Thursday, November 9
Mobile, Ala. / Mitchell Center
8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT
Central Michigan University
0-1,0-0MAC
55
at
77
South Alabama
2-0,0-0Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
13
8
16
18
55
South Alabama
22
20
19
16
77
Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography
Women’s Basketball Falls at South Alabama, 77-55
11/10/2023 12:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ortiz just second freshman to score 20 points in season opener since 2008-09, Chippewas force most turnovers in last four seasons
MOBILE, Ala. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball dropped its season-opener, 77-55, at South Alabama Thursday night, the first of two contests dubbed the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge for the 2023-24 season.
Despite a 6-for-7 start from the free throw line, the Chippewas did not find their first basket from the field until freshman Tamara Ortiz (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South) drove the lane after the midway point of the first quarter, though that basket was the start of a historic night individually.
Ortiz became just the second CMU freshman to log 20 points in a season-opener in the last 15 seasons, just one point shy of Presley Hudson's 2015-16 debut against Indiana State.
The Chippewas collected 23 turnovers from South Alabama, tying the most since December 5, 2019 against Iona. Sophomore Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) reached five steals for the third time already in her career, one shy of her six-takeaway performance at Miami (OH) in January. Ortiz produced in this column as well with three swipes of her own.
Sophomore Madisen Wardell (Detroit, Mich. / Edison), another debut for CMU Thursday, was second to Ortiz with 14 points to go with four rebounds. Freshman Desrae Kyles (Benton Harbor, Mich. / Benton Harbor) secured a team-high seven rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
The Chippewas' struggle came on the offensive end, shooting at a 29.5-percent clip, 23.1 percent from beyond the arc, though respective marks of 41.4 and 30.8 in the second half.
"Their physicality hurt us in the first half," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "We did a better job of calming down in the second half, and that's what we talked about: we had to keep our composure and play our game. We had spurts where we did that, but not consistently."
The Jaguars also notched a 44-33 advantage in total rebounding, an area that can sometimes ease the stress of an off night from the field.
"Our mentality before the game was to rebound because we knew they would be on the boards. I wished we got more offensive rebounds, personally, especially for how low our shooting percentage was, so we've got to do a better job on the offensive side rebounding the ball."
Central Michigan Women's Basketball heads to Peoria, Ill. Sunday (Nov. 12; 3 p.m. ET) to battle Bradley ahead of its season-opener Nov. 14 (7 p.m.) against Concordia-Ann Arbor.
Despite a 6-for-7 start from the free throw line, the Chippewas did not find their first basket from the field until freshman Tamara Ortiz (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South) drove the lane after the midway point of the first quarter, though that basket was the start of a historic night individually.
Ortiz became just the second CMU freshman to log 20 points in a season-opener in the last 15 seasons, just one point shy of Presley Hudson's 2015-16 debut against Indiana State.
The Chippewas collected 23 turnovers from South Alabama, tying the most since December 5, 2019 against Iona. Sophomore Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) reached five steals for the third time already in her career, one shy of her six-takeaway performance at Miami (OH) in January. Ortiz produced in this column as well with three swipes of her own.
Sophomore Madisen Wardell (Detroit, Mich. / Edison), another debut for CMU Thursday, was second to Ortiz with 14 points to go with four rebounds. Freshman Desrae Kyles (Benton Harbor, Mich. / Benton Harbor) secured a team-high seven rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
The Chippewas' struggle came on the offensive end, shooting at a 29.5-percent clip, 23.1 percent from beyond the arc, though respective marks of 41.4 and 30.8 in the second half.
"Their physicality hurt us in the first half," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "We did a better job of calming down in the second half, and that's what we talked about: we had to keep our composure and play our game. We had spurts where we did that, but not consistently."
The Jaguars also notched a 44-33 advantage in total rebounding, an area that can sometimes ease the stress of an off night from the field.
"Our mentality before the game was to rebound because we knew they would be on the boards. I wished we got more offensive rebounds, personally, especially for how low our shooting percentage was, so we've got to do a better job on the offensive side rebounding the ball."
Central Michigan Women's Basketball heads to Peoria, Ill. Sunday (Nov. 12; 3 p.m. ET) to battle Bradley ahead of its season-opener Nov. 14 (7 p.m.) against Concordia-Ann Arbor.
Team Stats
CMU
USA
FG%
.295
.466
3FG%
.231
.538
FT%
.619
.842
RB
33
44
TO
20
23
STL
11
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
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