CMU women’s basketball secures first win versus Concordia
CMU freshman center Desrae Kyles (left) and CMU graduate student forward Nadége Jean (right) celebrate Jean's basket during the women's basketball game against Concordia-Ann Arbor Tuesday, Nov. 14 in McGuirk Arena. Jean accomplished a career high during the game, with 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. (Ella Miller | CM Life)
With only a slim five-point lead over Concordia-Ann Arbor and just over a minute to play in the third quarter, graduate forward Nadège Jean fought the contact to the basket and laid in the layup to extend Central Michigan womens basketball’s lead to seven.
Jean's effort led to an 8-0 run to end the quarter and give the Chippewas a big lead. CMU continued the momentum into the fourth to come out with its first win of the season, 80-57 on Tuesday.
“It feels great. I mean, it's in front of your home crowd too,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “I thought it was an excellent crowd for a weekday game.
"You know, we started out the game pretty well, and then kind of got stagnant and a little flat, so focusing on being consistent with that part of the game.”
CMU moves to 1-2 overall; the victory secured Haynie’s first win as a head coach.
“I think this pushes us to play our game, play defense, stay together going into (the) next game,” sophomore forward Madisen Wardell said. “All we can worry about is ourselves, so (we have to) stay together.”
Wardell led the team in scoring with 22 points, along with 10 rebounds to get her first double-double of the season.
“Madison, she's in the gym all the time,” Haynie said. “She's a gym rat, you know, so this isn't a surprise. She continues to work and work hard and get better, so very proud of her effort tonight.”
Along with Wardell, sophomore guard Taylor Anderson also secured a double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Following the two losses to begin the season, Haynie stressed the importance of getting out to a fast start. The Chippewas did just that to open the first quarter, securing a 6-0 lead early. However, the lead didn’t last long, as the Cardinals shot back with eight unanswered points aided by back-to-back three-pointers.
With the Chippewas down four as time was winding down in the first quarter, Wardell hit a fadeaway jumper to put CMU within two of CUAA heading into the second.
Tied at 28 with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter, junior guard Tiana Timpe gave the Chippewas the slight edge and the momentum with a three-pointer. The deep shot jump started an 8-4 run to end the quarter to give CMU the 36-32 lead heading into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Chippewas found success and produced a 9-2 run to take the double-digit lead, 45-34. In the run, eight out of the nine points scored came out of the paint, which was a focal point for Haynie coming out of halftime.
“(The) emphasis at halftime was to get the ball to the bigs,” Haynie said. “I think, you know, between the three of them, they only missed one shot, so we needed to get them more touches. ... That was the emphasis, and we responded, we did a good job of getting them the ball.”
The Chippewas dominated the inside during the game, putting up 52 points in the paint, compared to CUAA’s 24.
However, similar to the first quarter, the big lead created early in the half didn’t last long. The Cardinals put together a 12-4 run to get within three of CMU.
After letting the CUAA chip away at their lead, the Chippewas again found their stride, ending the third quarter on a 10-0 run aided by four points from Jean. The run gave them all the momentum and the lead, 59-46.
Jean ended the game with a career-high 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
The Chippewas did not let up in the final quarter, outscoring the Cardinals 21-11 and ending the game on a 12-1 run to take the win, 80-57.
In CMU’s last matchup against Bradley, Haynie was disappointed that the Chippewas weren’t able to win the rebounding battle. In the win against the Cardinals, the team bounced back and out rebounded CUAA, 53-38.
“Rebounding is about heart and effort, you know, having an attitude to go get the ball,” Haynie said. “We did a good job of pursuing on the offensive end. I feel like they still got too many offensive rebounds, so we still got to clean it up and do a better job of rebounding.”
CMU now heads on the road to face off against Cleveland State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We have to be road warriors,” Haynie said. “We have to stay in it, stay in the fight, stay together.
"It's a tough one coming up with Cleveland State. … They went to the NCAA tournament, they're a great team, they're well coached, so we have to really have a couple good practices before the game and prepare for them. But we just have to worry about us and focus on our defensive rebounding.”
