Women's Basketball

RedHawks Off To First 10-0 Start in MAC Play Ever

Saturday's Women's Basketball Results
Akron 76, Buffalo 72
Miami 90, Ohio 70
Western Michigan 59, Eastern Michigan 54
Central Michigan 75, Northern Illinois 70
Toledo 59, Bowling Green 49
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Akron 76, Buffalo 72
Box Score

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to register a come-from-behind 76-72 Mid-American Conference victory past Buffalo on Saturday (Jan. 31) at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Zips had three players score in double figures, led by freshman Shaena Brew (Rialto, Calif.), who had a career-high 20 points and two steals. Freshman Monique Mitchell (South Bend, Ind.) added 15 points and junior Keiryn McGuff (Dublin, Ohio) helped out with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Led by McGuff's two offensive rebounds, Akron did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in 10 second-chance points.

The Akron defense forced 17 Buffalo turnovers while committing 10. Those takeaways turned into 17 points on the offensive end of the floor. Senior Maddie Vejsicky's (New Concord, Ohio) two steals and a career-high three blocks led the way individually for the Zips.

Miami 90, Ohio 70
Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio– The Miami University women's basketball team set a program record with 17 made three-pointers en route to a 90-70 blowout victory over rival Ohio in the Battle of the Bricks, extending their winning streak to 11 games in the process. The RedHawks are now 18-4 on the season and moved to 10-0 in MAC play for the first time ever, improving to 9-0 at home this season in front of a program-record crowd of 5,034. All five Miami starters scored in double figures, led by Amber Scalia's 23 points. The Bobcats fall to 12-8, 6-4 MAC with the result.

How it Happened:
  • The visitors grabbed an early 15-5 lead before Miami battled back with a Scalia three-point play and a Tamar Singer triple to pull within four at the midway point of the opening quarter. The RedHawks trimmed the margin to a single point at 19-18 after Singer followed a Clara Gonzalez Planella three by knocking down a shot from the logo to beat the shot clock. A 9-2 spurt for Ohio helped the Bobcats take a 28-21 lead after 10 minutes of play.
  • Trailing 30-21 early in the second quarter, Miami ripped off a 16-0 run to take control of the game and grab the lead for good, including five points each from Ilse de Vries and Amber Tretter. Núria Jurjo capped the run with a three-pointer to make it 37-30 with 5:33 remaining in the half. The RedHawks took their first double-digit lead at 45-34 on back-to-back triples from Jurjo and de Vries later in the period. Singer drained a three with 16 seconds to go to make it 48-39 at the break.
  • A Tretter three-point play and Scalia triple staked the Red and White to a 54-41 lead early in the third quarter, but the Bobcats responded with seven-straight points to pull within six. Miami answered back with a 14-5 run, stretching the margin to 68-53 at the 2:17 mark after back-to-back layups from Scalia and Macie Taylor in transition. A Singer three and a Tretter reverse layup helped the RedHawks to a 73-61 advantage to end the third quarter.
  • Miami's lead eclipsed 20 points on Scalia's shot from downtown with 4:53 to play, tying the team record for most threes made in a game. Scalia connected again from behind the arc with 3:35 left, moving the score to 88-66 and giving the RedHawks their 17th made three-pointer of the afternoon. Miami finished off a 90-70 victory after a pair of Ashton Elley free throws in the final minute.
Western Michigan 59, Eastern Michigan 54
Box Score

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team led for almost half the game in its 59-54 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

The Broncos brought high-pressure defense to keep the Eastern Michigan offense from finding any rhythm on Saturday afternoon. WMU's defense forced 21 turnovers from the Eagles for the second-most forced of the season. Three members of the Brown and Gold roster ended the game in double figures, led by sophomore guard Kailey Starks. Starks had a team-high 19 points while redshirt senior forward De'Ahna Richardson added 13 and senior guard Alli Carlson had 10 points for Western Michigan.

The game began with turnovers for both teams as the offenses struggled to get going. It was Eastern Michigan who got the first points of the afternoon. But the Broncos quickly add eight with two threes to force an early timeout from the Eagles. WMU defense held EMU scoreless for three minutes and 40 seconds to take its first lead of the game. But the Brown and Gold didn't score after the timeout, and the game was tied with 3:20 left on the clock. Eastern Michigan took over the lead right under the three-minute mark after a technical foul from sophomore forward D'Myjah Bolds. Western Michigan was shutout for over five minutes in the quarter until junior guard Nile Muguira Orbe sank a driving layup with under a minute on the clock. The Broncos tied up the game before the end of the first, but the Eagles hit a last-second basket to lead by two.

Both offenses had a slow start to the second quarter. While EMU had the first points of the frame, WMU quickly shut down Eastern's offense for four minutes. In that time, the Brown and Gold added 12 points to take an eight-point lead, with five points from both Carlson and Starks. The Eagles got back within three on a five-point run, but Western Michigan put three points together in the final 40 seconds for a 28-22 halftime lead.

It was a back-and-forth game early in the second half as the teams traded baskets. EMU had two short runs that put the Broncos behind briefly. A tip-in layup from Richardson put WMU back in front by a point with a little under three minutes to go. The Brown and Gold scored the next two baskets and added a free throw for good measure to have a 41-37 lead before the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started much like the third with back-and-forth scoring. Eastern Michigan had the first run of the final frame, taking a two-point lead on seven straight points. Starks made back-to-back buckets for Western Michigan to put the Broncos back in the driver's seat. WMU didn't surrender the lead for the rest of the game, getting up to a six-point advantage twice in the final two minutes. The Brown and Gold added two points in the final minute, securing the 59-54 victory.

Western Michigan shot 22-of-58 from the floor for 37.9% and were just under that in three-point play at 8-of-25 attempts (32.0%). The Broncos' best quarter of the afternoon came in the fourth as they went 6-of-10 for 60% shooting. On defense, WMU matched the Eagles 34 rebounds, with Carlson having her first double double of the season to lead the Brown and Gold with 10 boards. Western Michigan also had its best ball control of the season inside George Gervin GameAbove Center with only 10 turnovers.

Central Michigan 75, Northern Illinois 70
Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. — Central Michigan Women's Basketball rallied past Northern Illinois, 75-70, to complete the season sweep in Mid-American Conference play.

Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) led the game with 26 points, her 10th 20-pointer of the season, while Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass) collected her fifth double-double via 17 points, and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Chippewas trailed by as many as seven points in the third quarter, 44-37 just under the four-minute mark, but an 8-2 run in less than two minutes brought contest back to a one-possession game and stayed that way until the final 18 seconds.

"I'm super proud of them for staying with it, we were down most of the game," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "I'm proud of them for coming back, on the road, against a great crowd and just finding a way to win."

Jayda Mosley (Cincinnati, Ohio / Purcell Marian) posted all 12 points—a season high—in the second half, shooting four-of-five from beyond the arc while Morson collected 15 of her 26 to rally the Chippewas back from the deficit.

Central Michigan returned to dominance on the boards with a 42-17 margin over the Huskies.

"Our players played really tough on the defensive end and were rebounding machines, especially in the second half."

Demetria Prewitt (Madison, Wis. / La Follette) joined Darrington in double figures with 10 rebounds, tying her most as a Chippewa. The duo alone outrebounded NIU, 21-17.

The victory marked the first time since Feb. 10, 2021 that the program recorded three straight victories on the road. Early in her tenure, Haynie ended an inherited road losing streak at 34 in a row on Jan. 13, 2024 at Eastern Michigan.

Toledo 59, Bowling Green 49
Box Score

Postgame recap coming soon.