Wednesday, January 25
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
4-14,2-5MAC
69
vs
66
Ohio
3-15,1-6MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Ohio
15
17
25
9
66
Central Mich.
19
20
19
11
69
CMU's Taylor Anderson (24), Sydney Harris (25) and assistant coach Micaela Kelly are all smiles after the Chippewas' 69-66 victory over Ohio on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Josie Ransley '25,M'27 - @josieransmedia
Harris Delivers Clutch Triple; CMU Women Pull Out 69-66 Win
1/25/2023 10:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Growth tends to come incongruently, and it can take time to show up on the stat sheet and in the all-important win column.
On Wednesday, a young Central Michigan women's basketball team showed signs of maturity in grinding out a 69-66 Mid-American Conference win over Ohio at McGuirk Arena.
Sydney Harris hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining and Taylor Anderson grabbed two critical rebounds in the final minute as the Chippewas overcame a 40-point effort from Ohio's Yaya Felder in snapping a five-game losing streak.
"We made the plays we needed to make down the stretch," said CMU coach Heather Oesterle, whose team improved to 4-14, 2-5 MAC. "I thought we got a little frantic, to put it nicely; there's stuff we still need to learn. We battled, we battled for four quarters again.
"We've got to be more disciplined. We took tired shots, and we need to be more poised down the stretch."
Harris finished with 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting. She made four of her 14 3-point tries, one of which came with just over 5 minutes remaining and put the Chippewas up, 66-61, during a see-saw final quarter.
Her final triple broke a 66-66 tie and came from just right of the circle with the shot clock running down.
"I live for big moments," said Harris, who entered the game second in the nation with 3.29 3-pointers per game. "I know I wasn't shooting the best percentage-wise today, but I know (Oesterle) trusts me to take that shot any time. As soon as it left my hand, I knew it was going in."
Anderson finished with 13 rebounds and seven assists, both of which were career highs. CMU point guard Bridget Utberg had eight points and four assists and, most importantly, did not commit a turnover.
Harris, Anderson and Utberg are all freshmen.
"Syd's a big-time scorer," Oesterle said. "She's a big-players-make-big-plays type of player. Taylor Anderson, she just plays so hard, and she makes stuff happen (and) Bridget, handling the pressure for 40 minutes. I was really proud of our freshmen class."
The Chippewas also got 12 points apiece from Rochelle Norris and Tiana Timpe. Norris grabbed eight rebounds. Timpe hit four of her 10 3-point attempts. Her point total and triples were both season highs.
The Chippewas led throughout most of the game – though never by more than 10 points -- despite Felder's big night. The 40 points marked a career high for the sophomore guard and it was the highest point total by a MAC player this season.
Felder, who entered the game second in the MAC in scoring at 19.2 points per game, finished 12-of-24 from the field and 13-of-14 from the free throw line and her point total was one shy of tying the Ohio program record.
"She was fantastic," Harris said. "A lot of her shots were contested. I thought we were playing really good defense (but) sometimes we weren't very disciplined."
The Chippewas go to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday (1 p.m.). The RedHawks are 7-13, 2-5.
"I wouldn't say (we're) satisfied because our record still isn't good," Harris said. "We have games we need to win, but a win is a win and this one will really help us to build our confidence back up to know that we can finish a game and win one."
On Wednesday, a young Central Michigan women's basketball team showed signs of maturity in grinding out a 69-66 Mid-American Conference win over Ohio at McGuirk Arena.
Sydney Harris hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining and Taylor Anderson grabbed two critical rebounds in the final minute as the Chippewas overcame a 40-point effort from Ohio's Yaya Felder in snapping a five-game losing streak.
"We made the plays we needed to make down the stretch," said CMU coach Heather Oesterle, whose team improved to 4-14, 2-5 MAC. "I thought we got a little frantic, to put it nicely; there's stuff we still need to learn. We battled, we battled for four quarters again.
"We've got to be more disciplined. We took tired shots, and we need to be more poised down the stretch."
Harris finished with 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting. She made four of her 14 3-point tries, one of which came with just over 5 minutes remaining and put the Chippewas up, 66-61, during a see-saw final quarter.
Her final triple broke a 66-66 tie and came from just right of the circle with the shot clock running down.
"I live for big moments," said Harris, who entered the game second in the nation with 3.29 3-pointers per game. "I know I wasn't shooting the best percentage-wise today, but I know (Oesterle) trusts me to take that shot any time. As soon as it left my hand, I knew it was going in."
Anderson finished with 13 rebounds and seven assists, both of which were career highs. CMU point guard Bridget Utberg had eight points and four assists and, most importantly, did not commit a turnover.
Harris, Anderson and Utberg are all freshmen.
"Syd's a big-time scorer," Oesterle said. "She's a big-players-make-big-plays type of player. Taylor Anderson, she just plays so hard, and she makes stuff happen (and) Bridget, handling the pressure for 40 minutes. I was really proud of our freshmen class."
The Chippewas also got 12 points apiece from Rochelle Norris and Tiana Timpe. Norris grabbed eight rebounds. Timpe hit four of her 10 3-point attempts. Her point total and triples were both season highs.
The Chippewas led throughout most of the game – though never by more than 10 points -- despite Felder's big night. The 40 points marked a career high for the sophomore guard and it was the highest point total by a MAC player this season.
Felder, who entered the game second in the MAC in scoring at 19.2 points per game, finished 12-of-24 from the field and 13-of-14 from the free throw line and her point total was one shy of tying the Ohio program record.
"She was fantastic," Harris said. "A lot of her shots were contested. I thought we were playing really good defense (but) sometimes we weren't very disciplined."
The Chippewas go to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday (1 p.m.). The RedHawks are 7-13, 2-5.
"I wouldn't say (we're) satisfied because our record still isn't good," Harris said. "We have games we need to win, but a win is a win and this one will really help us to build our confidence back up to know that we can finish a game and win one."
Team Stats
Ohio
CMU
FG%
.357
.353
3FG%
.226
.313
FT%
.792
.786
RB
39
42
TO
14
11
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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