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MU falls to CMU despite Purvis' 18 points

D5016 Women's Basketball vs NKU
D5016 Women's Basketball vs NKU

By Julia Rivera, The Miami Student

After a 77-54 loss at Central Michigan University on Friday evening, the Miami University women's basketball team fell to 8-11 overall and 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference. CMU improved to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the MAC.

Freshman point guard Leah Purvis led the team, scoring Miami's first 11 points and finishing the first quarter with 14. She finished with a total of 18 points and was 7 for 14 from the field.

Miami reached a season-high of 10 three-point field goals. In addition to Purvis' four, sophomore guards Jazz Smith and Ana Richter each hit two. The 'Hawks were hot in the first half, hitting 8-of-10.

The RedHawks kept up with the Chippewas, trailing by just two at the end of the first quarter. To start the second quarter, Richter and sophomore guard Kayla Brown hit back-to-back threes, putting Miami in front 23-17. The Chippewas fired back with a three-pointer with 4:51 left until halftime. Miami did not score again, while the Chippewas went on a 10-0 run to take a 30-26 lead into halftime.

The RedHawks shot 30 percent during the first half, but hit 47.1 percent from three-point range. Miami held CMU to 37.5 percent shooting for the frame.

Coming out of the break, the Chippewas scored the first eight points of the third quarter, forcing the 'Hawks to take an early timeout.

Richter hit a layup out of the break, but Central Michigan answered with a 12-0 run to pull away, bringing the score to 46-28 with 4:09 to go. Despite a three-pointer from Richter and layups by sophomore guard Kendall McCoy and senior forward Tamira Ford, the Chippewas took a 57-37 advantage into the final period.

The RedHawks' shots remained cold in the first half of the fourth quarter as CMU extended its lead. Trailing 77-47, Miami scored the final seven points on a layup and three-pointer from freshman forward Kristen Levering and two free throws from Ford, but Central Michigan came away with the 77-54 win.

The Chippewas hit 18-of-28 from the field in the second half, including 7 for 11 from behind the arc to pull away.

In addition to 18 points from Purvis, Richter and Smith each scored eight points. Junior guard Jasmine Harris led CMU with 17 points.

Miami returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Kent State University for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

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