Breen's 31 points leads women's basketball past Vanderbilt for first win of season
Guevara earns 300th career win
Senior Cassie Breen’s 31 points led Central Michigan Women’s Basketball to a 92-75 win against Vanderbilt in McGuirk Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
CMU sits at 1-1 on the season, while Vanderbilt falls to 0-2.
“I think the game went well,” Breen said. “They keyed on Reyna (Frost) pretty hard, but we had other people step up. That’s what’s so good about this team, we have so many weapons.”
CMU opened the first quarter with strong shooting and tremendous defense. The Chippewas shot 10-of-15 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and forced seven Commodore turnovers, resulting in eight of CMU’s 29 first quarter points.
Redshirt freshman Michaela Kelly contributed 10 points, two assists, two steals and a block in eight minutes of work. Senior Cassie Breen added a team-high 11 points, shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range.
The Chippewas would cool off in the second quarter, shooting 5-of-19 from the field and 3-of-13 from downtown. Even though CMU lost the rebounding battle 21-16, the team won the turnover battle 14-6 while carrying a 47-33 lead into halftime.
Breen would lead all scorers with 22-points, shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Junior Presley Hudson would contribute 11 points and five assists in the first half.
After seeing only six minutes of action in the first half, senior Tinara Moore made her presence felt with a 10-2 run of her own to start the third quarter.
“The coaches drew up the plays and we executed,” Moore said. “I was able to take my time and the perimeter players were giving me great passes.”
Vanderbilt found momentum to finish the third quarter with a 16-6 run to pull within 14 heading to the fourth quarter.
Moore finished the quarter with 12 points while adding a block and a steal. Hudson struggled to find her rhythm in the third, shooting 0-of-5 and 0-of-3 on 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt cooled off in the fourth quarter, creating an even matchup in the game’s finals stanza. The Chippewas would prove to be too much for the Commodores in the end as CMU earned its first win of the season.
“It was nice to see Tinara respond after the game she had (against Purdue), for Cassie (Breen) to get going, Pres(ley Hudson) is Pres, she’s going to be there,” said head coach Sue Guevara. “I thought with the way (Micaela Kelly) comes out with her energy in the first half defensively makes a big difference.”
CMU finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field, 32 percent from 3, and finished 24-of-25 from the free throw line.
Breen scored a game-high 31 points while shooting 8-of-15 from the field, 7-of-14 from 3. Breen credited her teammates for her success.
“They can find me pretty well, it helps that I’m pretty loud,” Breen said. “Even when the defense was keying on me I still had the confidence because I shoot all the time and let it fly.”
Moore would finish the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
The win was not only CMU’s third win against a team in the Southeastern Conference and the first since 2011, but Guevara’s 300th win as a head coach.
“I’m focused on the fact that we won our first game and protected our home court,” Guevara said. “I’m just very grateful that I’m here at Central Michigan and that I’ve been able to have good (coaching) staffs and good players that have helped win along the way.”
CMU Women’s Basketball returns for another home game on Friday against College of Charleston at noon in McGuirk Arena.
