Wednesday, January 3
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
1-9,0-1MAC
64
vs
65
Bowling Green
7-4,1-0MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Bowling Green
16
16
15
18
65
Central Mich.
18
16
22
8
64
CMU's Madisen Wardell drives to the basket against Bowling Green's Olivia Hill on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Heartbreak for Women's Basketball in MAC Opener Against Bowling Green
1/3/2024 11:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Falcons overcome 9-point fourth-quarter deficit
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Some day – soon, Kristin Haynie hopes – the hard-learned lessons will pay off.
Bowling Green outscored Central Michigan, 18-8, in the fourth quarter on Wednesday in handing the Chippewas a tough-to-swallow 65-64 loss in the Mid-American Conference women's basketball opener for both teams at McGuirk Arena.
"We have to finish games," said Haynie, CMU's first-year coach. "But that's been the story. We haven't put together 40 minutes. It's a process; it's not going to happen over night. We wish it was instant gratification.
"The MAC is open. You have to bring it every game. Anybody can beat you on any given night. That's what we tell (our players) too. We don't need to look at our record. We're getting better every game. It's a process. They're doing a good job fighting, they can't count us out, I think we're a pretty good 1-9 team. We've gotten better we've just got to put four quarters together consistently."
The Chippewas entertain Buffalo in a MAC game on Saturday (1 p.m.).
Bowling Green (7-4) was picked to finish second in the MAC in the preseason poll – the Chippewas were 11th– and the Falcons won a program-record 31 games a year ago. Three of their losses have come to ranked teams, including No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Iowa.
And yet the Chippewas led for nearly 75 percent of the game, bumping its advantage to nine points several times in the second half, the last at 60-51 with eight minutes to play.
But the Falcons took advantage of poor Chippewa shooting down the stretch. CMU made just one fourth-quarter field goal on 19 attempts.
Bowling Green's Amy Velasco hit a free throw to break a 64-all tie with 31 seconds remaining.
The Chippewas held the ball for the last shot, a Karrington Gordon runner from the left side that caught iron but bounced off. The ball went out of bounds with .8 remaining. The Chippewas failed to get off a shot before the buzzer off an inbounds play.
"We talked about after the North Dakota State game, being consistent in practice and it translates to games," Haynie said. "We haven't been consistent in practice and what that means is it gets sloppy, we're not focused. That was a big emphasis after we came back from break and honestly the last three days, practice has been great. It's the best we've practiced.
"It's disappointing because our players have been practicing hard. They've been doing a really good job and I just wish we could get that win for them because they deserve it. It's learning. We're getting there."
Sophomore Taylor Anderson scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead CMU. She made five of her 10 field goal attempts and was 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
"Taylor guards the (opponent's) best player every night, but we've told her we need her more on offense too," Haynie said. "She's a talent and we felt like she could be a little more offensive minded and be a little bit more aggressive. That's good, we need that, and now she needs to be more consistent."
Gordon added 11 points and Nadège Jean had 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for CMU, which outrebounded the Falcons, 50-38, an indication of the effort Haynie saw out of her team.
"I like that word 'hungry,'" Haynie said. "They were hungry. (Our) kids haven't been in this position before so give credit to them for continuing to stay with the process. We have to have a short-term memory and forget about this game and stay hungry and keep working and stay motivated."
Paige Kohler scored 28 points to lead the Falcons.
Bowling Green outscored Central Michigan, 18-8, in the fourth quarter on Wednesday in handing the Chippewas a tough-to-swallow 65-64 loss in the Mid-American Conference women's basketball opener for both teams at McGuirk Arena.
"We have to finish games," said Haynie, CMU's first-year coach. "But that's been the story. We haven't put together 40 minutes. It's a process; it's not going to happen over night. We wish it was instant gratification.
"The MAC is open. You have to bring it every game. Anybody can beat you on any given night. That's what we tell (our players) too. We don't need to look at our record. We're getting better every game. It's a process. They're doing a good job fighting, they can't count us out, I think we're a pretty good 1-9 team. We've gotten better we've just got to put four quarters together consistently."
The Chippewas entertain Buffalo in a MAC game on Saturday (1 p.m.).
Bowling Green (7-4) was picked to finish second in the MAC in the preseason poll – the Chippewas were 11th– and the Falcons won a program-record 31 games a year ago. Three of their losses have come to ranked teams, including No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Iowa.
And yet the Chippewas led for nearly 75 percent of the game, bumping its advantage to nine points several times in the second half, the last at 60-51 with eight minutes to play.
But the Falcons took advantage of poor Chippewa shooting down the stretch. CMU made just one fourth-quarter field goal on 19 attempts.
Bowling Green's Amy Velasco hit a free throw to break a 64-all tie with 31 seconds remaining.
The Chippewas held the ball for the last shot, a Karrington Gordon runner from the left side that caught iron but bounced off. The ball went out of bounds with .8 remaining. The Chippewas failed to get off a shot before the buzzer off an inbounds play.
"We talked about after the North Dakota State game, being consistent in practice and it translates to games," Haynie said. "We haven't been consistent in practice and what that means is it gets sloppy, we're not focused. That was a big emphasis after we came back from break and honestly the last three days, practice has been great. It's the best we've practiced.
"It's disappointing because our players have been practicing hard. They've been doing a really good job and I just wish we could get that win for them because they deserve it. It's learning. We're getting there."
Sophomore Taylor Anderson scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead CMU. She made five of her 10 field goal attempts and was 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
"Taylor guards the (opponent's) best player every night, but we've told her we need her more on offense too," Haynie said. "She's a talent and we felt like she could be a little more offensive minded and be a little bit more aggressive. That's good, we need that, and now she needs to be more consistent."
Gordon added 11 points and Nadège Jean had 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for CMU, which outrebounded the Falcons, 50-38, an indication of the effort Haynie saw out of her team.
"I like that word 'hungry,'" Haynie said. "They were hungry. (Our) kids haven't been in this position before so give credit to them for continuing to stay with the process. We have to have a short-term memory and forget about this game and stay hungry and keep working and stay motivated."
Paige Kohler scored 28 points to lead the Falcons.
Team Stats
BGSU
CMU
FG%
.328
.350
3FG%
.318
.286
FT%
.692
.783
RB
36
50
TO
13
20
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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