With eight minutes left in regulation, Chippewa freshman guard Madi Morson sank a 3-pointer, bringing the Central Michigan women’s basketball team within one point of the conference leading Ball State Cardinals.

On the next possession, senior guard Jess Lawson pushed through contact, sank a layup and earned a trip to the free-throw line, igniting both the Chippewa bench and the home crowd in McGuirk Arena. With the extra shot, Lawson put her team up one, setting up a tense finish to the game.

The Chippewas and Cardinals found themselves locked in a physical, back-and-forth battle right from tipoff. In the end, the match needed an extra overtime period to decide the winner, and it was Ball State who found itself up by two at the final buzzer, taking home the 60-58 victory.

“We were gritty and tough,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “Our defense was great, and it's really good to see… the second game in a row where our defense has been gritty and tough. Ball State's a really good team, they have great players, and to take them into overtime… just really proud of our players' effort.”

It was a fast-paced yet tough start as both squads started the game struggling to hit their shots, beginning the game a combined 0-9 before freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington made a layup through contact to put the Chippewas on the board. Even though they kept the pace up, the teams continued to miss their shots and the game was tied at four at the halfway point of the first quarter.

It was a 10-10 tie at the end of the first, both squads having a tough time finding the bottom of the net. The Chippewas and Cardinals went a combined 8-37 from the field in the first, finding it hard to generate offense and momentum.

The Chippewas got on the board first in the second quarter as Darrington grabbed her own miss and put it back up to again give the Chippewas the lead. Morson continued to power the Chippewas as she sank another triple about two and a half minutes into the second.

The teams continued to battle it out, trading baskets. At the media timeout halfway through the second quarter, Central Michigan held the slight 17-15 lead.

As the clock began to wind down in the first half, Morson found herself contributing on both ends of the floor, sinking a triple and locking up the Cardinals on defense by registering a block on a Ball State 3-point attempt.

With some gritty first-half play, the Chippewas found themselves heading into the locker room with a 23-21 lead.

Neither team could grab the momentum as the second half began. Despite pressure from the Cardinals, the Chippewas continued to nurse their lead throughout most of the third quarter.

Towards the end of the third quarter, familiar problems began to creep into Central Michigan’s play. With 1:28 left in the third, the Cardinals went to the free-throw line, sinking two extra shots and starting an 8-0 run, benefited by a couple of Chippewa turnovers, they used to end the quarter. Ball State found itself with a 39-35 lead into the final period of play.

“We just have to keep it simple,” Haynie said. “They get excited and then they make some silly turnovers, and it hurts us… And we got to make our free throws and make layups. We missed a lot of layups, and we can't shoot 50 percent from the free throw line and expect to win.”

Despite slipping a little at the end of the third, the Chippewas kept themselves in the game.

“We stopped the bleeding, and we were able to refocus and get it back, not only on the defensive end, but score some points to get the lead," Haynie said. "So, it's just a focus thing and lacking it on the defensive end to get stops.”

With eight minutes left in the game, Morson again connected from deep, keeping her team within reach. The bucket from Morson was followed by a layup from Lawson, who also earned a shot from the charity stripe. Sinking the extra shot, the Chippewas suddenly found themselves with the momentum

With a little more than half the quarter to go, sophomore guard Mayla Ham hit a shot from behind the 3-point line, giving CMU its largest lead of the game at five.

Even though they found themselves on the wrong side of a momentum change, the Cardinals were not going to go away quietly. With 3:11 left in the game, Ball State senior guard Madelyn Bischoff hit a three-pointer to bring her team within two.

After a couple of made shots from both sides, the game was tied at 49 with 34.7 seconds left on the clock. Neither team was able to break the deadlock and the score remained even at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.

After trading baskets to start the extra period, senior guard Lisa Tesson hit a critical basket from deep, giving the Chippewas a one-point lead with 3:33 left in the first overtime. Both squads traded the lead until Ball State senior guard Ally Becki knocked down a jumper with 33 seconds left to finish off the narrow victory.

Even though they shot a total of 84 shots on the night, the Chippewas only made 26.2% of them as the team struggled with offense.

The defense, however, was a bright spot for Haynie as she discussed her team’s performance. Ball State came into the game averaging 73 points per game and were held to just 60, even with an extra period of play.

“The defensive game plan was executed for the most part,” Haynie said. “Obviously we have mistakes, but I'm just very proud of them for keeping that team 15 points under their average. We dictated tonight. So, that just goes to show you that we can play with anyone in this league.”

The Chippewas also locked up Becki, one of Ball State's leading scorers, keeping her to just eight points instead of her average of almost 15.

The Chippewas will hit the road for their next matchup as they travel to Toledo to take on the Rockets on Saturday at 2 p.m.