With 3:38 to go in Central Michigan women’s basketball’s contest against Butler University, CMU’s Riley Smith hit a three-pointer from the left wing to bring her point total to 14. It was a career-high in points for the junior who only played in 13 games last season due to an injury.
However, Smith’s career day was not enough to propel CMU over Butler, falling 74-42 at home.
“She [Smith] was our most consistent player today, and it’s not a surprise because she’s in the gym working,” CMU head coach Kristin Haynie said. “She cares, she’s passionate, she’s become more of a vocal leader.”
Sarah Brown and Audrey Parker, two CMU freshmen, both got their first playing time of the season. Brown had a three-pointer, rebound and assist.
“Sarah was a good spark off the bench with her limited minutes,” Haynie said. “Sarah plays hard, too, so we’re looking forward to having her at full strength.”
Butler led CMU 17-11 after the first quarter, but a nearly 10-minute run from Butler that stretched from the first quarter into the second quarter left the Chippewas trailing by 13 at halftime.
Butler came into the game having scored over 100 points in its first two games of the season.
CMU forced the Bulldogs into 24 turnovers, but the Chippewas turned the ball over 33 times themselves.
“We just have to not let turnovers affect our effort,” Haynie said. “That’s what’s happening is we’re letting mistakes affect our effort, and so we have just got to play through that. We’re looking forward to a week of practice to clean things up, cleaning up our offense, being tougher with the ball and getting better for our next opponent.”
The Butler Bulldogs are now 3-0 in their first year under head coach Maria Marchesano.
Nevaeh Jackson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 points on Sunday and Jacy Weisbrod added 14 points off the bench.
Central Michigan, after falling to 0-3 on the young season, will host the University of Michigan on Monday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m.
The Wolverines are currently ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and beat the No. 2 University of Connecticut last Thursday.
“Michigan’s a great talent,” Haynie said. “They’re one of the best in the nation, beating UConn, and Kim [Barnes Arico] does a good job with them.”
Haynie is looking forward to playing Michigan at McGuirk Arena for the first time since 2021.
“It’ll be awesome for our community, our fans,” Haynie said. “For them to play in front of our crowd, it is great. They put a really good basketball product out on the court, and we’re looking forward to playing against them.”
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