Down by as many as nine points in the second half, the Miami University women's basketball team was able to battle back against Central Michigan University for a thrilling come-from-behind road victory.
Senior guard Amanda Jackson hit the go-ahead bucket with 28 seconds remaining to put the 'Hawks up for good in their 76-74 win.
Jackson, who had her 20th consecutive game in double figures, led the Red and White with 19 points. However, Jackson wasn't the only contributing RedHawk, as Miami had eight players score and four finish with double-digit point totals.
"Although it was ugly, we did what we needed to do to come up with the W," junior guard Jenna Schone said.
Central Michigan played five guards, which gave Miami's women the height and power advantage down low. Looking to exploit the undersized Chippewas, forwards Laura Markwood and Stephanie Ford quickly became a big part of Miami's game plan.
Time and time again the 'Hawks were able to feed the ball inside where they could finish with easy buckets. Markwood and Ford were a combined 12-16 from the field on the night for a total of 28 points.
The two teams came out of the locker rooms tied at 32 a piece at half time. Central Michigan then proceeded to rip off a 15-6 run to open the second half and take the clock inside of the 16 minute media timeout. Down by nine late in the game and on the road, the 'Hawks looked to Schone's unselfish play to climb back. She tacked on two assists and a 3-pointer, while leading Miami on an 11-3 charge that brought the RedHawks within one.
"We held our composure," Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa said. "Central is scrappy and made a lot of runs on us but our players really stuck together."
Miami's women were not done yet. The 'Hawks had barely cooled off from their previous hot streak when they promptly put together yet another run of their own; rattling off 15 unanswered points, the Red and White took a commanding 12-point lead with under five minutes to play.
"We knew that we had to get some defensive stops so that we could get things offensively," Schone said. "When we get things defensively that makes our offense a lot easier, and when we get easy points off of our defense that also takes a lot pressure off the offense."
The Chippewas would not go quietly into the night. Storming all the way back to take the lead with under a minute remaining, it seemed as though the home side had delivered a final knock-out punch in this back and forth second half battle of heavyweight blows. But here in the closing seconds of the game, Jackson came through in the clutch once again for Miami with a heel-popping kiss off the glass for the lead.
"Having a teammate on the floor that I know I can trust every play is a great feeling," Schone said of Jackson. "Knowing that we can go to her for a basket at any point is also nice to have."
Fresh off an overtime win in which she became Miami's all-time leading scorer, Jackson now has moved past Heather Cusick on the all-time field goals made chart with 607.
"She has every aspect of her game right now," Fantanarosa said. "She's the best player in the conference."
Now 13-9 on the season and 5-3 in Mid-American Conference play, the 'Hawks look to their next match against Western Michigan University. The RedHawks will be returning home after a two-game road trip in which Miami did not lose. Tip time against the Broncos is 2 p.m. Saturday.
