Turnovers costly as CMU women's basketball falls to Toledo
Despite a strong first quarter, Central Michigan couldn't keep up with the Rockets
Central Michigan University freshman guard Madi Morson passes several Western players to score two points in McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
With 7:47 left in the fourth quarter, Toledo women's basketball found itself with the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the game against Central Michigan. Rockets’ sophomore guard Kendall Carruthers came down the court and fired a wide open 3-pointer to add to the growing Toledo lead.
On the next possession, the Rockets again found themselves with a chance from deep and sank another shot, extending the lead to 13 points, a deficit the Chippewas could not overcome.
A hot start from Chippewa freshman guard Madi Morson and a rocky start by the Rockets resulted in Central Michigan taking an early lead against Toledo on the road. Eventually, however, the Chippewas cooled down and the Rockets found their footing, resulting in a back-and-forth game that saw Toledo finish on top, defending their home court with an 80-70 victory.
As has been the case all season, turnovers were one of the major deciding factors. Central Michigan ended the game having turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 26 points scored by the Rockets.
”I was happy that we came out punching first and dominating on both ends of the floor,” head coach Kristin Haynie said. “What killed us was our turnovers, and if we want to win against great teams, we have to take care of the ball.”
The Chippewas shot out to a quick lead as Morson caught fire almost immediately and knocked down a triple to get Central Michigan on the board. CMU jumped out to an 11-4 lead, powered by Morson, who scored 10 of the Chippewas' first 11 points in the opening three minutes of the game.
On the other side of the court, Toledo struggled to get going, shooting 2-9 from the field before the first media timeout at the 4:40 mark of the first. After the timeout, the Rockets settled down and began to knock down some shots, closing the gap on the scoreboard.
In response, freshman guard Jayda Mosley hit a 3-pointer to give the Chippewas an 18-9 lead with 1:38 left in the first quarter. As the frame ended, the Chippewas held an 18-14 lead over the Rockets.
“They did a good job of executing on offense,” Haynie said. “Madi hit some big shots, but we were finding each other on the offensive end.”
Toledo cut the Central Michigan lead to just two in the opening minute of the second quarter. The Chippewas cooled off and began to struggle to make their shots. Despite the slowdown, Toledo was unable to take the lead by the media timeout with 4:56 left in the half, still down two.
After the timeout, the Rockets finally caught back up to the Chippewas, tying the game with a little more than four minutes left in the second quarter. Central Michigan quickly responded as senior guard Jess Lawson knocked down a shot from deep, retaking the lead.
Toledo continued to push and took its first lead of the game with less than three minutes to go. Both squads began to trade the point advantage, fighting to end the half on top.
With time almost up, Toledo ended the half with a jumper, but it was the Chippewas who went into the break with a one-point advantage, 33-32.
As the teams returned to play, Morson picked up right where she left off in the first half as she hit a jumper to open the second half.
With 6:35 left in the third quarter, Toledo graduate guard/forward Nan Garcia made a 3-pointer to put the Rockets up five. Toledo added to its lead with a couple of free throws, taking a seven-point lead with six minutes left to play.
After a nearly two-minute scoring drought, the Chippewas finally got a bucket to fall, halting a Rocket's 10-0 run. The damage, however, was done.
Toledo continued to pressure the Chippewas, extending its lead and limiting Central Michigan’s offense. At the end of the third quarter, Toledo held a 60-55 point lead, setting up the fourth.
“(The) third quarter was our worst quarter defensively, and we just couldn’t stop them on the defensive end, and that was disappointing given our defensive effort the last two games,” Haynie said.
Toledo finally took firm control of the game using a dominant start to the final frame of play. Fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers, the Rockets found themselves with a 13-point lead with 7:10 left in the game while the Chippewas found themselves on the ropes.
Central Michigan spent the rest of the game trying to claw back into contention, but it was to no avail. In the end, the Rockets proved too much for the Chippewas, handing them their sixteenth loss of the season.
Freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington led the Chippewas in both scoring and rebounds, racking up 23 points and 13 rebounds as she recorded her seventh double-double of the season.
Morson finished the game with 21 points and junior forward Demetria Prewitt scored 10 of her own off the bench.
The Chippewas out-rebound the Rockets 39-22, with 16 of them being on the offensive glass. However, Central Michigan was only able to turn those 16 rebounds into nine second-chance points.
“That's a strength of ours, and we didn't quite do that today,” Haynie said. So we talked about not forcing it. When they do get the rebound, if there's too many people on them, trying to dribble out and pass it out to work the ball. We forced some of our shots up, so they were bad shots, so we didn't get as many second chance points as we usually do.”
The Chippewas will look to bounce back as they travel to Miami (OH) for their final road game of the regular season on Wednesday. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m.
