CMU did just that as it went 2-1 throughout the weekend with matchups against the Nevada Wolfpack, the Portland Pilots and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.

The Chippewas picked up their first win of the season against the host school, Nevada, in their opening game of the tournament. Central Michigan dropped their second game against the Pilots but finished with a win against the Thunderbirds.

“We talk about being gritty and being tough and to come here on the road, travel out west and to get two out of three is really good,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “So we just felt like our defense created our offense and we got it done with defensive… toughness and urgency.”

Game 1

Central Michigan began its three game weekend tournament slate with a game against the tournament host, the Nevada Wolfpack.

The Chippewas narrowly escaped with their first win of the season on Friday afternoon, winning the game 60-57.

Senior guard Jess Lawson led the way for the Chippewas with her second double-double of the season, scoring a season high 19 points. She shot 50 percent from the floor, while also grabbing a season high 14 rebounds.

Freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington scored 10 points, going 3-of-4 from the field, while grabbing four rebounds.

The Chippewa defense stepped up, keeping the Wolfpack to just 27.7% shooting on the game.

Game 2

The Chippewas dropped their second game of the weekend as they lost to the undefeated Portland Pilots on Saturday night. While CMU was able to keep the game close throughout the matchup, Portland had the edge at the buzzer, leading to the 68-58 loss.

The Chippewas again struggled with turnovers, a problem that had been consistently plaguing the team so far this season. Against the Pilots, the CMU turned the ball over 29 times, leading to 35 points scored by Portland.

Freshman guard Madi Morson scored 18 points in the game while junior guard Taylor Anderson scored 10 of her own. Lawson, coming off of her double-double on Friday, scored eight points and led the team with seven rebounds.

The Chippewas as a whole shot 43.4 percent from the floor but struggled from behind the arc, going 2-of-10 from the three point line.

Game 3

Central Michigan took on the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah in their final game of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The game was close in the first half, but Chippewas held the advantage at halftime, leading 33-28, thanks to 11 points from Morson.

Central Michigan carried its momentum into the second half, and grew its lead over Southern Utah. At the 6:22 mark of the fourth quarter, the Chippewas held their largest lead of the game at 19 points.

CMU held the lead for the final minutes, taking home its second victory, 70-61, of both the season and the tournament.

Again, Morson shined for the Chippewas, putting up a career high 20 points. Lawson followed up with a 13 point, five rebound performance.

“Those two players are special,” Haynie said. “They're very talented. So we're just excited to continue to just keep (them) going and having other people continuing to step up.”

According to Haynie, the team is beginning to gel together. The momentum, especially on offense, is growing for the squad as they continue further into the season.

“I think that just all of us as a whole, we have 11 new players, it’s a lot of new faces, and they're trying to learn the system,” Haynie said. “So I think now we're finally clicking… So I'm excited to continue to practice and play and continue to get that rhythm and that flow going.”

Having picked up their two first victories of the season, the confidence is high in the locker room moving forward.

"I'm very proud of our players because they were locked into the game plan every single game," Haynie said "We had no excuses. Everyone played back-to-back, but we were really locked in.”

The Chippewas now sit at 2-5 on the season and will look to continue the success against Concordia-Ann Arbor at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.