Three days after a heartbreaking, last-second loss to the University at Buffalo, the Miami University women's basketball team travelled up to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) game against Eastern Michigan University.
The RedHawks (7-13, 3-6 MAC) took down the Eagles (12-8, 2-7 MAC) 71-65.
"[The win] felt good," sophomore forward Hannah McCue said. "We played as a team and we rebounded very, very well. It felt good to get that win on the road."
Miami head coach Cleve Wright said the team arrived in Oxford at 5:30 a.m. Friday, the students attended classes, and left for Ypsilanti the next day after a shoot around.
Wright said he was proud of the way the players handled the short turnaround.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half. The Red and White opened up the scoring and had a 5-0 lead early in the game courtesy of a three-point bucket from senior guard Hannah Robertson and a layup from redshirt senior center Kelsey Simon.
Simon finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Eagles led the RedHawks 21-15 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, but Miami was able to muster up a 12-2 run to close the half with a 27-23 lead.
The leading scorer and rebounder for the 'Hawks in the first half was McCue, as she tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes. McCue finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
"We went to the boards well, we really did a good job of boxing out," McCue said. "I think we had momentum and we ran with it the whole time."
The RedHawks and Eagles traded buckets to begin the second half before freshman guard Jillian Spurlock scored seven straight points to give the 'Hawks a 39-29 lead three and a half minutes into the second half. Spurlock finished the game with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds.
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The closest the Eagles could get for the rest of the half was a 51-50 deficit. When their lead was brought down to one point, the 'Hawks answered with back-to-back three pointers from junior guard Courtney Larson and Robertson. Robertson finished the game with 11 points and Larson finished with a team-high nine assists.
The RedHawks led the entire second half and won the rebounding battle 51-36. The 'Hawks shot 43.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc.
"We moved the ball really well in the second half," Wright said. "Today, I felt like we were able to respond to the runs [Easter Michigan] had. I'm really proud of the effort."
The RedHawks had four players in double digit scoring Sunday in McCue, Robertson, Simon and Spurlock.
The RedHawks have a few days of rest before they take on the University of Toledo (9-11, 4-5 MAC) Thursday in Millett Hall.
The Rockets have lost their last two games and four of their last six.
Toledo is shooting just 39.4 percent from the field.
Junior guard/forward Inma Zanoguera is the Rockets' leading scorer and rebounder. She is averaging 14.8 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game.
"We're going to go in and practice hard this week," McCue said. "We will continue to work on our rebounding and our shooting. We're going to continue to keep each other up and focus on what we've been doing really well."
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