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MU comes up short against Eagles

By Daniel Taylor, For The Miami Student

The Miami University women's basketball team dropped a tough one Tuesday night, losing to Eastern Michigan University, 54-51.

Miami (4-20, 1-12 Mid-American Conference) had a 12-point lead midway through the first half, but allowed Eastern Michigan (13-10, 6-6 MAC) to climb to within two at the break.

"They went to the boards really well offensively," head coach Cleve Wright said.

The second half was back and forth at the beginning. Eastern would take hold and run its lead to 11.

Miami then had to play catch up and did so, battling back to within four with under a minute to go.

"It felt good that we were fighting," Wright said.

The leading scorer for Miami, once again, was freshman guard Baleigh Reid. She finished with 15.

Reid had the ball in her hand twice in the last minute. She missed both shots behind the 3-point line.

The RedHawks could not get a shot to fall and would ultimately fall to the Eagles.

"I feel like our kids played hard," Wright said. "We're going to keep building on it."

Outside of Reid, multiple RedHawks turned in solid performances Tuesday night.

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Freshman guard Ana Richter scored nine points, going 4 of 5 from the field. Richter added six rebounds.

Richter, a true freshman, has battled through bumps throughout the season, but says it is all part of the learning curve.

"I've definitely learned so much," Richter said. "I've just realized that there's a whole other level of things in college."

Junior forward Hannah McCue had a solid night eating glass as well. McCue had a team-high 13 rebounds and added eight points.

Miami as a team had a much better night rebounding than its last performance. The Red and White corralled 40 boards, including 13 offensive rebounds.

It was not enough to stop EMU and its leading scorer, sophomore guard Cha Sweeney.

Sweeney had a game high 16 points and eight assists.

The RedHawks have a four day break before heading north to play the University at Buffalo.

Buffalo (15-9, 8-5 MAC) defeated Kent State University 59-57 Wednesday night.

Cincinnati native and junior guard Mackenzie Loesing led the team with 19 points off the bench in the game.

The teams have already met once this season, with Buffalo getting the win in Oxford. The Bulls won that game easily, 71-51.

Senior center Christa Baccas led the Bulls with 14 points and 12 rebounds against the RedHawks.

Rebounding was the dominant area for Buffalo in the first matchup. The Bulls out rebounded the 'Hawks 45-34.

"We've got to take care of the ball, got to rebound the ball," Wright said, looking forward. "Those are both things we didn't do tonight."

Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Buffalo's Alumni Arena.