CMU women's basketball falls to Coastal Carolina in season opener
Central Michigan freshman guard Madi Morson dribbles down the court as Coastal Carolina guard Jayden Marable defends her on Monday, Nov. 4, at McGuirk Arena. Morson played 20 minutes and scored 13 points. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
In the final minute of Central Michigan women's basketball's home opener, senior guard Kristin Williams stepped up and hit a clutch go-ahead three for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
Moments later, senior guard Jess Lawson split a pair at the free throw line to tie it at 62. On the next Coastal Carolina possession, junior guard Savannah Brooks delivered on an and-one bucket to give CCU the 65-62 lead. That would end up being the game-winner after the Chippewas failed to connect on a three-ball to force overtime.
The loss puts CMU at 0-1 to start the season.
"The first half was pretty good, second half, we laxed a little bit," head coach Kristin Haynie said. "We just talked about being gritty and being tough for two halves."
After a slow start on offense from both teams, CMU got rolling, ending the first quarter on a 7-0 run to give it a 19-9 lead heading into the second.
With the Chanticleers still struggling to make shots, the Chippewas were able to build a 17-point lead halfway through the second quarter.
Coastal Carolina’s offense finally came to life in the second half, while the Central Michigan offense went quiet.
CCU outscored the Chippewas 43-30 in the second half. In the fourth quarter alone, the Chanticleers shot 53.3% from the field and 44.4% from the three-point line.
After leading a majority of the game, Central Michigan’s 26 turnovers, and lack of made free throws, among other things spoiled its first game of the season.
“Second half we got stagnant, turned the ball over way too many times,” Haynie said. “They did a good job of knocking down shots, we didn’t shoot the ball well overall or from the three. It's a tale of two halves so we gotta take a look at it, break it down, and then just continue to get better.”
CMU shot 38.7% from the field and only 14.3% from the three-point line.
“We need to keep shooting,” Haynie said. “Some of those threes were wide open, some of those shots might have been early in the shot clock. They just need to continue to stay in the gym and get shots up, and we’ll continue to shoot in practice to improve that three-point percentage.”
Junior forward Demetria Prewitt and Lawson both recorded double-doubles, and the freshmen did not shy away from the spotlight in their debuts.
Freshman guard Madi Morson led the team in scoring with 13. Forward Riley Smith made the most of her minutes, knocking down a three from the right wing in the first quarter.
Freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington showed up in the paint with four points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Jayda Mosley showed a lot of heart, coming back and knocking down her first collegiate three-pointer after tweaking an ankle in the first half.
“They came out and they weren’t nervous, they weren’t scared,” Haynie said. “This was our first game, and for them to come out and show the poise that they had and the composure in the first half was really good to see.”
CMU travels to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines Thursday night at 7 p.m.
