Hot Start Holds for Women’s Basketball in 66-57 Win over Kent State

Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography

Photo by: Lauren Verellen

Photo by: Madison Davidson '25 - @_mld.jpeg

Photo by: Lauren Verellen

Hot Start Holds for Women’s Basketball in 66-57 Win over Kent State

1/7/2026 2:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Morson, Darrington post 18 points apiece on a combined 58.3 percent from the field; Chippewas outscore KSU 19-4 in first 11 minutes

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball defeated Kent State, 66-57, in the 15^th edition of Hoops For Hunger Wednesday afternoon in front of a raucous, youthful crowd of over 2,000 local community elementary and middle school students.

The Chippewas tallied a 15-point advantage, 19-4, in the first 11 minutes though the Golden Flashes rallied back to a two-point deficit. Still, the lead never changed hands.

"I'm super happy with our fight, and with our first quarter," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "We had been starting games out flat, but we got better today."

CMU held Kent State scoreless for the first 5:31 of the contest, a 9-0 run, then another 9-0 run for over four minutes after a pair of Kent State field goals to reach the 15-point advantage.

Strong finishes in back-to-back games have sealed the program's first victories over Bowling Green (Jan. 3) and Kent State since the 2020-21 season since it fell to Ohio (Dec. 31) in overtime, 85-83.

"To finish a 4th quarter two games in a row and learn our lesson from Ohio, the growth of this team has been great."

The sophomore duo of Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) and Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) accounted for 18 points apiece on a combined 14-of-24 (.583) mark from the floor.

"Their efficiency was great, and they're just going to continue to get better. They're only sophomores, we continue to forget that. They have a lot of minutes under their belts already and they come to play."

Darrington collected her third double-double of the season, 10^th of her career with 10 rebounds.

Morson scored her six fourth quarter points in the final two minutes of the contest to keep the Golden Flashes from drawing within one possession during that time.

Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) stood up to take on the top defensive assignment, Kent State's Mya Babbit—who dropped a 30-point game at Ohio State earlier this season—and tallied her fourth double-digit game in rebounds, which led all players with 12.

"Not only did she have to guard their best player but to grab 12 rebounds, that's just work. She's a tough kid. She's the only player that's been here all four years. She hadn't beaten Kent State so I'm happy we got that done for her."

Anderson's presence on the roster is a physical representation of the program's rise under Haynie. Anderson, a four-year Chippewa, had not beaten Bowling Green, Kent State or won a Hoops For Hunger contest until this past week.

CMU and Kent State entered the contest second and third in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin, plus-7.77 and plus-7.0 per game, respectively. The Chippewas dominated the glass, 47-27, in Wednesday's contest to nearly double the Flashes' worst deficit in a game this season (11/28/25 v. Tulsa).

"Coming into the game, they averaged 15 offensive rebounds per game, and we held them to six. It's hard work, credit to Ana with 10 rebounds, Taylor with 12—for two players to have double-digit rebounds is huge. We talked about rebounding being one of the keys and we did just that."

Central Michigan Women's Basketball makes its first-ever in-conference visit to Massachusetts Saturday (Jan. 10; 1 p.m. ET) before it returns to McGuirk Arena for Eastern Michigan (Jan. 17; 1 p.m. ET)

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— CMU —