Women's basketball takes outright conference title in Senior Day victory over Toledo
Senior forward Reyna Frost makes a move around a Toledo defender during a game against the University of Toledo on March 9 at McGuirk Arena.
Every team in the Mid-American Conference has a goal for the regular season – to outright win the conference championship.
For the third consecutive year, it's the Central Michigan women's basketball team.
The Chippewas (24-6, 14-3 MAC) defeated Toledo (19-10, 11-7 MAC), 78-45, on March 9 in McGuirk Arena to secure the title. They earned a share after their victory over Western Michigan three days ago.
CMU has now clinched the top seed in next week's MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. They will play their first game at noon on March 13 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Senior guard Presley Hudson said that the team's mentality of "every game is a championship game" will serve them largely in the postseason.
"Teams can quickly look ahead to the championship game but you have to win games to get there," Hudson said. "It's so important to make sure you focus on each game."
Senior forward Reyna Frost ended the game with 32 points and 11 rebounds for her 13th consecutive double-double.
Hudson finished with 28 points and 10 assists for a double-double of her own, while sophomore guard Micaela Kelly chipped in 14 points and six assists.
The Chippewas outscored the Rockets 25-9 in the first quarter. Hudson opened the scoring with a nothing-but-net triple on the Chippewas' first possession.
Frost dominated down low. Many of her first quarter points were scored on layups after fighting through contact.
"I think I learned from the Western (Michigan) game that people are going to play me physical," Frost said. "I was ready for it today. I did a good job of finishing and my guards got me the ball when I needed it."
In the first quarter, Frost outscored UT alone, 10-9.
Toledo controlled the second quarter, as it opened up the second frame with a 15-4 run that cut its deficit to five points, 29-24, on a layup from sophomore forward Tanaya Beacham.
CMU was able to hold off the Rockets with free throws from Frost and Hudson towards the end of the first half. The second quarter was the Rockets' turn to hold their opponent to fewer than 10 points in the quarter.
UT out-scored CMU, 18-8, in the second period left the home team in front 33-27 at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Chippewas, specifically Frost, fired on all cylinders. She scored eight points as part of a 10-2 run to open the third. It gave her Chippewas a 45-29 edge midway through the quarter.
Towards the end of the third, Kelly converted an old-fashioned 3-point play on a driving layup which she was fouled hard.
Hudson then followed with a 3-pointer of her own, then made three free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining. That helped CMU outscore Toledo, 24-5. The Chippewas carried a 57-32 lead into the final quarter.
Head coach Sue Guevara said that she was pleased with how her team responded coming out of the locker room at the half.
"I thought we answered the bell at halftime," Guevara said. "We started the way we did when we played (Toledo) a month ago. They answered the bell and our seniors responded, which is what they're supposed to do."
The final quarter started off by that unbreakable combination of Frost and Hudson, who combined for the first 10 Chippewa points. Hudson hit a pair of triples and Frost scored a pair of layups from the block.
CMU outscored Toledo 21-13 in the final quarter to secure the 33-point victory.
Guevara extended praise for her team's performance in the third quarter on Senior Day.
"I could not be happier with what we did defensively," Guevara said. "It was a nice win for our seniors to go out on."
