CMU women's basketball suffers third straight loss to Kent State
Junior guard Tiana Timpe makes a pass during the women's basketball game against Ball State Wednesday, Jan. 17 in McGuirk Arena. Timpe scored nine points, as well as a buzzer-beater at halftime. (Ella Miller | CM Life)
After two-quarters of absent shots from beyond the arc, the Central Michigan women's basketball team finally earned its first of the night from freshman guard Tamara Ortiz in the third quarter against Kent State.
She would follow with the second three-pointer just minutes later.
Ortiz's shots weren't enough as the Chippewas fell, 77-54 to the Golden Flashes on Saturday.
CMU struggled beyond the ark, only shooting 11.8% (2-for-17). However, on the defensive end the Chippewas contained Kent State's shooting at 15% from beyond the arc.
"We were down 10 in the first half," head coach Kristin Haynie said. "If we knocked down two of those threes, it's a different ball game. We have to shoot a better percentage from the three so it can open up for our inside game."
Leading the team in points was junior guard Karrington Gordon with 13. Following closely behind was Ortiz with 10. Ortiz saw the court for the first time since her injury in only the fifth game of the season against Milwaukee back in November.
"Everyone's going to come off a little rusty," Haynie said. "Kudos to her, she played 26 minutes and she wasn't going to get that many minutes but game flow...we had to put her in."
Throughout the season, consistency throughout the game, specifically in the fourth quarter causes struggles for the team to come out on top.
After outscoring Kent State in the third, CMU was held to seven points in comparison to Golden Flashes' 22.
"I'm proud of the way we came out of the locker room in the second half," Haynie said. "We have struggled with that a little bit this season, so it was really good to see that we didn't give up.
"What happened in the fourth quarter was our turnovers...we get deflated and we turn the ball over and then it affects our defense."
Despite its tough opponent, CMU women's basketball looks to close out games according to Haynie. With just six games remaining, the chances for the Chippewas to advance to the MAC tournament become a battle.
"We punched first," Haynie said. "So let's do that again. We have to sustain that, and basketball is a game of mistakes. We can't let our lack of offense affect our defense."
After falling to Kent State, CMU remains in 11th place, with an overall record of 5-17 and a Mid-American Conference record of 3-9.
The Chippewas will take the road on Wednesday to take on the No. 1 team in the conference, Ball State.
