Chippewa Women Fall To Miami

Wednesday, January 16

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 p.m. ET

Central Michigan University

12-4, 3-1MAC

Miami (Ohio)

11-4, 2-2MAC

MIAMI(Ohio)

Central Michigan

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

1/16/2019 10:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CMU held to season-low 5 3-pointers

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Every time Central Michigan swung, Miami (Ohio) swung back, and connected.

Savannah Kluesner scored on a drive and converted the and-one with 2.7 seconds remaining on Wednesday as the RedHawks nipped Central Michigan, 70-67, in a Mid-American Conference women's basketball game in front of 2,054 at McGuirk Arena.

It was the first league loss for the Chippewas, who are 12-4, 3-1 MAC and had won 21 consecutive MAC games at home en route to capturing back-to-back league regular-season championships.

"Usually you have 24 hours to get over it, and I already told (the team) I will not be over it (Thursday) in practice," said an obviously disappointed CMU coach Sue Guevara. "I'll be over it by Friday as we get ready for Kent State. The tape doesn't lie. We'll live and learn."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Chippewas led for less than two minutes of game time as the RedHawks (11-4, 2-2) seized the early advantage and then held on as CMU nipped at their heels throughout.

The Chippewas forged a 67-67 tie on a Presley Hudson jumper with 54 seconds to play. After a Miami miss, Hudson's mid-range jumper from left of the foul line with 6 seconds remaining was short.

After a timeout, Miami inbounded to the 6-foot-2 Kluesner, who scored what proved to be the game-winning bucket on a rolling move to the basket from the right side.

"(Miami) didn't quit, even when the crowd – what a great crowd – really got into it," said Guevara, whose team trailed by as many as nine points in the third quarter. "We woke up in the fourth quarter. We really struggled to score. We struggled all night. It was one of those games."

Hudson's 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short.

LEADERS
Senior forward Reyna Frost led the Chippewas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. It was her 14^th double-double of the season and her 10^th consecutive.

Kluesner finished with 21 points to lead Miami, which had lost its last nine games against CMU. Kendall McCoy added 17 points, and she hit five of her six 3-point tries.

A ROUGH GO
Miami limited Hudson, CMU's leading scorer who entered the game averaging 21.7 points, to just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting. She missed all five of her 3-point attempts.

"She had a rough night in a lot of ways and we're just not used to seeing that," Guevara said.

The Chippewas were held to a season-low five 3-pointers (on 21 attempts). They finished 28 for 66 (42.4 percent) overall from the field. The percentage tied for their third-lowest of the season. The RedHawks entered the game as the MAC's best defensive team, holding opponents to 58.8 points per game.

"We had some people that usually you can count on to hit clutch shots, who can penetrate and get in and finish in the paint and we didn't," Guevara said. "Credit their defense. They made it tough for us to shoot the 3. … but we missed wide-open threes too."

CMU 'D'
The RedHawks hit six of their nine 3-point attempts in the first half, and they led 37-32 at the break.

They finished 9-for-19 from 3-point range and made 54 percent of their field goals overall. It was the second-best field goal percentage for a CMU opponent this season.

"I thought they had a really good shooting performance," Guevara said. "Part of that was our defense. We've got to make sure we've got a hand up and understand penetration and who their 3-point shooters are. We have been doing very well in that department that's why tonight was just very disappointing defensively."

NEXT
The Chippewas go to Kent State on Saturday (noon). The Golden Flashes (10-5) are 3-1 after dropping their first MAC game of the season, 83-81, at Ohio on Wednesday.

The Chippewas lead the MAC West, while Kent State shares the top spot in the East.

"You want to get back on the horse," Guevara said. "You've got to right the ship. Our players understand what we have to do. There are people in the locker room who took ownership for the way that they played.

"And I'll take ownership for that too because I'm the coach. We'll work on some things tomorrow in practice and get some people's heads straightened up."