These last two games will have most MAC teams battling for seed spots, We are 5th now, with 2 wins and 2 Kent losses ( they have tough games) we could get 4th. If we lose both games and BG wins both games, we could drop to #6. Central is 7-7, Western is 7-9, NIU ( our opponent on Saturday) is 6-10. Those 3 teams are battling for the last 2 spots in the MAC Tournament.
Miami is now 18-9 (10-6). Central is 12-16 (7-9). They are 3-0 vs Miami since Coach Box took over, all 3 games went down to the wire. In January we lost a defensive struggle in Mt. Pleasant 47-46. The lead changed hands 4 times in the last minute, with Amber Tretter twice scoring to give us a 1 point lead and freshman point guard Madi Morson answering each time with a 15 footer to give Central the lead. We missed a couple of shots for the win in the last 5 seconds. Almost for sure we lost this game because our probable all MAC freshman teamer Tamar Singer was out with an injury and not there to guard Morson. As Cool Papa has pointed out Tamar is certainly one of the best if not the best on ball defender in the MAC and is very tough on other point guards.
Central lost their last two games to top teams, Miami has won 7 of 8, which included going 5 and 0 on the road, and all 5 wins were decided in the 4th quarter or OT.
Miami is led by soph Enjulina Gonzlalez at 16.9ppg , 3rd in the MAC and Soph Amber Tretter averaging 10.7/9.0, we are two wins this week at home away from a 20 win season for the team picked 8th in the MAC preseason. A reminder that free tickets are available for both the Friday night men’s game and the Saturday afternoon women’s game, both will be Senior Night and Senior Day.
Madi Morson is almost for sure going to be the MAC FOY at 16.4 ppg and fellow freshman Ayannah-Sarai Darrintgon averages 10/7 likely to make the All MAC freshman tesm. 5-8 SR Jess Lawson averages 11.3/8.8. As a team Central leads the MAC in rebounding. They are physical and active.
Thanks. We pay less attention to the women’s team, but Glenn Box has done a remarkable job. Given the circumstances in which he arrived and the timing, I figured that was at least a three-year rebuilding job. But the program has made tremendous strides quickly on a good foundation. Fifth place in the standings probably doesn’t win MAC coach of the year, but he should get some votes for getting Miami out of the ditch so fast.
We lost by 3 points in OT. We actually played pretty well, but this was a step up in competition from most of our recent opponents. We lost the game because of two related things. We were outrebounded by 20, but most of that happened in the 4th quarter and Overtime when Amber Tretter, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds got in foul trouble and fouled out and only played about 2 or 3 of the last 17 minutes. No one else was able to rebound against Central, who is very athletic and great leapers and quick to the ball. They easily lead the MAC in rebounding and that is why they won the game. With Tretter out we had a disastrous run where we went from 8 ahead with 8 minutes to go to down 6 with a minute to go. We then got a pair of 3’s in the last minute, with Katey Richason tieing the game with 3 seconds to go. In OT we also had a chance to tie at the end of the game but were unable to get an open look at a 3.
CMU’s two freshman stars were very impressive 5-7 Madi Morson got 16 points, which is her average. 6-1 freshman Ayannah-Sarai Darrington had 9 points and 16 rebounds. Sr 5-8 guard Jess Lawson added 12 more rebounds.
Enjulina Gonzalez worked hard for her 11 points and contributed in other stats but her shooting slump continued, going 5 for 15. Maya Chandler led with 15 points and Tamar Singer had a nice performance, particularly being second on the team in rebounding with 5 and with her second consecutive game of really nice ballhandling numbers, going 6 assists to 2 turnovers.
In the last two years we are now 0-4 vs Central Michigan and all 4 losses have been just as close and just as hard to take. We also have gone 0-4 vs UB… Both those teams have similar advantages in speed and leaping ability to our team and that seems to be a bad matchup for us. Something for the staff to consider when looking at girls to add for next season.