Clash of MAC Title Contenders Lives Up to its Billing; Chippewas Fall, 76-70

Wednesday, January 28

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

6:30 p.m.

Central Michigan University

12-7,6-3MAC

Ball State

16-5,8-1MAC

Ball St.

Central Mich.

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

Photo by: Kailey Hill '26 - @rahsignz

Clash of MAC Title Contenders Lives Up to its Billing; Chippewas Fall, 76-70

1/28/2026 10:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Morson (27), Darrington (20) power the offense; CMU, Ball State combine for 55 whistles in physical mid-season bout

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball fell to Ball State Wednesday night in a physical battle of two contenders for the Mid-American Conference regular season title.

"I'm proud of them for continuing to fight," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said of the Chippewas. "The things that didn't go our way today are fixable; we just need to grow and learn from them and be better next time."

A strong inside presence was paramount as two of the league's top bigs matched up in CMU's Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) and BSU's Tessa Towers. Darrington finished with 20 points, nine rebounds; Towers tallied 15 points, seven rebounds.

Darrington also collected 11 of Ball State's 24 fouls in the contest which led to early nights for Towers and the Cardinals' reserve center Alba Caballero.

"Ana was getting grabbed and held inside, but she's a worker. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have drawn all those fouls. Proud of her for staying in the fight, staying in the moment, not getting frustrated and it showed her toughness."

Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem), the MAC's leading scorer, led the contest with 27 points to tie her best mark in conference play, though her own foul trouble led to 11 fewer minutes on the floor than she logged at Massachusetts (Jan. 10). The sophomore chipped in on the defensive end with a career-high four steals as well.

"Madi's very hard to guard, she's super talented. She shot well from three-point range, at the free throw line, even picked up four steals. That was a really good game for her."

The game's physicality had its consequences as seven players made early exits from the contest between four Chippewas, three Cardinals, though many of the whistles were likely earned.

"Our discipline on fouls was our weak point tonight. Those were the right calls, we have to be more disciplined, and we have to get better about our mental errors to get better against the great teams."

A 10-point spread at the free throw line, and a 31-24 deficit in fouls overall did CMU in.

The Chippewas were up for the challenge as Ball State held a 10-point advantage with two minutes remaining, had it trimmed to four, 74-70, in less than 90 seconds.

"We say, 'Chippewas don't let up,' and you saw that tonight. They could've easily folded down 10, but they stayed with it, we got some turnovers. We executed down the stretch on the offensive end as well, which was encouraging."

Central Michigan forced four turnovers in the final two minutes, Morson collected a steal and drew an offensive foul in the process. Four straight free throws on the offensive end, then a contested, off-balance three-pointer from Morson pulled the contest back to a four-point game but the rally fizzled there.

"When we're in these games and they're tight like this, we're confident we're going to close these games. We're right there. We know the margins are slim in these big games."

Central Michigan Women's Basketball hits the road for its next two (Northern Illinois, Jan. 31; Buffalo, Feb. 4) before its hosts three straight in eight days.

The Chippewas open the homestand on the horizon with Marshall (Feb. 7; 1 p.m. ET) in the second game of the 2025-26 MAC-SBC Challenge, followed by visits from Akron (Feb. 11; 6:30 p.m. ET) and Western Michigan (Feb. 14; 1 p.m. ET).

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