Wednesday, March 12
Cleveland, Ohio / Rocket Arena
4 p.m.
Central Michigan University
14-17,9-9MAC
58
vs
76
Toledo
23-7,13-5MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
16
20
12
10
58
Toledo
15
16
25
20
76
CMU freshman Madi Morson drives to the basket in the Chippewas MAC Tournament quarterfinal loss to second-seeded Toledo on Wednesday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Women's Basketball Bows to Toledo in MAC Tournament Quarterfinal
3/12/2025 7:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Young Chippewas finish 14-17, look to a bright future under second-year coach Kristin Haynie
CLEVELAND – A tale of two halves.
Unfortunately for the Central Michigan women's basketball team, the tale took a dark turn in the second half.
Toledo made 13 3-pointers, a season high for a CMU opponent, on Wednesday as the Rockets eliminated the Chippewas from the Mid-American Conference Tournament, 76-58, in a quarterfinal game at Rocket Arena.
"Disappointing loss for how we started," CMU coach Kristen Haynie said. "Very proud of them. The first 2 ½ quarters, we played Chippewa basketball and then we let the game get away from us.
"Give Toledo a credit for changing their defense up and it got our offense stagnant, and we just weren't able to defend because we let our offense affect our defense."
The seventh-seeded Chippewas finished 14-17, an eight-win improvement over last season. Toledo (23-7), the No. 2 seed, advanced to Friday's semifinal against either No. 3 Buffalo or No. 6 Bowling Green.
The Chippewas led 36-31 at halftime despite committing 12 first-half turnovers. They built and maintained their lead on the strength of 50 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
The Rockets turned the tables in the third quarter with a 24-4 spurt that turned a 42-32 CMU lead into a 56-46 Toledo advantage under a minute to play in the third.
Toledo then opened the fourth with eight straight points to extend its lead to 16, 64-48. The Chippewas never got their deficit under double digits the rest of the way.
Toledo outscored the Chippewas, 45-22, in the second half. CMU shot 25.7 percent from the floor in the final two quarters and committed 20 turnovers in the game.
"The jitters, their first time coming to Cleveland, so we were kind of playing hot potato and the most frustrating part is when we get steal and then turn it over," Haynie said. "You look at Toledo and they're a very veteran team with experience and we have a lot of young players. Starting two freshmen, we're young. I think that has a little bit to do with it for sure. … We know what it's like to be here and we'll be back next year."
Jess Lawson scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Chippewas, while MAC Freshman of the Year Madi Morson added 12 points, and Demetria Prewitt had 10.
Morson finished the season with 511 points, a CMU freshman record.
"What an amazing year Madi had, and it wasn't a fluke; it wasn't lucky," Haynie said. "She spends lots of time in the gym working on her game and what I'm most proud of is her 3-point shooting.
"It was tough for her to get any shots off at the 3-point line today, but her 3-point shooting has become more consistent and that's because of the hard work she's put in outside of practice. To score that many point in a freshman year is pretty remarkable and she hasn't hit her ceiling yet. We're just excited for her to just continue to get better and work on it."
Sammi Mikonowicz scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half to pace the Rockets, while Nan Garcia added 16 points, 11 of which came in the final 20 minutes. Garcia hit four of her six 3-point attempts.
The Chippewas were in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2021, when they captured the title. They finished last in the coaches preseason poll, but then went 9-9 in league play to finish seventh in Haynie's second year.
"Overall very proud of them, proud of their season for continuing to get better and we just stuck with the process," Haynie said. "We're a very young team. We're not happy just getting here, we're not satisfied.
"We'll take a lot of lessons from this for next year. To have a winning program and a winning culture you've got to win in the locker room so it's awesome to have our core group back. I'm very excited that we have such a young team with so much experience coming back."
Unfortunately for the Central Michigan women's basketball team, the tale took a dark turn in the second half.
Toledo made 13 3-pointers, a season high for a CMU opponent, on Wednesday as the Rockets eliminated the Chippewas from the Mid-American Conference Tournament, 76-58, in a quarterfinal game at Rocket Arena.
"Disappointing loss for how we started," CMU coach Kristen Haynie said. "Very proud of them. The first 2 ½ quarters, we played Chippewa basketball and then we let the game get away from us.
"Give Toledo a credit for changing their defense up and it got our offense stagnant, and we just weren't able to defend because we let our offense affect our defense."
The seventh-seeded Chippewas finished 14-17, an eight-win improvement over last season. Toledo (23-7), the No. 2 seed, advanced to Friday's semifinal against either No. 3 Buffalo or No. 6 Bowling Green.
The Chippewas led 36-31 at halftime despite committing 12 first-half turnovers. They built and maintained their lead on the strength of 50 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
The Rockets turned the tables in the third quarter with a 24-4 spurt that turned a 42-32 CMU lead into a 56-46 Toledo advantage under a minute to play in the third.
Toledo then opened the fourth with eight straight points to extend its lead to 16, 64-48. The Chippewas never got their deficit under double digits the rest of the way.
Toledo outscored the Chippewas, 45-22, in the second half. CMU shot 25.7 percent from the floor in the final two quarters and committed 20 turnovers in the game.
"The jitters, their first time coming to Cleveland, so we were kind of playing hot potato and the most frustrating part is when we get steal and then turn it over," Haynie said. "You look at Toledo and they're a very veteran team with experience and we have a lot of young players. Starting two freshmen, we're young. I think that has a little bit to do with it for sure. … We know what it's like to be here and we'll be back next year."
Jess Lawson scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Chippewas, while MAC Freshman of the Year Madi Morson added 12 points, and Demetria Prewitt had 10.
Morson finished the season with 511 points, a CMU freshman record.
"What an amazing year Madi had, and it wasn't a fluke; it wasn't lucky," Haynie said. "She spends lots of time in the gym working on her game and what I'm most proud of is her 3-point shooting.
"It was tough for her to get any shots off at the 3-point line today, but her 3-point shooting has become more consistent and that's because of the hard work she's put in outside of practice. To score that many point in a freshman year is pretty remarkable and she hasn't hit her ceiling yet. We're just excited for her to just continue to get better and work on it."
Sammi Mikonowicz scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half to pace the Rockets, while Nan Garcia added 16 points, 11 of which came in the final 20 minutes. Garcia hit four of her six 3-point attempts.
The Chippewas were in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2021, when they captured the title. They finished last in the coaches preseason poll, but then went 9-9 in league play to finish seventh in Haynie's second year.
"Overall very proud of them, proud of their season for continuing to get better and we just stuck with the process," Haynie said. "We're a very young team. We're not happy just getting here, we're not satisfied.
"We'll take a lot of lessons from this for next year. To have a winning program and a winning culture you've got to win in the locker room so it's awesome to have our core group back. I'm very excited that we have such a young team with so much experience coming back."
Team Stats
CMU
UT
FG%
.373
.419
3FG%
.333
.565
FT%
1.000
.579
RB
33
37
TO
20
14
STL
5
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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