Women’s Hoops Falls To Miami Redhawks

OXFORD, Ohio – The Western Michigan women’s basketball team dropped its weekend contest to the Miami (OH) Redhawks 58-50 Saturday afternoon. Graduate Student guard Kaitlyn Zarycki led the Broncos with 17 points and one block.

During the first quarter Saturday, both teams battled back and forth to gain momentum over one another. On defense as a team, the Broncos held Miami to a quarter low 33.33% from the field and limited the Redhawks to only six field goal attempts. With their defensive effort, Miami would only build a lead as large as three points throughout the entire quarter. WMU would capture its first lead of the game after Zarycki knocked down a three pointer from an assisting Nile Muguira Orbe with 5:07 remaining in the first frame. After conceding the lead back to Miami, redshirt sophomore De’Ahna Richardson drilled a three pointer to tie the contest at eight all. Although Miami attempted to pull away in the final minutes of the first, senior guard Hannah Spitzley would conclude the quarter by converting on an and-one opportunity to give the Broncos a one point lead entering the second quarter. 

Maintaining their momentum, the Brown and Gold would open the quarter on a 7-0 run to begin the second frame. To spark the offense, Richardson would knock down a jumper and Zarycki would splash a three from downtown to give the Broncos a 18-10 lead within the second quarter’s first 2:04. After exchanging buckets midway through the quarter, WMU would close out the half with a 7-1 scoring run to take a five point lead into the break over the Redhawks, with the help of a deep three from senior Megan Wagner. At the break, WMU would take a 25-20 lead over the Redhawks. 

After the break, the Broncos were limited to seven third quarter points. Despite not scoring for the first four and a half minutes of the quarter, the Broncos were able to keep themselves in the game by maintaining a consistent defense. In the third, the Brown and Gold held Miami 0-5 from three and 5-14 from the field in the third. Over the next two minutes, a layup from Richardson and a three pointer by junior Kaiden Glenn would erase a five point deficit built by Miami and both teams were faced with a 30-30 tie with 3:30 remaining in the quarter. Transitioning into the fourth, Wagner would hit a jumper as time expired to put the game in a 32-32 deadlock entering the final quarter.

Today, the Brown and Gold scored a team high 18 points in the fourth, after shooting a quarter best 35.71% from the field. However, defensively, WMU allowed 26 Miami points. Over the first four minutes Miami exploded to a 14-4 run to take a 12 point lead over the Broncos. Down double digits with 5:30 remaining, the women’s basketball team battled back and created a six point swing by rallying back on a 10-2 run. With 1:38 remaining in the contest, Zarycki would net two free throws to pull WMU within four at 50-46 in favor of the Redhawks. Miami was able to build an eight point lead with one minute remaining, which forced the Broncos to foul in order to stop the clock.  Miami converted on six free throws in the final 1:36 to take the win over the Broncos Saturday. 

MAC Tournament Implications 

After their loss this afternoon, the Broncos are tied with Northern Illinois for the sixth seed in the Mid-American Conference standings. Bowling Green (6-5 in MAC) who currently occupies the fifth seed and is 1.5 games ahead of the Brown and Gold in the MAC standings face the Toledo Rockets (10-1 in MAC) tonight at 6:00 PM. 

Historical Notes 

Through 23 games played, Zarycki has 435 points and counting this season, which is the 22nd most points scored in a single season for the WMU women’s basketball program. To enter inside the top 10 of the WMU women’s basketball single season scoring record book, Zarycki needs to only score 60 more points.

With Saxman’s two steals, she improved her career total to 119 swipes and counting. After the conclusion of Saturday’s game, the senior is 18 steals away from passing Michelle Fortier (1990-93) for the 18th most steals recorded all-time in WMU women’s basketball history.   

Up Next

The Brown and Gold will return to University Arena to host cross-state rival Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday, February 21, at 7:00 PM for the women’s basketball team’s Play 4 Kay game.