Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
9-6,3-2MAC
Massachusetts
11-3,3-1MAC
Chippewas’ Fierce Second-Half Rally Falls Short at UMass, 74-72
1/10/2026 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CMU faced an 18-point deficit with 8:39 left in the third quarter; three score in double-digits in second half: Morson (23), Darrington (16), Prewitt (12)
AMHERST, Mass. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball scored 53 points after intermission to nearly erase an 18-point Massachusetts lead in its first Mid-American Conference trip to the Mullins Center Saturday afternoon, but fell short, 74-72.
If we played the first half how we did in the second, it would have probably been a different outcome, Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. We have to figure out how we can be more consistent in games.
Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem), Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) and Demetria Prewitt (Madison, Wis. / La Follette) combined to score 51 of the 53 points in the second half, individually tallied 23, 16 and 12, respectively. Morson totaled 27, Darrington 21 for the contest.
Morson produced her fourth 20-point game of the last five outings, Darrington collected 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the last four games. Prewitt reached double-digits for the first time since her 17-point outbreak against Eastern Illinois (Nov. 22).
The Chippewas opened the contest one-of-13 from the field, faced a double-digit deficit before the end of the first quarter that ballooned to a 17-point margin, 25-8, less than three minutes into the second frame.
We did pretty well defensively in the first quarter, for the most part. Our offense was stagnant to start the game.
The objective at halftime was simple, yet effective:
All we told them was, 'run the offense.' There weren't many adjustments to make besides being hungry and moving offensively.
The Chippewas responded to the halftime speech with a 12-3 run early in the third quarter to draw back within a single-digit deficit. The stretch was a response to the contest's largest UMass lead, 39-21, less than 90 seconds into the latter half.
We did a much better job of moving the ball on offense and getting stops that created fastbreak points for us in the second half.
Prewitt capped a swift 10-0 run slowed only by the end of the third quarter to pull Central Michigan within one, 50-49, with nine minutes to play. Morson supplied six points in the run, including two buckets just before the quarter break to get within two possessions.
The scoring trio in the second half combined to shoot 21-of-30 (.750) from the field, added an eight-of-10 (.800) from the charity stripe. The Chippewas produced 13 assists on 22 field goals in the half, led by Lilah Turnbull (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Western Reserve) with four, Zareia Chevre (St. Paul, Minn. / Simley) with three.
Efficiency in the second half is the silver lining to build from. CMU only tallied 12 giveaways (third-fewest in Haynie's tenure) compared to 20 assists in the game, highlight by six turnover-free assists from Turnbull, the freshman point guard.
I'm very proud of our assist-to-turnover ratio, especially Lilah's six assists to no turnovers as a freshman. I hope we continue to build on that and take care of the ball.
Massachusetts broke free midway through the fourth with a 10-2 run for a nine-point lead, 67-58, with less than five minutes to go. CMU responded in the final 90 seconds with a 9-2 run capped by a Morson three-pointer for a 72-70 margin with 14 seconds left. A pair of late-stage free throws sealed it for the Minutewomen.
Central Michigan Women's Basketball gets a week to regroup before it hosts Eastern Michigan next Saturday (Jan. 17; 1 p.m. ET) in McGuirk Arena.
