Women's Basketball

Miami Reclaims Top of WBB Standings with Win

Saturday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Kent State 80, Akron 61
Miami 68, Ball State 64
UMass 69, Central Michigan 50
Western Michigan 65, Northern Illinois 60
Bowling Green 61, Toledo 52
Eastern Michigan 73, Buffalo 63
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Kent State 80, Akron 61
Box Score

AKRON, Ohio —Kent State led by as many as 29 points during Saturday's 80-61 road victory over rival Akron.

The Golden Flashes (13-13, 7-7 MAC) have beaten the Zips in eight consecutive meetings, as seniors Dionna Gray and Tatiana Thomas will end their careers undefeated in the rivalry.

Kent State started strong, as freshman Anna Campanelli opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the wing. Thomas and junior Mya Babbitt followed with baskets and a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.  The Zips battled back to take the lead twice, and the first quarter ended with a 19-19 tie.

Campanelli sank two free throws to open scoring again in the second period, and Akron followed with seven straight for its largest lead of the game. The Flashes then dominated the final seven minutes of the period and closed on a 24-2 run for a 45-28 halftime lead. The spurt was fueled by outstanding defense, forcing seven turnovers and holding the Zips without a field goal. Babbitt was the catalyst with four of the team's six steals during the run.

Kent State added a 13-0 run during the third quarter and built the lead to 29 with 2:24 remaining in the period.

Babbitt finished with a game-high 20 points. Sophomore Emory Klatt posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

Kent State will be back in the road for the next game and visit UMass on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Miami 68, Ball State 64
Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio – Behind a 19-3 second half run, the Miami University women's basketball team upended Ball State, 68-64, on Saturday afternoon to claim the top spot in the Mid-American Conference standings. Tamar Singer had a career-high 25 points and eight steals to lead the RedHawks (22-5, 13-1 MAC) to their 12th straight home win. Tessa Towers had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals (22-6, 13-2 MAC).

Ilse de Vries added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Amber Scalia chipped in with 13 points. Miami finished the contest with 12 baskets from behind the arc and forced Ball State into 22 turnovers.

How it Happened:
  • Ball State led 6-2 early in the contest, before Singer beat her defender off the dribble for a pair of layups midway through the first quarter. A third Singer layup followed by a jumper from Scalia spotted Miami a 10-8 advantage. Ball State knocked down a corner triple late in the quarter and led 11-10 after 10 minutes of action.
  • de Vries opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the corner to regain the lead for the Red and White. Ball State answered with an 11-4 run over the next three minutes to lead 22-17 with 6:10 left in the half. A pair of free throws and a step-back triple from Scalia tied the game at 22 apiece and a three-pointer from Singer gave Miami a 25-22 lead with two minutes to play. Miami led 27-24 at the half.
  • The Cardinals opened the second half of a 12-4 run to take a 36-31 lead three minutes into the quarter. Clara Gonzalez Planella drilled a triple to make it 36-34 and moments later Singer got free for a layup to knot the game at 36 apiece. Ball State used an 8-2 run to claim a six-point lead midway through the quarter before Macie Taylor's triple cut the deficit in half. Ball State answered quickly with a three-pointer of their own but on the ensuing possession de Vries made it 47-44 with three minutes to play in the quarter. Combined with the de Vries three, Miami closed the third quarter on a 13-3 run and led 54-50 heading to the final quarter.
  • Núria Jurjo missed a triple to begin the fourth, but Gonzalez Planella gathered the rebound and fed it back to Jurjo for a three pointer to make it 57-50. After a defensive stop, Singer knocked down her third triple of the game to make it 60-50. The Cardinals scored the next six points, forcing a Glenn Box timeout. Following the stoppage, Miami scored eight-straight points behind a pair of three-pointers from Singer to put the game out of reach.
UMass 69, Central Michigan 50
Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts women's basketball (19-6, 11-3 MAC) victory over Central Michigan (16-10, 10-5), 69-50, on a Saturday afternoon tilt at McQuirk Arena. The Minutewomen got on the board first with a Yahmani McKayle triple at 7:50 and never gave up the lead. 

The Minutewomen were led by Megan Olbrys, who posted her eighth double-double of the season and third in the last four games with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Olbrys also swiped a career high five steals.

Palmieri added a team-high 19 points and six rebounds with an efficient 5-10 from behind the arc. McKayle was an assist shy from a double-double herself, chipping in 16 points and nine assists.  

UMass connected on a season-high 11 three pointers on a red-hot 55 percent from the field. It marks the first time since Nov. 9, 2023, against Northeastern, where Massachusetts hit double-digit triples, going 11-of-33 in that contest.  

With the victory, Massachusetts has won 13 straight games coming off a loss.  

Breaking Down the Action    
  • The Minutewomen started off the action, going 8-0 in the first four minutes with two three-point plays from McKayle and an Odenigbo layup 
  • Allie Palmieri got her first points of the game with a shot beyond the arc at 5:05, the third three-pointer of the game  
  • Olbrys extended the lead to 13 with a layup, assisted by Odenigbo 
  • A foul from Central Michigan's Buschell let McKayle capitalize with two free throws with less than two left in the quarter.  
  • Perkins made it a ten-point lead with 28 seconds left, ending the first quarter 18-8.  
  • Perkins continued the hot streak into the second quarter, nabbing a pair of free throws 17 seconds in. 
  • Olbrys added a layup at 8:25 
  • The Minutewomen went on another 8-0 run within one minute, led by Palmieri who scored five points and a three pointer from Franks  
  • Olbrys continued to convert, nabbing a steal and then a layup at 4:05 
  • The Minutewomen continued to extend the lead, going on a 10-0 run to end the half, led by Perkins who dished out four points 
  • The Chippewas Morson, finished off the half with a three pointer at the buzzer, narrowly keeping Central Michigan's deficit under 20 points.  
  • McKayle started the second half for the Minutewomen, sinking her third three-point shot at 7:33 
  • Olbrys found her away around Central Michigan's defense to put in a jumper  
  • Palmieri added her fourth shot beyond the arc to put the Minutewomen to 50 points with less than five left in the quarter  
  • The Chippewas went on a 10-0 run to attempt to close the 22-point deficit in the third and fourth quarter 
  • The Minutewomen quickly found their stride in the final quarter, going on a 10-2 run, with two three pointers from Perkins and Palmieri.  
  • Ferguson added another two with a layup and drew a foul from Anderson to get the chance to make it a three-point play but is unable to convert at 4:51 
  • This started off another small 6-0 run, to extend the Minutewomens lead to 23 
  • A turnover from Anderson allowed McKayle to dish out another two points 
  • Bullard finished the game off with a free throw with 35 seconds left in the match  
  • Johnson from Central Michigan made a three-point play with an and one, but it wasn't enough to recover from the Minutewomens offensive pressure, ending the game 69-50
Western Michigan 65, Northern Illinois 60
Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Senior Alli Carlson matched her season high with 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, as the Western Michigan women's basketball team held off Northern Illinois for a 65-60 win at University Arena on Saturday afternoon. 

Carslon was 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-7 from three, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing five rebounds. She was the only Bronco to reach double-digit points, while Kailey Starks had nine points, and a team-high four steals. 

WMU's defense forced 20 turnovers on the day and scored 20 points off of them. The Broncos (8-17, 4-10) also got 20 points from their bench, led by Alli Harness' eight and D'Myjah Bolds and Mary Clare Brusek both scoring six. 

The teams traded points to open the game until NIU had a 9-6 lead with 3:341 left in the first quarter. A layup by Brusek and a triple by Harness put the Broncos ahead 11-9 and it was the last time the Huskies were ahead. WMU closed out the quarter on a 12-2 run to take an 18-11 edge into the second quarter. 

The Broncos blew the game open in the second, holding Northern Illinois to just seven points, while scoring 14 to go up 32-18 at the half. WMU extended its lead to 37-20 early in the third quarter, but the Huskies battled back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 37-27 at the 4:53 mark. NIU went on another run to cut WMU's lead to 41-39 with 1:53 to play in the third, but the Broncos were able to push ahead and take a 44-41 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to a triple by Carlson. 

The senior guard opened with two more triples in the fourth quarter to keep the Broncos ahead 50-46 and a three by De'ahna Richardson pushed the lead to 59-48. But the Huskies wouldn't go away, going on a 9-0 run to get within two, 59-57. Carlson made a layup to go ahead 61-57 and then stole a pass from Maria Serracanta and drove down the court for two to push the lead to 63-57. 

A three-pointer by Sa'mahn Johnson cut WMU's lead to three, but Carlson made two free throws down the stretch and Bronco defense held the Huskie scoreless to the whistle. 

Bowling Green 61, Toledo 52
Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a 14-point second-quarter run to take control, and the Falcons went on to a 61-52 victory over the University of Toledo Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21).

Junior Paige Kohler had a game-high 17 points to lead four players in double figures for the Falcons (15-12, 7-8 Mid-American Conference). Sophomore Lauren Gerken scored 14 points off the bench, while junior Taya Ellis and soph Johnea Donahue had 10 points apiece.

Ellis had a double-double, with a game-high 11 rebounds and a game- and career-high six blocked shots vs. the Rockets (14-11, 8-6 MAC). Donahue had seven rebounds and game-best totals of seven assists and six steals, in the process shattering the school's single-season record in the latter category.

Kendall Carruthers was the lone double-digit scorer for the Rockets, with 13 points.

The first quarter featured nine lead changes, but after Gerken hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 18-18, the soph blocked a UT shot, with Kohler grabbing the rebound and going coast to coast for a layup in the final seconds. BGSU had the lead for good.

UT got within a single point on an Alexa Hocevar three-pointer early in the second quarter, but an Ellis putback began a 14-0 run for the Orange and Brown. Gerken hit back-to-back three-point shots, and after a pair of Donahue free throws, Ellis scored another pair of layups, and BG had a 36-21 lead.

The Rockets went without a point for a six-and-a-half minute span, but UT ended the half with eight consecutive points to cut BG's advantage to seven.

Kohler began the second half with a triple that increased the lead to 39-29, and that advantage ballooned to 17 when the junior capped a 7-0 BG run with a steal and layup with three minutes left in the third period.

Senior Emily Siesel gave the Falcons an 18-point lead, the largest of the game, with a three-ball early in the fourth quarter. Toledo cut the margin to 12 with four minutes left in the game, but BG held the visitors at bay, and the lead remained double digits until the Rockets made a three-pointer with just 15 seconds on the clock.

The Falcons forced UT into 21 turnovers while committing just 11, and BG had a 19-4 lead in points off turnovers. Ellis (six) and Gerken (three) combined for nine blocked shots in the win, and Ellis led all players with a plus/minus rating of +21.

Eastern Michigan 73, Buffalo 63
Box Score

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Sisi Eleko's 23 points led the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team in a 73-63 Mid-American Conference win over the University at Buffalo inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Saturday, Feb. 21.
 
Eleko's (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) nine 20-point games rank second in the MAC as the Eagles captured their first MAC win since they previously beat Buffalo on the road, Jan. 28, snapping a four-game losing streak.
 
Along with Eleko, Eastern had strong performances from Peyton Hill (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word Academy) (15 points, three rebounds, three assists), Fernanda Ovalle (Santiago, Chile/Montverde Academy/Xavier) (14 points, five rebounds), and Ainhoa Cea (Irun, Spain/IES Pio Baroja Bhi/Lipscomb) (six points, seven assists, four rebounds).
 
How it Happened
The Eagles headed into the first media timeout boasting a perfect six of six shooting from the field, which gave them a 15-11 lead with 4:53 remaining. Eastern continued the hot streak, finishing the quarter shooting 11-of-15 from the field, but Buffalo was able to stay in the game at 28-22, Eastern after one.

The point-per-second pace of the game stalled for both teams in the second quarter, during which the Eagles went scoreless for roughly six minutes while maintaining an eight-point lead by the end of the half, 39-31.

EMU controlled the third quarter and grew its lead to 16 thanks to 10 points by Eleko on 4-of-6 shooting and two free throws in the quarter.

The Eagles again kept the lead safe from the Bulls and stretched their advantage to 16 points with 5:26 remaining. The Eagles closed out the game and secured a 10-point, 73-63 victory.