Notes from a not-so-good day for MAC basketball, starting with the women who had the majority of the games:
CMU 100, Southeast Missouri State 59 — The lone MAC win of the day came with a nice graze of the century mark, the second by a MAC team this year and the first against a D-I opponent. Five Chips finished in double-figures and nobody played more than 25 minutes, since the big lead let everyone play. In the end freshman Kerby Tamm was the game high scorer with 17 points. Even though SEMO outrebounded them, they were held to a mere 36.3 eFG%. And this CMU team is just rolling right now.
Milwaukee 60, Toledo 57 — One of the more winnable games of the day was completely blown by the Rockets. No excuses here. They were up by 16 points with less than 10 minutes to play but Milwaukee wiped the lead clean in just 5:23. The UWM center was able to dominate given that Yolanda Richardson committed five fouls in five minutes. Her backup Kyle Baumgartner did nicely on the other side though with 17 minutes. But a total of 25 Rockets fouls helped the Panthers pile up 33 free throw attempts to UT's 10.
Creighton 49, BGSU 47 — In a very slooooow game, it was impossible for either team to make a big run (except for BGSU's early 18-8 lead) but the Falcons just couldn't maintain any momentum after that. They led late but were held scoreless in the final two minutes. Chalk it up to a road loss typical of a young team, I guess. Chrissy Steffen led them with 10 points.
Valparaiso 67, Ball State 53 — The Cards led at halftime, but not by much and Valpo's second-half defense manifested thanks to a 34-18 advantage in the final 20 minutes. Jazmin Hitchens did the best for the Cardinals with 15 points.
Youngstown State 78, Akron 72 — How's about another blown lead? It's not as grave (eight points with six minutes to play) and they were also short-handed thanks to Rachel Tecca who appeared to miss the game with what I'm guessing was an injury (although I cannot find any information on this). Hanna Luburgh had a career-best 20 points and Sina King added 15.
Canisius 81, Kent State 64 — Still no joy anywhere they travel this year. Itziar Llobet led the way for the young Flashes with 19 points and they kept it clean with just 10 turnovers but lost key battles inside, mainly on rebounding and getting to the free throw line.
Oklahoma 89, OHIO 57 – So, ouch. The Sooners made the Sweet 16 a year ago and really just tossed around their OU body doubles around all night. Porsha Harris scored 13 for the Bobcats but they were outrebounded 41-23.
Long Beach State 76, WMU 56 — Maria Iaquaniello scored 22 points and had five steals but The Beach shared the wealth and had 27 assists.
The one men's game:
Iowa State 59, CMU 52 — They're not a great team, but in small portions the Chippewas can be dangerous if defended incorrectly. At one point the Cyclones held a 27-11 advantage in the first half but actually led the damn thing with six minutes to go, which eventually woke up the Big XII opponents. It was another impressive day for Trey Zeigler, who finished with 19 points and went 6-for-6 from the line, but was the only CMU player who even took free throws.
Today's men's games:
7:00 p.m. — Ball State at IUPUI
7:00 p.m. — Youngstown State at Akron
Today's women's games:
2:30 p.m. — Longwood vs. CMU in Dayton (Wright State Invitational)
3:00 p.m. — OHIO vs. Xavier in Las Vegas (Duel in the Desert)
7:00 p.m. — Northeastern at Miami