MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team delivered a valiant effort against the Mid-American Conference West Division leader Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell 74-70 to its rivals in Mount Pleasant. The Broncos fall to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in league play.

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"It was a phenomenal effort by our team, there is no reason we shouldn't have won this game," commented WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. "I thought we were dynamite in every facet of the game except our fouls and allowing them to go to the free-throw line but give CMU credit. It is a great opportunity for our team to learn from."

The last time these two teams met was in the 2017 MAC Tournament quarterfinals, as the No. 8 seed Broncos upset No. 1 seed Chippewas, 67-63, but today Central Michigan had its revenge.

The Broncos dominated the stat sheet in almost every category on the afternoon. Western Michigan outrebounding CMU 36-23 and allowed just five offensive rebounds while capitalizing on 32 points in the paint. As a team, WMU shot 48.3 percent from the hardwood (25-of-58) including a season-high 57.1 rate from three-point territory. The Bronco bench came to play as well, scoring 26 with 17 coming from freshman. The big difference in the game was free-throws, as the Chips went 25-for-30 compared to WMU's 6-of-7.

Central Michigan led the entire first stanza after a 7-2 run to start the game. The Broncos were able to even the score at 12 just before the media timeout as senior Najee Smith hit a three from the corner but another late run by the Chips forced WMU to fall behind by three.

Without a bucket in the first three minutes of the second, Western Michigan went on an 8-0 run of its own to take its first lead of the game. From there the teams traded buckets but the Brown and Gold took a one-point lead heading into the locker room.

The Broncos led by as many as four in the third before the Chippewas regained the lead with 1:38 left to play in the quarter. With a seven-point advantage for the Broncos with 3:28 left to play, WMU couldn't put the Chips away. CMU mounted a 14-3 run, sealing the victory to remain undefeated in the league. Western Michigan had a couple good chances at the end but costly turnovers and fouls ultimately hurt the Brown and Gold.

Junior Breanna Mobley led WMU with 15 points, her 18^th double digit game this season, to go along with eight points off 7-of-11 shooting. Redshirt junior Jasmyn Walker delivered 12 points for the Brown and Gold including six straight points in the final minutes before hurting her knee and was forced to sit the remainder of the game.

Freshman Jordan Walker had arguably her best game in conference play going 4-for-4 from behind the arc­­­­ for 12 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. Junior guard Deja Wimby had another overall solid game, posting nine points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals.

The Broncos return home next week, playing the next three of the four games inside University Arena. The Broncos welcome reigning MAC Tournament champions Toledo for "Lunatics Night" on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. and Akron on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. for a pair of home matches next week. WMU will make a quick trip to Bowling Green (Feb. 7) before welcoming Ball State (Feb. 10) for its annual Play4Kay Pink Game.