CMU women's basketball falls to NIU on the road
Chippewas fall shot, lose game against NIU
With over six minutes left in the third quarter, the Central Michigan women’s basketball team was down big and looking for a spark. After coming down the floor, senior guard Jess Lawson found freshman guard Jayda Mosley who knocked down a 3-pointer.
Following a Northern Illinois miss, the Chippewas again came up the floor and found Mosley for another 3-pointer, bringing CMU within eight points and forcing the Huskies to take a timeout.
After being down by as many as 17 points, Central Michigan stormed its way back into the game using a strong third quarter in which it outscored its opponent 27-19. Despite their efforts, the Chippewas were never able to fully catch up to the Huskies as Northern Illinois took the win with a final score of 80-75.
“If we played in the first half how we played in the second, then it may have been a different outcome,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “We just didn't have the energy in the first half and dug ourselves in too big of a hole. We had the opportunity to win at the end of the game so, proud of their fight for not giving up, but we've just got to be better.”
Northern Illinois got the ball rolling with a quick 3-pointer following a Central Michigan miss on the first possession of the game. Freshman guard Madi Morson, coming off of a 25-point performance against Western Michigan in CMU’s last outing, scored the first four points of the game for CMU as the Chippewas got their offense going.
Central Michigan started the game struggling with turnovers, committing four in the first half of the first quarter and leading to six of the Huskie's first nine points. NIU found its footing offensively as they used an 11-0 run, capped off with a 3-pointer, to take a 14-5 lead.
The Huskies scored again coming out of the timeout before Morson hit a mid-range shot to break the scoring drought. Following a Huskie miss, Morson found Mosley for a 3-pointer to bring the Chippewas within six.
The Chippewas began to click towards the end of the quarter as Central Michigan used a 9-2 run to bring the score within four.
The offense for both teams slowed down in the second, with both squads trading misses and the occasional basket.
The Huskies, who came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the Mid-American Conference, started to heat up from behind the arc at the end of the first half, hitting three straight 3-pointers to bring the lead up to 10.
"We definitely missed some defensive assignments,” Haynie said. “So that's just part of the effort that we're talking about in the first half, and kudos to them for shooting the ball well, but we weren't locked in on defensive assignments.”
With 13 seconds left in the second quarter, a foul sent NIU graduate guard Chelby Koker to the free-throw line where she made both of her shots to take the Huskies into the locker room with a 39-25 lead over the Chippewas.
The Chippewas turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, leading to 10 points scored by the Huskies. Central Michigan went 2-10 from behind the arc in the first half, while the Huskies went 5-9.
The Huskies came right out of the break and scored a layup to start the scoring in the second half. Morson again scored the first four points of the half for the Chippewas, but the Huskies continued to pour it on.
Desperately needing a bucket, the Chippewas found a little hope as Mosley hit two shots from behind the arc to bring the Chippewas within eight with 5:39 left in the third quarter. After a free throw from NIU, Central Michigan sophomore center Taylor Johnson scored a layup to cut the lead to seven.
With 3:38 left in the third quarter, Lawson nailed an open shot to bring the Chippewas within four. The Huskies responded with a 3-pointer, but the Chippewas continued to push.
Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the third quarter. With the clock winding down in the frame, Morson sank a jumper to pull the Chippewas within six going into the final quarter of play.
Both teams came out hitting shots in the fourth quarter. After knocking down two free-throws, freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington scored on the next CMU possession to bring the score within four with a little more than half the quarter to go.
Coming out of a timeout with 3:21 left in the game, Morson scored to bring the Chippewas within two points. However, the Huskies answered the Central Michigan basket with a dagger 3-pointer on their offensive end of the floor.
Despite a late basket and free throw from Lawson, Central Michigan was unable to claw itself back in the game as the Huskies defended their home court, taking the win.
The Chippewas were led by Lawson as she ended the game with a double-double, scoring 17 points while grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Morson led the team in scoring, racking up 26 points while shooting 57.1% from the field. Finally, Mosley scored 12 points as she knocked down four of her eight 3-pointers.
“Yeah, we just talked about our defense,” Haynie said. “So being consistent on the defensive end with our effort… and just our defensive mentality of blocking and personnel, who we're guarding, so we don't miss those defensive assignments.”
The Chippewas will play at home in Mount Pleasant in their next matchup as they host the Falcons of Bowling Green at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
