Women's Basketball

Miami Off to 9-0 MAC Start for First Time Since 1989-90

Wednesday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Miami 71, Northern Illinois 43
Bowling Green 80, Akron 62
Eastern Michigan 71, Buffalo 51
Ball State 76, Central Michigan 70
Toledo 59, Kent State 53
UMass 85, Ohio 76
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Miami 71, Northern Illinois 43
Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. – The Miami University women's basketball team used an outstanding defensive effort to pick up a 71-43 road win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon. Miami (17-4, 9-0 MAC) forced 18 turnovers and held the Huskies to 33.3% shooting. Amber Tretter had a game-high 17 points and Núria Jurjo added 12 as the RedHawks picked up their 10th straight win.

How it Happened:
  • NIU led 5-4 midway through the opening quarter, before back-to-back layups from Tretter and Tamar Singer gave Miami their first lead of the game. Tretter than converted a free throw and the resigning MAC player of the Week, Ilse de Vries, knocked down a triple to push Miami's advantage to 12-5 with two minutes left in the quarter. NIU ended the four-minute drought with a free throw, but 20 seconds later Mio Sakano converted a three-point play to give Miami a 15-8 lead after 10 minutes of play.
  • The Huskies trimmed Miami's lead to 17-14, 90 seconds into the second quarter. On the ensuing possession, Tretter took a pass from Singer for a three-point play to make it 20-14. Miami led 23-18 with 5:32 left in the half and closed the quarter on a 13-4 run to head to the locker room up 36-22. During the run, Amber Scalia, Singer and Clara Gonzalez Planella all knocked down three pointers.
  • Singer picked up a pair of assists to begin the third quarter with back-to-back layups from Tretter and Jurjo to force an NIU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, de Vries knocked down a triple for a 43-25 advantage. The Huskies trimmed the deficit to 15, 46-31, but a 5-1 Miami run (all five points from Tretter) made it 51-32 heading to the final stanza.
  • Jurjo scored five quick points in the fourth quarter to stretch the RedHawks' advantage to 56-34 and four straight free throws from Scalia and Emily VanTimmeren made it 60-34. The Huskies would get no closer.

Bowling Green 80, Akron 62
Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team withstood a cold shooting start, heating up in the middle two quarters to run away from the University of Akron on Wednesday night (Jan. 28). The Falcons picked up an 80-62 victory over the Zips in Mid-American Conference action at the Stroh Center.

Sophomore Johnea Donahue had game-high totals of 21 points and six steals for the Falcons (11-9, 4-5 MAC), pacing four players in double digits in the scoring column. Junior Paige Kohler scored 19 points, while sophomore Lauren Gerken had 13.

Senior Kaia Woods rounded out the Falcons' double-figure scorers with 10 points. Woods, listed at 5-foot-3, had a double-double in the win against her former team, as the Akron transfer pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Shaena Brew led the Zips (3-17, 0-8 MAC) with 17 points, while Liz Murphy added 10 off the bench.

The Falcons shot just 21 percent from the floor in the opening quarter, making 3-of-14 shots, but still led by a 16-11 count after 10 minutes due to a 10-of-14 performance at the free-throw line. BG made six more charity tosses in the second quarter, but also began to connect from the floor.

The hosts went 11-for-20 from the field in the third quarter, and were 18-0f-35 in the middle two periods, to open up a sizable lead. BGSU outscored the Zips by a combined 49-30 in the second and third quarters, taking a 29-point lead late in the third.

The Zips made a late run, getting within 12 points with just over three minutes remaining, but Kohler doused any flickering Akron hopes of a comeback with a three-pointer on the next possession, and after Murphy answered with a layup, junior Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick's layup began a 6-0 run for the Falcons that put an exclamation point on the victory.

Junior Taya Ellis had eight points and eight rebounds, including seven offensive boards, on her birthday, while Bland-Fitzpatrick scored six points in the win.

The Falcons got to the line 31 times compared to 15 for the Zips, and BG doubled up the visitors, 22-11, in free throws made. BGSU also had advantages of 44-20 in points in the paint and 30-5 in fast-break points.

Eastern Michigan 71, Buffalo 51
Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team earned a 20-point Mid-American Conference-road victory behind a pair of double-double performances from Sisi Eleko and Ainhoa Cea at the University at Buffalo, besting the Bulls, 71-51, Wednesday, Jan. 28, inside Alumni Arena.
 
The 20-point victory marked EMU's largest over a MAC opponent since the 2019-20 season, and the Eagles' first time winning three consecutive MAC games since the 2020-21 season.
 
Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) and Ainhoa Cea (Irun, Spain/IES Pio Baroja Bhi/Lipscomb) led the EMU attack as Eleko recorded her MAC-best 11th double-double of the year with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Cea posted the second double-double of her NCAA tenure and first as an Eagle with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
 
Along with Eleko and Cea, Fernanda Ovalle (Santiago, Chile/Montverde Academy/Xavier) and Peyton Hill (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word Academy) scored at a high rate, with Ovalle recording 23 points and Hill scoring 19, with four rebounds and five assists.

How it Happened
Eastern got out to a 10-6 advantage roughly halfway through the first quarter and ran the break early with six points off the fast break. The EMU defense tightened, holding Buffalo scoreless from the 5:29 mark until the 29.0 mark. EMU ended the first quarter on top, 17-10.
 
Eastern extended its lead to eight, 21-13, with 6:46 remaining in the first half, as Buffalo totaled just 13 points at the time. The scoring evened on both sides as EMU entered the half up seven, 21-34. Cea shined in the first half, dishing eight assists, a game high at the time and four shy of her career high of 12.
 
Eastern continued its dominant performance into the third. Allowing just three Buffalo points while scoring six of their own to take a 16-point advantage, 40-24, with 6:59 remaining in the frame. Eleko secured her 11th double-double of the season in the quarter with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Eastern ended the quarter on top by 15, 51-36.
 
Buffalo cut the lead to as much as 12 in the final quarter as Eastern cruised to a comfortable 71-51 victory, marking its third straight win.

Ball State 76, Central Michigan 70
Box Score

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Ball State women's basketball team defeated Central Michigan 76-70 in a closely contested midweek Mid-American Conference matchup Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena.

The Cardinals improved their season record to 16-5 (8-1 MAC), while the Chippewas fell to 12-7 (6-3 MAC). Ball State led at the end of each quarter tonight despite both teams fighting hard in a physical battle which saw three Cardinals and four Chippewas foul out of the contest in the final frame.

The opening quarter was characterized by scrappy defense from both sides, ending in a low-scoring tie of 10-10 after the first five minutes and finishing with Ball State up 13-12 after the first quarter.

Ball State created more shot opportunities due to the forced turnovers, shooting a better percentage from the field in the first half. The Cardinals strong interior play and ability to get second-chance points from both Tessa Towers and Bree Salenbien allowed Ball State to maintain a slight 31-20 edge over Central Michigan at intermission.

After the break, Grace Kingery came to the rescue scoring nine points after shooting 2-of-3 from the 3-point line and a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe which helped the Cardinals stay atop of the Chippewas at the end of the third quarter, 61-55.

In the final frame, Ball State's defense and efficiency at the charity stripe proved to be the deciding factor as the Cardinals survived a late push by the Chippewas after BSU shot 9-of-16 from the free throw line to seal tonight's six-point victory.

The Cardinals had five players reach double figures tonight which was led by Karsyn Norman with 17 points. Behind Norman was Towers who finished the night with 15 points. Kingery, Salenbien and Aniss Tagayi all chipped in 12 points apiece. Salenbien pulled down 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.

Toledo 59, Kent State 53
Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team surged in the third and fourth quarters to pick up a key Mid-American Conference triumph in a 59-53 decision over Kent State at Savage Arena on Wednesday.

Trailing 28-20 at the half, the Rockets (10-8, 5-3 MAC) sprinted out of the gate in the second half, climbing into the lead in the third quarter. After the Golden Flashes (9-11, 4-5 MAC) reclaimed a six-point lead in the fourth, the Rockets out-scored Kent State, 18-6 over the final 7:00 of the game. Toledo claimed its fourth win in five games and snapped Kent State's four-game winning streak.

Toledo once again put up strong rebounding numbers, out-rebounding Kent State, 37-25, including 16 offensive boards. The Rockets also out-shot the Golden Flashes, 45.5-38.1% in the second half to ignite their rally. Junior Ella Weaver scored 15 of her game-leading 18 points in the second half on 6-of-8 from the field.

UMass 85, Ohio 76
Box Score

ATHENS – Ohio -- University of Massachusetts women's basketball (15-4,7-2 MAC) defeated Ohio (12-7, 6-3 MAC), 85-76, during a Wednesday night matchup at the Convocation Center.    

Yahmani McKayle led the offensive unit for the Minutewomen, scoring a game-high 25 points, along with six rebounds and assists in the contest. Megan Olbrys was yet again a force on inside for UMass, netting 24 points along with 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.  

Chinenye Odenigbo in her first start back from injury netted 11 points and pulled down five boards. Lilly Ferguson chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.

As a unit, the Minutewomen nabbed 39 rebounds, dished out 21 assists and shot a very efficient 33-of-61 (.541) from the field.  

Breaking Down The Action    
  • Megan Olbrys started the scoring for the Minutewomen, netting the first four UMass points with consecutive layups in the first 1:30 of game action.  
  • McKayle knotted the game at 8 at 6:24 in the first finishing on her second straight layup.  
  • Olbrys went on her second 4-0 UMass run of the night to end a 10-0 Bobcat run, bringing Massachusetts within 8, 12-20, with 3:07 left in the first quarter.  
  • Chinenye Odenigbo finished a layup at 0:42 to bring UMass within five, 21-16.  
  • Olbrys and Ayanna Franks finished on consecutive possesions in the paint, bringing UMass within four, 24-20, with 7:31 remaining in the half.
  • Lilly Ferguson tied the game up at 25 knocking down a three pointer from the top of the key at 6:04.
  • Odenigbo and Perkins layups gave Massachusetts a 30-29 lead with 3:26 remaining in the first half.  
  • Ferguson connected on a baseline midrange jumper at 0:16 to bring the Minutewomen within three, 38-35, a deficit that would hold until the break.
  • An Odenigbo putback layup sparked an 8-0 Minutewomen run over 1:03 of gamettime in the third quarter, putting UMass ahead 43-40 with 8:23 left in the third.
  • McKayle burried a long triple at 4:22 to keep the Minutewomen in the lead, 51-49, with 4:22 in the third.  
  • Ferguson, Franks and a pair of Olbrys free throws fueled a brief 6-0 Minutewomen run at the end of the third, with UMass heading into the final frame with a 61-58 lead.
  • Second chance buckets by Franks and McKayle, with McKayles coming from behind the arc, gave UMass a 66-58 lead with 9:29 remaining in the contest.  
  • McKayle burried another triple as the shot clock expired, putting Massachusetts up by double figures, 80-68, with 3:24 remaining.  
  • Olbrys connected a free throw to put the nail in the coffin, with Massachusetts taking an 85-76 victory.