Central Michigan University Athletics
Sunday, December 1
Reno, Nev. / Lawlor Events Center
2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
Central Michigan University
2-5,0-0MAC
70
vs
61
Southern Utah
1-8,0-0WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Utah
17
11
16
17
61
Central Mich.
11
22
20
17
70
Freshman Madi Morson scored a career high 20 points on Sunday in leading CMU to a 70-61 win over Southern Utah.
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Women's Basketball Takes Nugget Classic Finale, Morson Named to All-Tournament Team
12/1/2024 5:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CMU wins two of three in Nevada tournament; Morson scores career high 20 points in win over Southern Utah
RENO, Nev. – Career highs and season bests aplenty.
Madi Morson scored 20 points on Sunday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team downed Southern Utah, 70-61, in the Chippewas' final game of the Nevada Nugget Classic at Lawlor Events Center.
CMU finished 2-1 in the classic, posting its first win of the season on Friday over host Nevada before falling on Saturday to unbeaten Portland.
CMU (2-5) is scheduled to entertain Concordia Ann Arbor (3-5) on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at McGuirk Arena.
"Overall the message was toughness and grit and for us to be consistent for all three games," CMU coach Kristin Haynie said. "That was awesome to see and I'm a hundred percent proud of them for coming into this tournament and not saying 'Oh we haven't won a game; poor us.' We found a way to win and that started with our toughness."
Morson's 20 points were a career high, eclipsing her previous best (18) she had in Saturday's loss to Portland. Jess Lawson added 13 points and Taylor Anderson had 10 against the Thunderbirds (1-7) on Sunday.
Ayanna-Sarai Darrington hauled down a career-high nine rebounds as the Chippewas finished with a 48-34 edge on the boards.
The Chippewas' 70 points were a season high, as was their plus-14 rebounding margin. They made 16 of their 19 free throw attempts for a season best 84.2 percent and committed just 14 turnovers, just one off their season low, after committing a season high 29 in Saturday's loss to Portland.
"Portland, I'm going to give them credit," Haynie said. "They full-court pressed the whole game and we didn't do a good job of keeping our composure and our poise. The turnovers were a credit to Portland's defense, but some of that was offensive fouls and being undisciplined. Today that was our goal to keep our turnovers at 14 or less and we did just that."
CMU trailed, 17-11, after one quarter and then outscored the Thunderbirds, 22-11, in the second for a 33-28 halftime lead.
CMU started the third quarter with an 11-5 spurt to up its lead to double digits, 44-33. The Chippewas never relinquished the lead and began the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run in pulling out to their largest lead of the game, 19 points, 63-44, with under seven minutes to play.
"That was our message in the huddle, keep punching and keep stepping on the gas," Haynie said. "We said we've got to have a quick first five minutes to extend the lead. We're not playing not to lose, we're playing to win, and to keep the pressure on them. They did an awesome job of getting it done defensively and moving the ball offensively."
Morson, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard, drew the start on Sunday after coming off the bench in the previous three games. She finished 6 for 13 from the floor including a 2-for-3 clip from 3-point range. She hit back-to-back mid-range jumpers during CMU's decisive spurt to open the fourth quarter.
In the Chippewas' three games in Nevada, Morson averaged 15.3 points while making 47.2 percent of her field goal tries. She was named to the all-tournament team.
"She did a really good job in these games of letting the game come to her and not forcing it," Haynie said. "She has a great mid-range jumper and she did a really good job of finding those gaps of where she can attack."
The trip to Nevada was fruitful on several levels for the Chippewas, who began the season 0-4.
"We scheduled this tournament to prepare us for the MAC Tournament, playing back-to-back-to-back games," Haynie said. "We proved that we can compete; Portland's undefeated and they're a really good team and we only lost to them by 10. We were in it and that's a huge confidence booster.
"Everyone contributed. We have 14 players on our team, 13 healthy, and even Desrae (Kyles) who's injured, she was locked in and talking on the bench. All 14 players contributed in one way or another in all three of the games and that's a positive for us."
NUGGET CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Madi Morson, Central Michigan
Izzy Sullivan, Nevada
Maisie Burhman Portland
Alexis Mark, Portland
Emme Shearer, Portland (MVP)
Sydney Gandy, Southern Utah
Madi Morson scored 20 points on Sunday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team downed Southern Utah, 70-61, in the Chippewas' final game of the Nevada Nugget Classic at Lawlor Events Center.
CMU finished 2-1 in the classic, posting its first win of the season on Friday over host Nevada before falling on Saturday to unbeaten Portland.
CMU (2-5) is scheduled to entertain Concordia Ann Arbor (3-5) on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at McGuirk Arena.
"Overall the message was toughness and grit and for us to be consistent for all three games," CMU coach Kristin Haynie said. "That was awesome to see and I'm a hundred percent proud of them for coming into this tournament and not saying 'Oh we haven't won a game; poor us.' We found a way to win and that started with our toughness."
Morson's 20 points were a career high, eclipsing her previous best (18) she had in Saturday's loss to Portland. Jess Lawson added 13 points and Taylor Anderson had 10 against the Thunderbirds (1-7) on Sunday.
Ayanna-Sarai Darrington hauled down a career-high nine rebounds as the Chippewas finished with a 48-34 edge on the boards.
The Chippewas' 70 points were a season high, as was their plus-14 rebounding margin. They made 16 of their 19 free throw attempts for a season best 84.2 percent and committed just 14 turnovers, just one off their season low, after committing a season high 29 in Saturday's loss to Portland.
"Portland, I'm going to give them credit," Haynie said. "They full-court pressed the whole game and we didn't do a good job of keeping our composure and our poise. The turnovers were a credit to Portland's defense, but some of that was offensive fouls and being undisciplined. Today that was our goal to keep our turnovers at 14 or less and we did just that."
CMU trailed, 17-11, after one quarter and then outscored the Thunderbirds, 22-11, in the second for a 33-28 halftime lead.
CMU started the third quarter with an 11-5 spurt to up its lead to double digits, 44-33. The Chippewas never relinquished the lead and began the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run in pulling out to their largest lead of the game, 19 points, 63-44, with under seven minutes to play.
"That was our message in the huddle, keep punching and keep stepping on the gas," Haynie said. "We said we've got to have a quick first five minutes to extend the lead. We're not playing not to lose, we're playing to win, and to keep the pressure on them. They did an awesome job of getting it done defensively and moving the ball offensively."
Morson, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard, drew the start on Sunday after coming off the bench in the previous three games. She finished 6 for 13 from the floor including a 2-for-3 clip from 3-point range. She hit back-to-back mid-range jumpers during CMU's decisive spurt to open the fourth quarter.
In the Chippewas' three games in Nevada, Morson averaged 15.3 points while making 47.2 percent of her field goal tries. She was named to the all-tournament team.
"She did a really good job in these games of letting the game come to her and not forcing it," Haynie said. "She has a great mid-range jumper and she did a really good job of finding those gaps of where she can attack."
The trip to Nevada was fruitful on several levels for the Chippewas, who began the season 0-4.
"We scheduled this tournament to prepare us for the MAC Tournament, playing back-to-back-to-back games," Haynie said. "We proved that we can compete; Portland's undefeated and they're a really good team and we only lost to them by 10. We were in it and that's a huge confidence booster.
"Everyone contributed. We have 14 players on our team, 13 healthy, and even Desrae (Kyles) who's injured, she was locked in and talking on the bench. All 14 players contributed in one way or another in all three of the games and that's a positive for us."
NUGGET CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Madi Morson, Central Michigan
Izzy Sullivan, Nevada
Maisie Burhman Portland
Alexis Mark, Portland
Emme Shearer, Portland (MVP)
Sydney Gandy, Southern Utah
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Team Stats
SUU
CMU
FG%
.338
.410
3FG%
.188
.500
FT%
1.000
.842
RB
34
48
TO
11
14
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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