Saturday, February 29
Muncie, IN
1:00 p.m.
Central Michigan University
22-5,15-1MAC
62
at
67
Ball State
20-8,12-4MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
6
19
20
17
62
Ball St.
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67
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Chippewa Women Take First MAC Loss
2/29/2020 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Regular-season title in hand, Chippewas see win streak end at 15
MUNCIE, Ind. – Next stop: March.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team saw its win streak end at 15 games on Saturday with a 67-62 Mid-American Conference loss to Ball State at the Cardinals' Worthen Arena.
The Chippewas, who wrapped up their fourth-consecutive outright league regular-season championship with a win on Wednesday over Western Michigan, are 22-5, 15-1 MAC.
CMU, which has earned the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament, had not lost since it dropped a 64-58 nonconference decision at Central Florida two months ago.
The Chippewas had defeated Ball State, 66-39, at McGuirk Arena on Jan. 15. With Saturday's win, Ball State improved to 20-8, 12-4. The Cardinals are second in the MAC to the Chippewas and hold the second-best overall record among MAC teams. They have won seven of their last eight.
CMU is ranked sixth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and entered Saturday's game with an RPI of 15, far and away the best among MAC teams. Ball State has an RPI of 67, which the third best among league schools.
"I never felt like we were complacent," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We approached every game the same way. The goal is still ultimately to get to the NCAA Tournament. We've positioned ourselves in a good spot.
"I think there are some things we can learn from this game. We'll watch the final three minutes of the game … where we gave them wide-open 3s. This is going to make us more hungry. Next game's in March and we want to be playing our best basketball in March.
"We're heading into March."
CMU led by five, 62-57, after a Gabrielle Bird 3-pointer with 3:01 to play. It was CMU's largest lead of the game. The Chippewas led briefly midway through the first quarter and trailed by as many as 10 points on several occasions.
Ball State took the lead for good, 63-62, on a Sydney Freeman triple with 1:18 left. Oshlynn Brown hit a jumper with 30 seconds to play to extend it to 65-62, and then the Cardinals made two free throws in the final 14 seconds to ice it.
The Chippewas missed their last four field goal attempts of the game. The 62 points was CMU's season low against a MAC opponent this season, and marks its second-lowest point total of the season.
"Their defense is good," Oesterle said. "I didn't think we were doing a good job of attacking in the first half. That's what we tried to do more in the second half and get the pace of the game where we wanted it to be. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half. We got some energy and some penetration.
"Ball State is a good team and their defense is really good in the half court."
Micaela Kelly scored 17 points, Molly Davis had 14, and Bird added 10 for CMU. Jahari Smith pulled down nine rebounds, one shy of her season high, for the Chippewas.
Freeman scored 18 points to pace the Cardinals.
The final week of the regular season has CMU playing at Toledo on Wednesday, March 4 (7 p.m.) and then closing at home on Saturday, March (1 p.m.) against Eastern Michigan.
CMU has earned a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament and will play a tourney quarterfinal game in Cleveland on Wednesday, March 11.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team saw its win streak end at 15 games on Saturday with a 67-62 Mid-American Conference loss to Ball State at the Cardinals' Worthen Arena.
The Chippewas, who wrapped up their fourth-consecutive outright league regular-season championship with a win on Wednesday over Western Michigan, are 22-5, 15-1 MAC.
CMU, which has earned the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament, had not lost since it dropped a 64-58 nonconference decision at Central Florida two months ago.
The Chippewas had defeated Ball State, 66-39, at McGuirk Arena on Jan. 15. With Saturday's win, Ball State improved to 20-8, 12-4. The Cardinals are second in the MAC to the Chippewas and hold the second-best overall record among MAC teams. They have won seven of their last eight.
CMU is ranked sixth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and entered Saturday's game with an RPI of 15, far and away the best among MAC teams. Ball State has an RPI of 67, which the third best among league schools.
"I never felt like we were complacent," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We approached every game the same way. The goal is still ultimately to get to the NCAA Tournament. We've positioned ourselves in a good spot.
"I think there are some things we can learn from this game. We'll watch the final three minutes of the game … where we gave them wide-open 3s. This is going to make us more hungry. Next game's in March and we want to be playing our best basketball in March.
"We're heading into March."
CMU led by five, 62-57, after a Gabrielle Bird 3-pointer with 3:01 to play. It was CMU's largest lead of the game. The Chippewas led briefly midway through the first quarter and trailed by as many as 10 points on several occasions.
Ball State took the lead for good, 63-62, on a Sydney Freeman triple with 1:18 left. Oshlynn Brown hit a jumper with 30 seconds to play to extend it to 65-62, and then the Cardinals made two free throws in the final 14 seconds to ice it.
The Chippewas missed their last four field goal attempts of the game. The 62 points was CMU's season low against a MAC opponent this season, and marks its second-lowest point total of the season.
"Their defense is good," Oesterle said. "I didn't think we were doing a good job of attacking in the first half. That's what we tried to do more in the second half and get the pace of the game where we wanted it to be. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half. We got some energy and some penetration.
"Ball State is a good team and their defense is really good in the half court."
Micaela Kelly scored 17 points, Molly Davis had 14, and Bird added 10 for CMU. Jahari Smith pulled down nine rebounds, one shy of her season high, for the Chippewas.
Freeman scored 18 points to pace the Cardinals.
The final week of the regular season has CMU playing at Toledo on Wednesday, March 4 (7 p.m.) and then closing at home on Saturday, March (1 p.m.) against Eastern Michigan.
CMU has earned a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament and will play a tourney quarterfinal game in Cleveland on Wednesday, March 11.
Team Stats
CMU
BSU
FG%
.333
.418
3FG%
.216
.333
FT%
.727
.591
RB
40
40
TO
9
13
STL
7
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
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