Women's Basketball

Ball State, Miami Remain Perfect in Conference Standings

Wednesday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Central Michigan 74, Akron 53
Ball State 78, UMass 60
Ohio 82, Bowling Green 57
Miami 76, Buffalo 52 
Northern Illinois 64, Western Michigan 56
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Central Michigan 74, Akron 53
Box Score

AKRON, Ohio — Central Michigan Women's Basketball cruised to a 74-53 Mid-American Conference victory Wednesday night at Akron in the first of a two-game road swing.

The Chippewas responded to an early five-point, 7-2 deficit with a 14-3 run over the latter half of the first quarter and never looked back after they took the lead, 8-7, with 3:56 left in the opening frame. CMU shut down the Zips for a one-for-eight mark from the field during the five-minute response.

Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) continued her steady stream of 20-points games with her eighth of the season—sixth through seven conference contests—with 23 points on 52.9 percent from the field—her sixth game at or above 50 percent in the last eight. She also tied a career high with three steals.

Senior forwards Demetria Prewitt (Madison, Wis. / La Follette) and Nekhu Mitchell (Baltimore, Md. / McDonogh) joined the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year in double figures, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The other half of the 2026 senior class, Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) and Zareia Chevre (St. Paul, Minn. / Simley) each posted double digits in rebounds, 11 and 10, respectively, to lead to a 49-32 margin in team totals. The duo had plenty of work as the MAC-leading CMU perimeter defense forced Akron to a one-for-20 mark in three-point shooting.

Disciplined play factored into the ledger as Akron's top two scorers on the season, Ni'Rah Clark (12.4 points per game) and Monique Mitchell (10.1 points per game), were both fouled out of the contest with over nine minutes left to play.

Two Nekhu Mitchell buckets marked the first double-digit lead of the contest, at 2:11 in the second quarter and 4:15 left in the fourth, 63-43.

Central Michigan Women's Basketball heads to Kalamazoo, Mich. Saturday (Jan. 24; 3:30 p.m. ET) for the first of two bouts with Western Michigan this season. The contest also stands as the first half of a twinbill with the schools' men's programs later that evening.

Ball State 78, UMass 60
Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team put together an impressive second half showing to earn the 78-60 victory over UMass Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 15-4 on the season and 7-0 in Mid-American Conference action while the Minute-women fall to 13-4 and 5-2 in the league. This is the second-straight season the Cardinals have started MAC play 7-0.

Ball State's second-half surge was characterized by stifling defense and a balanced offensive effort. UMass was held to a total of only 21 points in the entire second half, allowing Ball State to erase the halftime deficit and build a commanding lead.

The opening 10 minutes of play was intense which was to be expected as Ball State and UMass are presently two of the top teams to beat in the MAC. The Cardinals and the Minute-women swapped baskets throughout the first quarter, with the lead changing hands three times and the score being knotted on four occasions. UMass ended the frame atop of Ball State, 25-21.

It was pure defense in the second period as body's hit the floor and fouls were called that stopped the flow of the game. Unfortunately, the Cardinals offense took a bit of a toll with the one bright light being that Tessa Towers as she fought hard in the paint to put points on the board for BSU.

At the media timeout, UMass was holding onto a 31-27 lead with 4:17 on the clock. After the huddle, emotions continued to run high with Ball State hanging close to UMass throughout the remainder of the half. The Cardinals still trailed by six (39-33) at intermission.

The Cardinals opened the third frame with a 6-0 run after baskets from Bree Salenbien, Towers and Alba Caballero to tie the game at 39-39.  The Minute-women remained in control up until the 4:38 mark when the Cardinal strung together a 15-3 run that eventually propelled the Cardinals to a 57-47lead over UMass which ended the fourth. The third quarter also saw Grace Kingery come alive on both offense and defense, scoring seven points while also capitalizing off a steal.

In the final frame, the Cardinals maintained their momentum, outscoring the Minute-women 21-13 to seal tonight's victory.

Five Cardinals ended the night in double-figures with both Kingery and Salenbien leading the way with 14-points apiece. Karsyn Norman finished the game with 12 points while both Aniss Tagayi and Caballero each scored 11 points.

Salenbien also collected 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while Caballero tallied her first career double-double pulling down 10 rebounds as well. 

Ohio 82, Bowling Green 57
Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (12-5, 6-1 MAC) took down Bowling Green (10-8, 3-4 MAC) 86-57 on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
 
The Bobcats shot 58.0 percent from the field, 59.1 percent from the arc and 78.6 percent from the line. Ohio recorded 33 rebounds, 17 assists, 11 steals and two blocks.
 
Redshirt sophomore Bella Ranallo (Lake Forest, Ill.) led Ohio with a career-high 26 points, shooting 9-for-16 from the field, 6-for-9 from the arc and 2-for-2 from the line. Ranallo also tallied a team-high four steals.
 
Junior Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) also had a 20-point game for the Bobcats. Tabeling finished with 20 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the field, 1-for-2 from the arc and 7-for-7 from the line.  
 
Despite Bowling Green getting on the board first, Ohio had a good first quarter. Graduate student Aliah McWhorter (Cincinnati, Ohio) got Ohio on the board with a layup with 9:26 to go. A jumper by Tabeling tied the game at 6-6 with 7:48 left on the clock. At 4:57, Ohio led Bowling Green 15-8. Ohio's defense kept the Falcons from scoring for almost a minute. With just over a minute to go in the quarter, Ohio only led Bowling Green 20-16. At the end of the first quarter, Ohio led Bowling Green 23-16.
 
Ohio found its momentum in the second quarter, outscoring Bowling Green 23-7. The Bobcats extended their lead to 33-20 halfway through the quarter. Redshirt sophomore Monica Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.) and ReRe Jennings (Killeen, Texas) were vital to Ohio's defense, tallying two steals each. With just under two minutes to go, Ohio led Bowling Green 38-20. Tabeling capped off the first half with a three pointer in the final seconds as the Bobcats headed into the locker room with a 46-23 lead over the Falcons.
 
Ohio dominated the first half of the third quarter, leading 60-30 with 5:24 to go. Around the four minute mark, Bowling Green found success on offense and scored seven unanswered points. Despite the pressure from the Falcons, the Bobcats held on to their lead. Ohio led Bowling Green 66-42 heading into the final quarter of the game.
 
Ohio held off Bowling Green in the fourth quarter and went on to win the game, 86-57.

Miami 76, Buffalo 52 
Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team extended their win streak to eight-straight games with a 76-52 win over the University at Buffalo on Wednesday night. Ilse de Vries led all scorers with 17 points and was joined by Tamar Singer (15), Amber Scalia (14) and Amber Tretter (11) in double figures as Miami improved to 15-4 overall and a perfect 7-0 in MAC play. Buffalo falls to 2-16, 0-7 MAC.

How it Happened:
  • Buffalo opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Miami answered with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the contest early. Buffalo regained the lead, 10-8, before a layup from de Vries tied the contest and four-straight free throws from Scalia spotted the Red and White a 14-10 advantage. The RedHawks led 18-15 after 10 minutes of action.
  • Buffalo scored four of the first five points of the second quarter to tie the contest at 19 apiece. The RedHawks responded with an 15-0 run, highlighted by three pointers from Scalia and Tretter and a terrific three-point play from Singer. Miami went to the locker room up 40-25.
  • Buffalo clawed back to within 40-31, before Scalia's second triple of the game pushed Miami's advantage back to 12. After a Buffalo free throw, de Vries knocked down a triple from the corner. Two possessions later, Scalia's once again knocked down a triple to reclaim Miami's 15-point lead, 49-34 midway through the third quarter. Another UB free throw made it a 14-point game, before Núria Jurjo scored five-straight points to push the advantage to 19 points. Miami led 60-39 after three quarters of play.
  • UB opened the final stanza on a 5-1 run, but a layup from Clara Gonzalez Planella and a three-point play from Macie Taylor prior to the media timeout spotted the Red and White a 22-point lead. The Bulls would get no closer.
Northern Illinois 64, Western Michigan 56
Box Score

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team shot a season-high 46.8 percent from the field on Wednesday night in a 64-56 victory over the Western Michigan Broncos at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"I was really proud of our effort for 40 minutes tonight," said head coach Jacey Brooks. "We talked at halftime about valuing each possession and taking better shots, and the offense really started flowing."
 
Freshman guard Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) led all scorers with a season-high 22 points. She was 6-for-8 from the field, 3-for-4 from the three-point arc and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Nadechka Laccen (San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Bonaventure) added 14 points, all of which came in the second half.
 
NIU (4-14, 2-5 MAC) used a 9-2 run in the third quarter to take a 35-30 lead at the 4:58 mark. Sorensen sparked the run with the Huskies' first three of the game and had the first five points of that stretch. Western Michigan closed within one on layups from D'Myjah Bolds and Kailey Starks, but another Sorensen three put NIU up 38-34 with 3:03 left in the quarter. Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) and Laccen made back-to-back threes to give NIU a 44-36 lead with 1:30 to go in the third.
 
"We rode the momentum of good shooting in the quarter," said Sorensen as the Huskies were 4-for-5 from long range in the third. "That three from Nadechka really helped build that to keep us going to the win."
 
Western Michigan (5-12, 2-5 MAC) got within four early in the fourth quarter, but Sorensen's third three-pointer of the game and a Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) three-point play gave NIU its largest lead of the game 52-42 with 6:30 to play. The Broncos got as close as four points twice in the final quarter. The Huskies were 8-for-11 from the free throw line in the fourth to close out the game and win 64-56.
 
NIU shot 62.5 percent in the first quarter and took an 11-9 lead on a Sa'Mahn Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) jumper in the final seconds. Western Michigan responded in the second quarter, shooting 50 percent from the field and going 3-for-5 from the arc to tie the game at 26 at halftime.
 
The Huskies finished the night 6-for-15 from the three-point arc and outrebounded Western Michigan 36-23. Wingate and Serracanta each had a game-high eight rebounds, with Wingate adding eight points and a career-high seven assists. As a team, NIU had 15 assists on 22 made baskets.