Women's Basketball

Ball State Sets Program Record for Best #MACtion Start; Lawson Records Triple Double in CMU's Win

Wednesday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Toledo 58, Buffalo 55
Western Michigan 70, Akron 64
Ball State 71, Bowling Green 51 
Central Michigan 75, Ohio 48 
Miami 68, Eastern Michigan 45
Northern Illinois 73, Kent State 69
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Toledo 58, Buffalo 55
Box Score
AMHERST, N.Y. – Sophomore Kendall Carruthers knocked down the game-winning three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left to lift the Toledo women's basketball team to a 58-55 victory in front of 4,906 fans at Alumni Arena on Wednesday.
 
Carruthers' game-winner completed an effort where the Rockets (16-5, 8-3 MAC) took a lead of as much as 19 in the first half, not allowing the Bulls (19-3, 8-3 MAC) to take the lead after the opening minutes and then thwarting a Buffalo comeback. The Rockets won their fourth game in a row, their longest winning streak of the season, moves them into a tie for third with Buffalo.
 
"It was important for us to build up that lead in the first half," said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. "Buffalo is a great third-quarter team and we knew they were going to come out blazing. The fourth quarter became a possession basketball game and our toughness and leadership was instrumental down the stretch. We got stops in the fourth quarter and we switched up our defense when needed. I'm proud of the gritty performance on the road."

Western Michigan 70, Akron 64
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- Western Michigan graduate student Hannah Spitzley became the 29th player in WMU women's basketball history to reach 1,000 points as she netted 22 points in the Broncos' 70-64 road win at Akron on Wednesday night. 

Point 1,000 was a crucial one for Western Michigan (5=9-12, 6-5 MAC). WMU had a 49-48 lead just a minute into the fourth quarter when Spitzley nailed a three to push the lead to 52-48. 

The Zips fought there way back to tie it up at 52-52 with 7:04 left to play. WMU responded with a 6-0 run thanks to free throws and a layup by Spitzley and a layup by Ali Carlson. There was no looking back for the Broncos, after a steal and triple by Carlson pushed the lead to 61-54, Akron never got within more than four of Western Michigan. 

Spitzley also had four rebounds and shot 7-for-11 form the field. Junior Marina Asensio had 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 6-for-8 from the free throw line, also contributing four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Carlson finished with 12 points and four rebounds. Evyn Carrier had eight points off the bench. 

As a team, the Broncos shot 52.2 percent from the field (24-of-46) and forced Akron to commit 19 turnovers. 

In the first quarter, Akron built a small early lead of 12-7 with 4:17 left. The Broncos rallied and ended the quarter on an 11-2 run to take an 18-14 lead into the second quarter. The two teams exchanged runs in the second quarter with Akron taking a 29-22 lead, its largest of the game, with 4:49 left. Western Michigan responded again and ended the half on a 12-2 run, taking a 34-31 lead into the locker room. The Zips, once again, erased the Broncos' lead only for the Brown & Gold to rally back. Akron led 45-42 with 2:17 left in the quarter and Western Michigan scored the final five points to lead 47-45 going into the fourth. 

Ball State 71, Bowling Green 51 
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team defeated Bowling Green 71-51 Wednesday night in Worthen Arena marking it the program's best start in Mid-American Conference play with an 11-0 record. 
 
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 19-4 on the season while extending their win streak to 13. The Falcons fall to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in league play.
 
Both teams chopped at each other's heels at the start of the contest. The Cardinals had a slight upper hand over the Falcons the majority of the first frame. Ally Becki put on quite the show in the first quarter, scoring eight points to give BSU the 19-11 edge over BGSU.
 
Ball State was able to capitalize on some defensive rebounds which allowed both Becki and Madelyn Bischoff to find comfort in making their long-range shots. Bischoff nailed one from behind the arc at the 5:03 mark in the second frame to put the Cardinals up by nine (27-18). The end of the first half was highlighted by some strong defensive plays which led to the Cardinals building an 18-point (39-20) cushion over the Falcons at intermission.
 
After the break, the Falcons opened the third period with a 4-0 run but the Cardinals weren't fazed as Alex Richard collected another rebound and a layup to put BSU back up by 20 (48-28). Ball State continued to play scrappy, and its defense intensified, causing Bowling Green miscues that allowed the Cardinals to keep a double-digit lead in the third and fourth frames.
 
In the final stanza, the Cardinals made it nearly impossible for the Falcons to make any kind of a comeback. Ball State went on to win the game by 20 points.
 
Bischoff led all scorers with 20 points after going 6-of-10 from 3-point range. It was another game of double doubles, as Becki scored 17 points while dishing out 10 assists. Richard also turned in a 17-point performance and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Maliyah "MJ" Johnson came off the bench tallying 10 points. 
 
For the game, Ball State out-rebounded Bowling Green 47-31 while shooting 52 percent from behind the arc. 

Central Michigan 75, Ohio 48 
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — "We're going to be a dangerous team if we focus on defense and locking in on the gameplan like that."

Another notable step forward for Central Michigan Women's Basketball in its second season under Head Coach Kristin Haynie Wednesday night as it logged its largest margin of victory in over five years, 75-48, over Ohio.

The Chippewas led by as many as 38 points before the benches unloaded in the fourth quarter, the largest lead marked by the program since defeating Bowling Green, 92-54, on Feb. 20, 2019.

"Everyone got to play and got good minutes. We have to keep that rolling."

Senior Jess Lawson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy) marked the program's first triple-double (10pt, 11reb, 10ast) since Micaela Kelly '21 dropped a 21-12-10 line at Eastern Michigan on March 7, 2020.

"It's awesome, I'm proud of her. We've been working on her vision. We watch a lot of film and now she's applying it. She's seeing the court better and we're very excited for that. When she can start passing like that regularly, we're going to be really dangerous."

Lawson's breakthrough came soon after taking on a more vocal role with her teammates, encouraged by her coaches.

"Coach [Haynie] really talks about player-led teams," Lawson said. "As a captain, I want to do a good job of trying to lead the team, especially when I'm not on the court—making sure everyone is in their right spots—just making sure when we do get down, we're bringing everyone back together."

Lawson is the 17th player to record a triple-double in NCAA I Women's Basketball this season.

Miami 68, Eastern Michigan 45
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team outscored Eastern Michigan 25-10 in the third quarter to put the Wednesday evening contest out of reach, 68-45. Enjulina Gonzalez led all scorers with 20 points to help Miami improve to 13-8, 6-5 MAC. Brooklyn Thrash led the Eagles (1-20, 0-11 MAC) with nine points. Amber Tretter added 14 points and six rebounds, while Maya Chandler has 13 points and Cori Lard chipped in with 10.
 
How it Happened:
  • Eastern Michigan jumped out to an early 9-2 lead two minutes into the contest. Miami rallied back to trail 11-8, but five straight from the Eagles made it 16-8 late in the opening quarter. Two free throws from Tretter, followed by layups from Gonzalez and Katey Richason in the final 90 seconds of the quarter closed the gap, 16-14.
  • Miami held the Eagles scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter en route to claiming a 22-16 lead. A triple from EMU made it 28-24 before Núria Jurjo sank a pair of free throws to send the RedHawks to the locker room up, 30-24.
  • A 15-2 run in the first five minutes of the third spotted the RedHawks a 45-26 advantage. Five different members of the team scored during the opening half of the quarter. Miami outscored EMU 25-10 in the third, led by 10 points from Gonzalez.
  • EMU scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit 55-42. Buckets from Tretter, Gonzalez, Chandler and Lard concluded an 11-2 run as the RedHawks went up by as many and 23 points in the final stanza.
Northern Illinois 73, Kent State 69
Box Score
DeKALB, IL – Guards Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) and Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) both scored over 20 points Wednesday night as the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team earned a 73-69 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes on National Girls and Women In Sports Day at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"For 37-and-a-half minutes that is some of the best basketball we have played," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "That was an interesting game to say the least, but that is a very good team that we just beat. I am very proud of everyone who stepped on the floor."
 
Doyle led all scorers with a season-high 23 points, adding two rebounds and three assists. The junior was 8-for-3 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point arc. Koker had 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field with three three-pointers. She also had a game-high four steals.
 
"We had good ball movement all night and were selfless with the ball," Koker said. "Sometimes we haven't shot the ball well but we've maintained that confidence in ourselves and each other."
 
NIU (10-12, 4-7 MAC) and Kent State traded baskets to start the game, but a Koker layup sparked a 7-0 Huskies run that put NIU ahead 11-5 at the 5:32 mark of the first. The Golden Flashes scored the next four points, all from Dionna Gray, to get within two with 4:39 left in the quarter. NIU held Kent State without a field goal for the remainder of the first, going on a 10-2 run highlighted by back-to-back threes from Doyle and Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) to take a 21-11 lead. NIU shot 60 percent from the field in the first and held Kent State to 22.2 percent.
 
Kent State (15-8, 8-3 MAC) held the Huskies without a field goal for the first 5:09 of the second quarter, closing the gap to five 23-18. A Koker layup at the 3:59 mark sparked a 12-0 Huskies run over 2:37 to give NIU a 35-18 lead. Doyle and McCrea made back-to-back three-pointers to cap the run as NIU was 5-for-8 from long range in the first half, taking a 35-20 lead into halftime.
 
The Huskies were 5-for-8 from the three-point line in the third quarter alone and shot 50 percent from the field. Koker scored 10 points in the third, including the last five, to put NIU in the drivers seat up 58-41 going into the fourth. The Golden Flashes scored the first six points of the final quarter to get within 11, 58-47. A Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) putback kickstarted a 12-1 Huskies' run that gave NIU its largest lead of the game at 22 points, 70-48, with 4:58 to play. Koker scored the last six points of that stretch.
 
Kent State made one last furious rally to get back in the game. The Golden Flashes went on a 16-1 run with three Mya Babbitt threes to get within seven, 71-64, with 1:17 to play. After Doyle split two free throws to make the score 72-64 with 1:06 left, Babbitt made a layup followed by a Journey Hildebrand three that got Kent State within three 72-69 with 0:38 to go. Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) drew a foul on NIU's next possession to get to the free throw line with 0:23 left. She made one of two free throws to put NIU up four, 73-69, and put the game away.