Wednesday's Scoreboard
Western Michigan 70, Miami 54
Eastern Michigan 70, Central Michigan 67
Toledo 67, Northern Illinois 62
Ohio 84, Buffalo 81
Bowling Green 66, Akron 57
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 70, Miami 54
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Behind four players scoring in double figures the Western Michigan women's basketball team picked up its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season, defeating Miami 70-54 on Wednesday afternoon inside University Arena.
For the second time this season the Broncos had four score in double figures led by redshirt freshman Taylor Williams with 19. Williams was one shy of her career-high with 13 of her points coming in the second half alone.
Williams also earned her second double-double of the season, matching her career-high with 14 rebounds. Of her 14 rebounds, four came on the offensive glass. For the game Williams was 6-of-9 from the field and was 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. In 35 minutes, Williams had a career-high six steals and four blocks.
Behind Williams was redshirt junior Abby Voss with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Voss scored 15 of her points in the first half to go along with one rebounds, two assists and one steal. Voss also matched her career-high with four three-pointers made while being 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
In 19 minutes' redshirt senior Reilly Jacobson posted 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Jacobson knocked down one three-pointer against the RedHawks and tallied four rebounds and two assists. Rounding out the scoring for the Broncos was sophomore Sydney Shafer with 10 points off the bench. Shafer was 4-of-11 from the field and notched her third straight game scoring in double figures.
The quartet of double digit scorers for the Broncos combined for 57 of WMU's 70 points. The freshman duo of Hannah Spitzley and Megan Wagner combined for 13 points as Wagner had seven points while Spitzley had six. Wager led the Broncos and matched her career-high with four assists.
Western Michigan shot a staggering 49 percent from the field against Miami and was 6-of-19 from behind the three-point line. WMU was also stellar from the free-throw line, shooting 73.7 percent.
Eastern Michigan 70, Central Michigan 67
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team is flying high tonight as it defeated its in-state rival and the defending Mid-American Conference regular season champion Central Michigan University, 70-67, tonight, Jan. 20, inside CMU's McGuirk Arena.
The win is the fourth straight for Eastern (8-5, 5-3), its best conference streak since winning five in-a-row during the 2015-16 campaign. Additionally, the victory puts an end to a 13-game win streak for Central Michigan (7-5, 6-3 MAC), who had previously bested Eastern in every matchup between the two schools since 2016-17. Eastern's last win over Central previous to tonight was March 7, 2015, which also came on the road. That night, Eastern beat CMU, 93-86, to close the regular season. The Eagles went on to play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game and went three rounds deep into the WNIT.
Eastern was led by incredible performances all around the floor. Individually, three Eagles put up double-figure performances, as redshirt seniors Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)) and Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East), along with redshirt sophomore Ce'Nara Skanes (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Florida International)) put up 23, 20, and 19 points, respectively. Those efforts secured the 12th and 13th performance of 10+ points this season for Combs and Skanes, respectively. It was the first such performance for Cardwell this season, who now has 36 such games in her career. It was also Skanes' league-leading seventh double-double of the season.
Although each of the efforts were crucial to the victory, it was Cardwell that served as the emotional leader throughout the game. She was also involved in perhaps the two most impactful moments of the game. Up seven, 63-56, with just over four minutes left in the game, Cardwell hit a contested, step-back three-pointer that gave EMU a 10-point advantage, 66-56. That bucket proved absolutely critical, as Central eventually went on a 9-0 run of its own to pull within one, 68-67. Up one, it was Cardwell who got another opportunity to lift her team, this time at the free throw line. She split a pair of attempts to build EMU's lead back to two, 69-67, with under 90 seconds to play. Skanes added the final free throw to seal EMU's win, 70-67.
Toledo 67, Northern Illinois 62
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo outscored Northern Illinois 22-12 in the fourth quarter to earn a 67-62 victory over the Huskies on Wednesday in Savage Arena. The win puts the Rockets at 8-4 with a 4-4 record in Mid-American Conference play.
NIU (6-6, 4-3 MAC) led by nine, 48-39, late in the third quarter, but shot just 22.2 percent (4-for-18) in the final period to let the Rockets back in the game. Toledo used a 10-3 run to start the final stanza to reclaim the lead, 58-53, and didn't look back.
Senior Tatyana Davis led the way with a career-high 19 points, her third double-digit scoring effort of the season. Freshman Sammi Mikonowicz (14 points), sophomore Quinesha Lockett (12 points), and sophomore Sophia Wiard (10 points) also reached double digits in the box score.
The Rockets shot 34.3 percent (23-for-67) from the field and made 16-of-20 free throws. Toledo also forced 20 turnovers and committed just 10 miscues.
Northern Illinois was led by Chelby Koker, who scored 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting, and A'Jah Davis had 12 points after making 6-of-10 shots from the floor.
Ohio 84, Buffalo 81
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- Down by 11 points with less than three minutes to go, the Ohio women's basketball team (7-4, 5-3 MAC) battled back to defeat Buffalo (8-4, 5-2 MAC), 84-81, on Wednesday evening inside the Convocation Center.
Redshirt junior Kaylee Bambule (Plainfield, Ill.) hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 12 seconds left to put Ohio up 82-81. Senior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) made a layup with two seconds left to seal the three-point victory for the Bobcats.
"I thought our kids did a great job of listening," head coach Bob Boldon said. "We talked a lot about what we wanted to do and they did a great job of executing. The team deserves a lot of credit for the execution. You can just go down the line of players contributing, and it just feels like one of the better team wins we've had in a while."
Hooks led Ohio with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting and 8-of-15 from the free-throw line. She added seven rebounds and two assists.
Redshirt junior Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) knocked down four threes and tallied 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) had 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Burris added eight boards and two assists in 38 minutes on the floor. Redshirt freshman guard Madi Mace (Parkersburg, W. Va.) had a career-high 13 points and was 3-of-5 from deep.
Bambule's three was her only shot of the game, and she was +9 in just five minutes on the floor.
"It bothers her that she missed that shot against Ball State, and she said she wasn't going to miss another one," Boldon added. "It's one of those special moments where a kid can bounce back and make the next one. You feel happy not only for the team but also for Kaylee (Bambule). It was a big-time shot."
The Bobcats forced 23 turnovers and had 13 steals. Hooks led Ohio with six swipes, while Johnson had two.
Ohio started the fourth quarter up 56-54. Buffalo went on a 13-0 run to open the fourth frame, taking a 69-56 advantage. After trading buckets, OU was down 78-69 at the 2:19 mark. Johnson knocked down a three to cut the lead to eight, and Hooks made a layup after a UB turnover with 1:35 left to make the game 79-73. Buffalo made one free-throw, their last point of the game, with 1:04 remaining. A steal by redshirt junior guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) led to another Hooks layup with 46 seconds left. Mace knocked down two free throws after a Bambule steal to cut the lead to two, before Bambule hit the go-ahead three with 12 seconds left.
"It was a fun thing to be a part of and this is a fun team to be a part of," Bambule said. "We're always there for each other and pick each other up no matter what. It doesn't matter how much you play. Everybody has each other's back and that was on display tonight."
The Bobcats will continue Mid-American Conference play on Saturday at Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for noon.
Bowling Green 66, Akron 57
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run and maintained control throughout the final 30 minutes, as the Falcons downed the University of Akron, 66-57, Wednesday night (Jan. 20).
With the win at the Stroh Center, the Falcons improve to 10-3 overall, and BGSU has moved into second place in the Mid-American Conference with a 6-2 league ledger.
Senior Madisen Parker and sophomore Elissa Brett each scored 13 points to pace a balanced BG attack, with junior Kadie Hempfling adding 11 points and reaching a career milestone. Freshman Lexi Fleming, who battled foul trouble and played fewer than 10 second-half minutes, rounded out BGSU's double-digit scorers with 10 points in the win.
The Zips (4-6, 1-6 MAC) were led by Molly Neitzel with 12 points. Brett and the BG defense held UA's top scorer, Jordyn Dawson, to just three points on the night.
