Miami University
Central Michigan
Valiant RedHawk Comeback Falls Short, 60-54
1/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Ohio – Senior guard Courtney Larson and freshman guard Kayla Brown had career nights and the Miami women’s basketball team held Central Michigan to just 36.8 percent shooting, but could not finish off a comeback bid in a 60-54 loss on Wednesday night.
The RedHawks fall to 3-12 (0-4 Mid-American) with the setback.
Both teams traded buckets over the first few minutes as the score was tied at four apiece after freshman guard Baleigh Reid’s jumper 4:09 into the contest. CMU (9-6, 4-0 MAC) edged in front 9-5, but Brown canned a three-pointer to pull the Red and White within one with 11:10 to go in the opening stanza. That trifecta seemed to spur on the outside shooting as CMU’s Kerby Tamm answered with a trey of her own on the next possession, though Larson answered for MU immediately after.
A Crystal Bradford layup pushed the Chippewas’ lead to 14-11. The RedHawks persevered and poured in the next four points to grab their first lead of the night, 15-14, with freshman guard Ana Richter hitting a layup and two free throws with 8:24 to go in the first half.
Central Michigan countered with six-straight points to go up 20-15 with 3:44 to go, but Miami continued battling valiantly down the stretch of the first half. Freshman guard Jazz Smith’s three-pointer spurred a 6-0 MU run that also featured a Reid free throw and two makes by junior forward Hannah McCue from the charity stripe gave the Red and White a 21-20 advantage with a minute and a half remaining. Bradford made a running jumper to put CMU back on top, but Reid evened the score with a free throw with 35 seconds to go. That tie was snapped when Tamm hit a three-pointer to send the RedHawks into the locker room trailing 25-22 at the half.
Larson opened the second half with a three-pointer to even the score at 25 apiece. After a Bradford layup put MU down two, Larson again dialed long distance to give the Red and White a 28-27 lead. Bradford again hit a layup to put CMU back on top, though Reid countered with a baseline jumper to make it a 30-29 MU advantage with 17:24 remaining.
The Chippewas answered with a 9-0 run to go up 38-30 with 14:28 remaining. Two Brown three-pointers were sandwiched around a Da’Jourie Turner basket by CMU, leaving the RedHawks down 40-36 with 13:10 showing on the clock. The next run went to CMU as it scored six-straight points to open up its largest lead of the night at 46-36 midway through the final frame.
CMU’s lead got as large as 11 at 47-36, but MU grinded away to keep within striking distance. Trailing 53-45 with under four minutes remaining, Larson drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions to pull the RedHawks to within two points at 53-51 with 1:50 to go. Bradford immediately answered with a running jumper to up the Chippewas’ lead to four. A Miami turnover on the next possession was followed by a Jasmine Bracey layup that dug it into a 57-51 hole in the final minute. McCue had a good look for a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, but it rimmed out and the Chippewas gathered the rebound before putting the game away at the foul line.
Larson (18 points) and Brown (17 points) combined for 35 points on 11-of-25 shooting, but the rest of the team only hit 5-of-34 shots from the floor. Overall, CMU hit 36.8 percent of its shots to MU’s 27.1 percent. The RedHawks’ long-range shooting kept them close as they connected on 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) of their three-pointers while holding the Chippewas to 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. CMU controlled the glass with a 49-38 edge in rebounding, including 30-14 in the second half. Miami hit 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) free throws compared to Central Michigan’s 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) figure.
Miami returns to the court on Saturday when it hosts Akron at 2 p.m. That contest is the second Dollar Days game of the season. Admission is only $1 with select concession items only $2.
