Women's Basketball

CMU, Toledo Earn Wednesday Evening Wins

Wednesday's Women's Basketball Results
Central Michigan 91, Valparaiso 41
Toledo 75, Wayne State 63
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Central Michigan 91, Valparaiso 41
Box Score
VALPARAISO, Ind. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball dominated Valparaiso Wednesday night in a 91-41 result, the first 50-point win for the program since Dec. 3, 2010, and seventh of 50-plus in program history.

The eruption immediately followed a four-game stretch of programs from the Big Ten, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences—three of which ranked nationally—and included a home, comeback victory over Purdue (Nov. 30) for the first such victory since 2018.

"I think we learned a lot from the power-four teams we played," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "It was good to see us carry some things over to tonight.

Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) led the way with 22 points—one shy of her career high—on seven-of-10 from the field and a sterling eight-for-eight in free throws. The sophomore performed well from the bench as the coaching staff elected to shake up the starting lineup.

"Coming off the bench to shoot 70 percent with eight rebounds is phenomenal. She's been working on her free throws and her focus. It was good to see that if she's going to get fouled a lot over her free throw percentage that she's going to capitalize."

Darrington was joined by Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) in double figures with 15 points, all in the second half. The Chippewas collected 63 points from their bench.

"We're very excited about our depth. Everyone got in and scored tonight. Everyone gave really good minutes so we're proud overall of locking in, being focused."

Senior Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to push CMU to a 56-30 advantage over the Beacons, the most rebounds in regulation for the Chippewas since a 73-68 victory at Marshall last February.

Central Michigan produced 19 assists across 34 field goals led by its pair of freshman point guards, Rylan Buschell (Belleville, Mich. / Belleville) and Lilah Turnbull (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Western Reserve), who combined for eight of the assists to just three turnovers.

"What we're most excited about from tonight is the 19 assists. We played really well together on both ends of the floor.

"We called the freshmen out in the locker room. That's something we've been focusing on and we're excited about their confidence heading into conference play."

Central Michigan Women's Basketball returns to McGuirk Arena for the first time since the Purdue victory on Saturday (Dec. 20, 1 p.m. ET) to open Mid-American Conference play against Northern Illinois.

Toledo 75, Wayne State 63
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team returned to the win column behind its strong shooting and rebounding efforts, pacing ahead of Wayne State for a 75-63 victory at Savage Arena on Wednesday.

A strong second quarter vaulted the Rockets (4-5) to a 38-30 halftime edge, as Toledo doubled up the Warriors, 22-11 in the second stanza. Wayne State got within four several times in the third quarter, but the Rockets got the lead to 10 by the end of the frame, and continued to hit big shots in the fourth extend the lead to as much as 13.

The Rockets shot 50.9% (27-of-53) on the evening and dominated the glass all night, taking the rebounding margin, 38-23. Toledo also kept the Warriors off the free throw line with just 11 fouls committed and only eight free throw attempts by Wayne State.

Quoting Head Coach Ginny Boggess
"I'm super proud, especially with the second half. We knew they would be coming in wanting to knock us off on our home court. They were prepared and ready for us like we were against Ohio State, and they are a well-coached team. Every single one of Wayne State's players could play at the Division I level. The games that you're 'supposed to win' are hard to play sometimes, but we kept our composure for a young group, especially some of the offensive things we're starting to execute. Our field goal percentage certainly reflected that."

Rocket Leaders
  • Kendall Carruthers – 20 points, 6-of-11 FG, 2-of-3 3-PT FG, 6-of-7 FT, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
  • Faith Fedd-Robinson – 16 points, 5-of-7 FG, 6-of-7 FT, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
  • Ella Weaver – 9 points, 3-of-6 3-PT FG, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

How It Happened
  • Toledo pushed ahead early with a 9-0 run, but Wayne State out-scored the Rockets, 11-3 in the final 3:25 of the first quarter to take a 19-16 lead after a period.
  • Down 26-20, three-pointers from Kendall Carruthers and Alexa Hocevar catalyzed a 9-0 run for a 29-26 Rockets' lead. Then, Carruthers and Evalyse Cole combined for a 7-0 spurt over the final 1:22 of the half to take a 38-30 lead into the locker room.
  • Up 48-44, three-point plays from Faith Fedd-Robinson and Carruthers put Toledo up 54-44 for its first double-digit margin with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
  • The Warriors cut their deficit to seven, 60-53 with 7:07 to go, but timely threes from Ella Weaver pushed the Rockets' edge to 70-57 with 3:33 left. Toledo would lead by double figures the rest of the way.
  • Game Notes
  • With Carruthers' 20 points tonight and Ella Weaver scoring 21 at Ohio State on Sunday, Toledo has had a 20-point scorer in consecutive games for the first time in the Ginny Boggess era.
  • Carruthers scored 20 for the fourth time in a Toledo uniform and second time this season.
  • Weaver is now 7-of-12 (58.3%) from three-point range in her last two games.
  • The Rockets shot their best percentage from the field (50.9%) and from three-point range (46.2%) this season. Toledo's 78.9% clip (15-of-19) from the free throw line was its second-highest percentage this year.
  • The Rockets' +15 rebound margin marked a season high and their 11 fouls against was a new season low.