Saturday's MAC Women's Basketball Results
Ohio 66, Northern Illinois 62
Central Michigan 77, Eastern Michigan 64
Massachusetts 79, Buffalo 67
Ball State 78, Western Michigan 57
Kent State 91, Akron 79
Miami 51, Bowling Green 49
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Ball State 78, Western Michigan 57
Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Ball State women's basketball team put together a dominant second quarter which helped the Cardinals soar past the Western Michigan Broncos by a final score of 78-57 Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improve their record to 14-4 overall and remain undefeated in the Mid-American Conference action with a 6-0 record, while the Broncos fall to 5-11 for the year and 2-4 in league action.
After falling behind 13-1 to the Broncos in the opening quarter, the Cardinals managed to pull themselves together outpacing Western Michigan 16-4 to close out the first quarter with the score tied, 17-17. Senior Bree Salenbien played a major role in the Cardinals first period comeback along with teammates Alba Cabellero and Zhen Verburgt.
The second quarter proved to be the turning point, as the Cardinals outscored the Broncos 19-7, taking a commanding 36-24 lead into halftime. Ball State shot 53 percent in the second frame which saw Tessa Towers scoring seven points and pulling down five rebounds. The first half was capped off by a last second layup from Giorgia Gorini to give BSU the 12-point edge at intermission.
Ball State opened the third quarter with a basket from Salenbien which extended the Cardinals lead to 14 (38-24). Western Michigan didn't go away lightly but every time the Broncos came to within single-digits the Cardinals consistently answered basket-for-basket eventually taking a 57-43 advantage into the final quarter of play.
The fourth period saw the Cardinals keep their demeanor both offensively and defensively which stopped the Broncos from making any kind of a comeback. The Cardinals have now won 10-straight MAC regular season contests dating back to last year.
For the game, Grace Kingery led Ball State with 18 points, scoring 17 of those points in the second half alone. Towers ended the contest with 17 points and nine rebounds while Verburgt tallied 14 points. Salenbien wrapped up the double figure scoring with 12.
As a team, the Cardinals once again out-rebounded their opponent, 39-27 while also dominating the points in the paint category over the Broncos, 38-14.
The Ball State women's basketball team returns home Wednesday when it welcomes UMass to Worthen Arena for the first time in program history. The game is slated for a 6:30 pm ET start.
Miami 51, Bowling Green 49
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team used a 7-2 run to close the contest in a 51-49 road victory at Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon. Ilse de Vries had a game-high 17 points, Amber Scalia added 12 and Amber Tretter chipped in with 10 as the RedHawks (14-4, 6-0 MAC) captured their seventh-straight win. The Falcons fall to 10-7, 3-3 MAC.
Ohio 66, Northern Illinois 62
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (11-5, 5-1 MAC) defeated Northern Illinois (3-14, 1-5 MAC) 66-62 on Saturday, Jan. 17 in the Convocation Center.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 39.3 percent from the field, 31.0 percent from the arc and 54.2 percent from the line. Ohio recorded 30 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 steals and three blocks.
Individually, junior Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) led the Bobcats in points with 15 total; shooting 4-for-9 from the field, 2-for-5 from the arc and 5-for-10 from the line. Tabeling also finished with one assist, three rebounds and a team-high four steals. Freshman ReRe Jennings (Killeen, Texas) recorded a career-high 14 points; shooting 5-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from the arc and 1-for-1 from the line. The freshman added three rebounds, two assists and one block. Redshirt sophomore Bella Ranallo (Lake Forest, Ill.) also finished in double figures with 12 points total. Sophomore Dani Scully (Park Ridge, Ill.) led the team in rebounding, matching her career high of eight boards. Junior Antonicia Moultrie (Nassau, Bahamas) tallied a team-high three assists.
Both teams struggled in the first quarter, specifically with their shooting. The Huskies outrebounded the Bobcats 13-9, but Ohio was able to keep the game close by forcing seven NIU rebounds. Heading into the second quarter, Northern Illinois led Ohio 11-9.
The Bobcats found their footing scoring 22 points in the second quarter, an improvement on their performance from the first 10 minutes of play. Ohio tied the game 20 seconds into the quarter and went back-and-forth with NIU until 6:25 remained. At 4:51, Jennings scored three-straight baskets for Ohio to help the Bobcats retain their lead. Heading into the locker room, the Bobcats led the Huskies 30-22.
NIU challenged Ohio's lead in the third quarter. The Huskies closed in on Ohio and even took the lead with 3:20 left on the clock. The Bobcats answered back with two three pointers by Jennings. Ohio concluded the quarter with a steal by Jennings and layup by Scully. The Bobcats led the Huskies 48-43 as the two teams prepared to play the final quarter of the game.
Despite being outscored 19-18, the Bobcats held on to their lead throughout the fourth quarter. Tabeling had a big fourth quarter. The junior scored eight points, including two three pointers. Ohio went on to earn a 66-62 victory over Northern Illinois and improve to 5-1 in conference play.
The Bobcats will be back in action at Bowling Green on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Central Michigan 77, Eastern Michigan 64
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The shorthanded Central Michigan women's basketball team outworked Eastern Michigan, 77-64, in McGuirk Arena.
Just eight Chippewas were active for the rotation Saturday, though the Wednesday off from Mid-American Conference play provided some extra time with the available players to get their reps.
Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) led the charge again on the offensive end with 24 points—her seventh 20-pointer of the season—but, more notably, her first career double-double via 10 rebounds.
A 26-point third quarter for CMU that featured an 11-of-17 mark from the field made the difference on the ledger, adding eight points to a three-point halftime lead.
Morson produced 11 of her points (five-of-seven field goals) in the third frame.
Freshman point guard Lilah Turnbull (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Western Reserve) produced a season-high 14 points, scoring at all three levels, to go along with four assists—three of which came in the third quarter breakaway.
Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) posted a more rounded effort down low. Though she finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, she did so on 62.5 percent shooting to go with three steals, three assists and five crucial fouls drawn.
Haynie improved to 4-0 against Eastern Michigan as CMU's head coach, 7-1 in the in-state conference matchups as the defense of the Michigan MAC trophy began Saturday.
Central Michigan shot 60 percent or better from the field in three of four quarters Saturday, 64.3 percent in the second half in conjunction with a typically dominant rebounding margin, 39-23. Senior guard Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) shared the team high of 10 rebounds with Morson.
Chippewa Women's Basketball gears up for back-to-back on the road, with visits to Akron Wednesday (Jan. 21; 6 p.m. ET) and arch-rival Western Michigan next Saturday (Jan. 24; 3:30 p.m. ET)—a twinbill with the men's programs from both schools.
CMU returns to McGuirk Arena Jan. 28 (6:30 p.m. ET) to host defending MAC Champion Ball State.
Massachusetts 79, Buffalo 67
Boxscore
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University of Massachusetts women's basketball (13-3, 5-1 MAC) defeated Buffalo (2-15, 0-6 MAC), 79-67, during a Saturday afternoon matchup at Alumni Arena.
UMass used a 12-0 run to open the contest to secure its ninth double-dogit victory of the season. Senior Forward Megan Olbrys dominated in the interior on the day, with 19 points for the Minutewomen and grabbing a career-high with 16 rebounds. Olbrys secured her third double-double in the first half of the matchup, with 11 points and ten rebounds at the break.
Ayanna Franks and Yahmani McKayle also saw a lot of action, with Franks recording 18 points and three steals and McKayle contributing 17 points and seven assists. Allie Palmieri also recorded double-digit points in the contest, with 11 points.
As a unit, the Minutewomen domintated down low, nabbing a season-high 51 rebounds and scoring 40 points in the paint.
Kent State 91, Akron 79
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio — Sophomore Emory Klatt scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting as Kent State beat rival Akron, 91-79, on Saturday afternoon inside of the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes (8-10, 3-4 MAC) shot 59.3-percent from the field and scored 44 points in the paint to record their seventh consecutive victory over the Zips.
Klatt made her first nine shots of the contest, extending her streak to 16 straight makes going back to Wednesday's perfect shooting performance against Ohio. Freshman Caitlyn Holmes (7 points, career-high 4 assists), freshman Anna Campanelli (5 points) and sophomore Meghan Murray (5 points) also contributed to a season-best 46 bench points.
An early 9-0 run helped Akron lead for the majority of the first quarter. After graduate student Bianca Juzzo's three-pointer put Kent State back in the lead, the Zips scored the next five for a four-point advantage with two minutes remaining. A three-point play by Klatt made it a one-possession game, and Holmes intercepted a pass in the backcourt and found Murray for a layup in the closing seconds to lead 22-21 after 10 minutes of action.
After Akron tied it one final time early in the second quarter, the Flashes locked in defensively and held their guest to 1-of-4 shooting with four turnovers while going on a 12-3 run over the next 4:30 of action. Kent State was unable to push the lead to double digits and it was 43-37 at halftime.
Five different Flashes scored as part of a 15-8 run over the final six minutes of the third, as the lead grew to 11 entering the fourth.
Klatt dominated the final 10 minutes with 16 points as the lead reached as many as 15.
Junior Mya Babbitt finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Junior Riley Rismiller added 11 points. Senior Dionna Gray recorded a game-high six assists.
Kent State will next be in action on Saturday, Jan. 24 with a road contest against Buffalo.
