With 5:16 left in the second quarter, Central Michigan women’s basketball junior guard Taylor Anderson missed a layup from below the basket but grabbed her miss. Anderson dished the ball back out, and senior guard Jess Lawson found freshman guard Madi Morson who knocked down a 3-pointer, adding to the Chippewa lead.

An abundance of offensive rebounds and strong performances from Morson, Lawson and freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington powered the Chippewas to an 81-70 win.

“We finally grew up today and we put (a) 40-minute game together,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “So that was really good to see because we've been struggling with one quarter in the first half or one in the second. So, very proud of them for staying locked in.”

Central Michigan started the game off hot offensively, going 50% from the field while taking a quick 10-5 lead almost halfway into the first quarter. The Chippewas also took the edge on the glass early, outrebounding the Broncos 6-1 to start the game.

With one second left in the first quarter, freshman guard Jayda Mosley was fouled during a 3-point attempt, sending her to the line. Mosley hit all three free throws to give the Chippewas a 22-16 lead heading into the second quarter.

Both teams found success from deep in the first. The Chippewas ended the first frame shooting 50% compared to the Broncos who shot 40%.

Central Michigan continued to scorch the Broncos on rebounds in the second quarter, with the Chippewas having seven offensive rebounds compared to the Bronco’s one with about eight minutes left in the second frame.

“The effort on the glass was awesome,” Haynie said. “Three of our players had four offensive rebounds each and that turned into 21 second-chance points. So, we scored 21 out of our 81 from second chance (points) and that's just heart and effort. So, we got to continue to be consistent on the boards like that and all its effort.”

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Western Michigan began to claw into the Central Michigan lead as the clock wound down for the first half. With about five seconds left, Broncos junior guard Marina Asensio hit a deep jumper to take her team into halftime down only six.

Central Michigan was very successful from behind the arc in the first half as the Chippewas shot 55.6% from deep. Morson led the Chippewas in scoring in the opening two frames with 14 points. Lawson also had double figures before halftime with 12 points in the game.

The Chippewas were very successful in terms of rebounds in the first half as the team had 19 compared to Western’s nine. Eleven of those rebounds for CMU were off of the offensive glass.

The Chippewas picked up where they left off to begin the second half, grabbing an early offensive rebound to add to their total. Western Michigan started the second half going 3-3 from the 3-point arc to keep the game close, but the Chippewas continued to find buckets on their offensive end.

Morson continued to hit her shots, scoring her 23rd point with 3:57 left in the third quarter. Morson ended the third quarter with nine points as the Chippewas found themselves with an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Western Michigan kicked off the fourth quarter with a deep two, cutting the lead to nine before Darrington hit a layup to bring the deficit back to 11.

With about five minutes left in the game, Central Michigan came out of a timeout and sank a 3-pointer to take a 13-point lead in the game.

With less than two minutes left, the Chippewas found themselves under a little bit of pressure as the Broncos made their final push to try and catch up. Unfortunately for the Chippewas, Lawson fouled out, taking Central Michigan’s third-leading scorer out of the game with 1:51 left.

Despite the late push by the Broncos, it was the Chippewas that held the edge on the scoreboard as the clock expired.

The Chippewas ended the game with 42 total rebounds, 16 of which came on the offensive glass. The team also had a season-high 17 assists in the game.

Morson led the team with 25 points on the afternoon, followed up by 19 from Darrington and 14 from Lawson.

“I thought overall for 40 minutes, we were pretty locked in on both ends of the floor,” Haynie said. “So it's good to see what we're capable of and now we can't look back. We can't be complacent, and we have to keep going.”

The Chippewas are now 8-11 on the season and 4-4 in Mid-American Conference play.

Central Michigan will look to continue its success on the road as they take on the Huskies of Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.