been really fortunate to have some really good players, and some very coachable players. Been very fortunate to recruit here in the state of Michigan. We have good high school coaches here. We've been able to get good players. I've had very, very good assistant coaches. I've never gotten a rebound or shot a free throw. I've been here 11 years. It's nice. It's nice."
