Saturday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Ball State 80, Akron 57
Kent State 80, Western Michigan 50
Central Michigan 73, Eastern Michigan 64
Buffalo 59, Miami 51
Toledo 80, Ohio 65
Bowling Green 74, Northern Illinois 60
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 80, Akron 57
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team (14-4, 6-0 MAC) continues to dominate in Mid-American Conference play with an undefeated league record (6-0) after defeating Akron (9-9, 3-3 MAC) 80-57 Saturday afternoon in Worthen Arena.
With the win, Ball State has extended its win streak in MAC regular season action to 10-straight, not losing a game in conference regular season play since Feb. 24, 2024.
Ball State was led in scoring by Madelyn Bischoff who chipped in 18 points followed by classmate Alex Richard who ended the day with 13. Ally Becki, Lachelle Austin and Tessa Towers each added 10 points to the win.
What stood out the most on today's stat sheet was points-in-the-paint as Ball State outscored Akron, 42-22. The Cardinals also outscored the Zips on second chance points, 14-4.
The Cardinals' defense continues to evolve and that was apparent in the opening quarter of today's game. Although, Ball State was just ahead 7-2 by the media timeout over Akron, the Cardinals had already forced the Zips to commit five turnovers by the 4:36 mark. Both teams then struggled offensively, and Akron would go on a 7-2 run that would knot the game, 9-9. Bischoff scored four-straight points to put BSU back up 13-9 to end the first period.
Kent State 80, Western Michigan 50
Box Score
KENT, Ohio — Kent State got back in the win column by beating Western Michigan, 80-50, in a Mid-American Conference women's basketball contest on Saturday afternoon at the M.A.C. Center.
Senior Jenna Batsch led all scorers with 19 points and recorded six assists without any turnovers. Sophomore Janae Tyler added a season-high 16 points on five-of-seven shooting.
The Golden Flashes (11-7, 4-2 MAC) led 16-12 after a competitive opening 10 minutes. After the Broncos scored the first five points in the second quarter, Kent State went back ahead for good with an 11-0 run. A trio of three-pointers during the final three minutes helped the Flashes lead 38-23 at halftime.
Following an even-played third period, Kent State shot 90% during the fourth quarter to double its lead.
The Flashes held a dominant 43-20 rebounding advantage. Senior Bridget Dunn led the way with 11 boards and junior Tatiana Thomas grabbed six in 10 minutes of action.
Central Michigan 73, Eastern Michigan 64
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball picked up its second straight Mid-American Conference victory Saturday afternoon, 73-64, over Eastern Michigan in its return to McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas tallied 30 points in the second quarter to reach 51 at the intermission, both high marks under the direction of second-year Head Coach Kristin Haynie, who returned to the bench after missing Wednesday's 75-55 victory at Akron.
"This team," Haynie began, "they continue to grow … For us to start the game off like that, to just see the ball go in, these players have been in the gym working. It's not luck that we're making shots. We just have to continue to stay with the process."
Four CMU players finished in double figures for the first time since Nov. 14: freshmen Madi Morson (Salem, Mich. / Canton), Jayda Mosley (Cincinnati, Ohio / Purcell Marian) and Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) scored 16, 14 and 12 points, respectively, with senior Jess Lawson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy) matching Darrington's 12.
Darrington and Mosley both reached double-digits by halftime, combining for 22 of CMU's 51 points at the break on an 8-for-12 shooting clip from the field. Mosley's three field goals all came from beyond the arc, her second marking the final lead change of the game, 16-13, with 2:44 left in the first quarter. Darrington scored eight points over the course of the second quarter.
Central Michigan shot 61.3 percent (19-for-31) from the field in the first half including a 58.3 percent clip (7-for-12) in three-point shooting, both season-bests.
Lawson opened the contest responsible for five of the first six field goals as she scored on the first two possessions, tallied three assists over CMU's next four buckets. She was also responsible for the first double-digit lead of the game, 27-17, with 7:12 to go in the second.
Satori Griffin (Mount Pleasant, Mich. / Mount Pleasant) and Riley Smith (Miamisburg, Ohio / Archbishop Alter) combined for an 11-0 run to end the half, with all three field goals assisted by Lawson. The Las Vegas-native walked into the locker room with eight points, eight assists and five rebounds.
The game's script flipped during intermission as Eastern Michigan logged runs of 8-0 and 9-0 in the third quarter, separated by a 90-second window that featured Mosley's third three-pointer and a pair of Morson free throws.
A key emphasis defensively for CMU was stopping Eastern's Sisi Eleko, the only player in the MAC other than Morson to log a 30-point game this season. Eleko mustered just six points on 3-of-10 shooting and five rebounds.
"Our fives, we're big. We were trying to dig on her a little bit and smother her and make it crowded in the paint. Kudos to our defense on her, [but] we lost their shooters."
The Eagles shot 6-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half, a pivotal 5-for-5 in the third quarter rally after just a 5-for-14 first half.
Buffalo 59, Miami 51
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – In a battle of the top defensive teams in the Mid-American Conference, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team (15-2, 4-2 MAC) showed their defensive prowess in a big way as they held Miami (OH) to just five fourth quarter points to complete the second-half comeback in a 59-51 win over the RedHawks on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.
Sophomore Kirsten Lewis-Williams put the team on her back, scoring a career-high 29 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Fifth year guard Noelani Cornfield stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists and Chellia Watson added 10 points. Senior Sitota Gines was the X-factor for the Bulls on the defensive end of the floor as she recorded a career-best nine steals, one shy the single-game school record.
After trailing by seven at the end of the first, Buffalo's scoring drought extended to over five minutes into the second quarter as the RedHawks took a double-digit lead, 24-14, at the media timeout. Cornfield got a midrange jumper to drop and then hit Lewis-Williams on the baseline with a beautiful pass for a layup and then Lewis-Williams returned the favor, coming up with a steal and hitting Cornfield for a fastbreak layup to cut the lead to 10 at the half.
Miami (OH) extended their lead to 14 early in the third quarter before Cornfield found Lewis-Williams for a fastbreak layup and Watson drilled a three on the wing to pull UB withing 11 at the 5:50 mark. Lewis-Williams continued to attack as she scored UB's next seven points, capped by a triple from the top of the key, and then got one more midrange jumper to fall in the final seconds as the Bulls closed the quarter on a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 46-39 at the end of the third.
The Bulls continued to chip away as they used a 7-0 run, jumpstarted by a Terah Harness three, to cut the lead to one at the final media timeout. Lewis-Williams continued to stay aggressive as she made four straight at the charity stripe to give the Bulls their first lead of the game, 53-51, with four minutes remaining. Watson then drilled a triple from the wing to force a Miami timeout and that would prove to be the dagger as Cornfield came up clutch at the free throw line in the final minutes to secure the victory. The Bulls held the RedHawks scoreless for the final 7:10 of the game.
Buffalo held a 10-point advantage in the paint and continued to turn defense into offense as they forced 21 Miami turnovers and scored 17 points off those miscues while also adding 14 fastbreak points. The Bulls also shot an impressive 18-of-22 from the free throw line and were even with the RedHawks on the glass.
Toledo 80, Ohio 65
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo women's basketball graduate student Khera Goss set career highs with 23 points and five three-point field goals, lifting the Toledo women's basketball team to an 80-65 victory at Savage Arena on Saturday.
The Rockets (12-4, 4-2 MAC) out-scored the Bobcats (3-13, 1-5 MAC) 47-29 across the second and third quarters, taking a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter, and extending the advantage to much as 21 before game's end.
The Rockets lit up the scoreboard from beyond the arc, shooting 12-of-24 (.500) as a team. Toledo hit 50.0% from three for the first time since Jan. 14, 2023 against Kent State, when it shot 9-of-18 (.500).
"I'm really proud of our bounce-back effort, responding after a tough game on Wednesday," said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. "We want defense to continue to be our staple, night in and night out. We're not going to be 50 percent from three every time we're out on the floor, so being diligent on defense and on the offensive glass will be important. Our ability to make corrections from Wednesday helped us find each other tonight and showed our mental resiliency. That was a fun game today going into a quick turnaround on Monday."
Goss' 23-point performance came with only missed shot as she made 6-of-7 from the field, including 5-of-6 from long distance, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore Kendall Carruthers added six points on 4-of-10 from the field and matched Goss at 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Graduate student Sammi Mikonowicz added 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field. Mikonowicz and freshman Destiny Robinson each distributed five assists, with Mikonowicz's total marking a season high.
Robinson grabbed seven rebounds to lead Toledo while Carruthers and graduate student Nan Garcia each hauled in six boards. Five different Rockets had at least one steal on the afternoon, part of 14 Ohio turnovers.
Bowling Green 74, Northern Illinois 60
Box Score
Postgame recap coming soon.
