Women’s Basketball Stumbles in MAC-SBC Challenge Matchup, 88-81

Saturday, February 7

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

1 p.m.

Central Michigan University

14-8,8-3MAC

Marshall

20-6,10-3Sun Belt

Marshall

Central Mich.

Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography

Women’s Basketball Stumbles in MAC-SBC Challenge Matchup, 88-81

2/7/2026 5:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Morson’s 12th 20-point outing, Anderson’s career-high eight assists fall short against Marshall

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball fell to Marshall, 88-81, inside McGuirk Arena Saturday afternoon, it's second matchup of the 2025-26 MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

The Chippewas return to Mid-American Conference action to host Akron (Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m. ET) and Western Michigan (Feb. 14, 1 p.m. ET) over the next week.

Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) produced her 12^th 20-point outing of the season (27 points), her 10^th of the last 12 games.

The MAC Player of the Year contender posted an eight-for-15 mark from the field and a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line on top of a pair of steals—her fifth multi-steal game of the last six—and a block.

"She's a phenomenal talent." Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "She's shooting well from all over the floor, not just in the paint but for three and at the free throw line."

Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) continued her dominance across the rest of the stat sheet with a career-high eight assists to go with 15 rebounds, seven points and two blocks.

"She's a really good passer, she sees her teammates. Eight assists is awesome for her. Taylor leads us in assists on the season, so it's no surprise."

The Chippewas led by as many as 11 points with runs of 10-2, 11-2 and 8-0 at different stages in the first half, though the Thundering Herd would answer back for an exciting back-and-forth affair.

"Basketball's a game of runs; Marshall did a good job of responding to our runs. We stopped the bleeding in the first half too. In the second half, things just got away from us."

Marshall's Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, a frontrunner for the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year award, was the difference in the second half with 27 of her 36 points and eight steals in the contest.

"[Lewis-Eutsey] is a super talented player, she's hard to stop. She just took over; we didn't have anyone that could stop her down the stretch."

Central Michigan stood right on its averages in rebounding for a 42-32 tally on the boards, meeting both the per-game team average of 42.33 and the per-game margin of 10.4, both top 25 marks in NCAA I this season.

The Herd's advantage came through ball security, a 23-13 margin that led to a 37-5 discrepancy in points via turnovers.

"We have to take care of the ball, we have to figure that out. We have to keep it simple and and be stronger with the ball."

The MAC-SBC Challenge presented a unique opportunity for the Chippewas midway through the league schedule.

"It's always good for our fans to see different people from different areas come into our home. It's good to see unfamiliar people, unfamiliar faces, but we approach every game the same, whether it's a conference game or a non-conference game, we just want to get better."

The experience gained Saturday, as with any other game, is all absorbed to aid CMU as it looks toward the MAC Championship tournament in Cleveland in March.

"We talk about every game, every possession, we're preparing for Cleveland. So, when we get to Cleveland, we don't have to prepare for it: we're already prepared."

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— CMU —