Chippewa Women Fall in Overtime to Ohio, 85-83

Wednesday, December 31

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

1 p.m.

Central Michigan University

7-5,1-1MAC

Ohio

7-4,1-0MAC

OT 1

Ohio

Central Mich.

Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (25) scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting and tied her career high with 21 rebounds on Wednesday in the Chippewas' overtime loss to Ohio at McGuirk Arena.

Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography

12/31/2025 5:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Darrington scores career-high 27 points, ties career best with 21 rebounds; Morson hits 5 3-pointers in adding 23 for Chippewas

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – One that got away. One that stings.

Ohio hit a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in regulation and then outscored Central Michigan, 6-4, in overtime in handing the Chippewas a heartbreaking 85-83 loss in a Mid-American Conference women's basketball game on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.

"Our defense got away from us … and then our turnovers got us," CMU coach Kristin Haynie said.

After winning their last two games by an average of 44 points, the Chippewas slipped to 7-5, 1-1 MAC. They go to Bowling Green for a MAC game on Saturday, Jan. 3. The Bobcats improved to 7-4, 1-0.

The loss spoiled standout efforts by CMU's Ayanna-Sarai Darrington and Madi Morson.

Darrington scored a career-high 27 points and tied her career best with 21 rebounds. Morson finished with 23 points.

Darrington made 11 of her 14 field goal attempts and 10 of her boards came on the offensive end. CMU finished with a 50-37 rebounding edge; 25 of the Chippewas' boards came on offense.

"Unbelievable," Haynie said of the 6-foot-2 sophomore. "She was getting triple teamed too, all day;11 for 14, that's just incredible. I mean, her toughness there in the paint, finishing, boarding.

"You can't coach that. You can't teach that. Just proud of her effort. It's too bad we didn't get the 'w' to celebrate that, but that's an amazing accomplishment."

It was a start-to-finish battle during which the largest lead by either team was eight points, and there were nine lead changes and seven ties.

Darrington scored inside with 7:10 left in regulation to break a 61-61 tie and start a 14-7 CMU run that gave the Chippewas a seemingly safe seven-point lead, 75-68, with under two minutes left.

But Bella Ranello hit a 3-pointer and then Asiah Baxter followed with a layup to draw Ohio within two, 75-73, with 20 seconds remaining.

Morson made all six of her free throws and went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 12 seconds of regulation. Her final two free throws put the Chippewas up, 79-76, with under 2 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Ohio worked the ball to Bailey Tabeling who drilled a 3-pointer from just right of the circle to tie it and send it to overtime.

Ranello opened the extra session with a triple to make it 82-79 and the Chippewas never regained the lead, though it remained a one-possession game until a Danni Scully free throw with 11 seconds remaining extended Ohio's lead to 85-81.

Ranello scored 22 points and Tabeling finished with 20.

Morson hit just six of her 21 field goal attempts, but five of those makes were from 3-point range, a season high and one shy of her career best.

Her 23 points, her third-highest total of the season, came on the heels of a 26-point performance in the Chippewas' last game, an 89-51 romp 11 days ago against Northern Illinois.

"She's just a really good talent," Haynie said of Morson, a sophomore guard. "It's too bad (the Bobcats) were in a zone (defense). It was hard to get certain players certain shots.

"We had to really move the ball. I thought we needed to do a better job moving without the ball. But for Madi to knock down her free throws and knock down the outside shot definitely helped us."