Turner misses free throw, women's basketball loses to Memphis
With no time left on the clock, Central Michigan University’s women’s basketball team still had life.
CMU had one last chance trailing the University of Memphis 62-60. Because of a foul as time expired, CMU’s Da’Jourie Turner stepped to the line for the Chippewas with hopes of sending the game into overtime.
Turner nailed the first free-throw attempt, but the next one bounced off the rim, giving the the Chippewas a 62-61 loss to the Tigers.
The CMU women now sit at 3-2 on the season.
The Chippewas were without senior guard Crystal Bradford, who was suspended one game for violating team rules, and sophomore forward Jewel Cotton who tore her ACL in last weekend’s Las Vegas Tournament.
“Those are two big-time players,” said CMU guard Kerby Tamm. “They’re both athletic and good rebounders and get a lot of hustle points. We had been talking about that for the past couple of days. People are going to have to step their game and make up for what we don’t have on the court from them.”
Memphis missed two free throws with two seconds left to play, which gave the Chippewas a chance, but the missed free-throw by Turner ended the women’s comeback attempt.
“I didn’t have to say anything to her (Turner),” said CMU coach Sue Guevara. “I think the kid feels bad enough as it is. But she can’t go 2-5 from the free-throw line. When you’re able to penetrate like that, and shoot 40 percent from the free-throw line as a point guard, that doesn’t cut it with anybody.”
CMU trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half, but used a 24-4 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to 47-46 with 11:04 left in the game.
“We picked up our defense and were able to get in the passing lanes in the second half,” Tamm said. “We started to play a little more up-tempo and get more shots in the paint. We were more in attacking mode. I think we were more aggressive.”
Tamm came off of the bench and scored 15 of her 18 points before halftime. Lorreal Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Chippewas.
