Wayland High School graduate Presley Hudson posted 27 points to lead a dynamic Central Michigan women’s basketball team to a 79-58 win over the College of Charleston on Friday in McGuirk Arena.
Hudson notched her 1,000th career point at the beginning of her junior season in the Chippewas’ opener against Purdue and nailed seven of 12 three-point shots to lead CMU to victory.
The College of Charleston put the pressure on CMU, causing a slow start for the Chippewas in the first quarter. Central Michigan also made some costly mistakes, recording two turnovers before they even had points on the board.
“Who is this team?” CMU coach Sue Guevara asked her players after calling a timeout less than two minutes into the game. “We had lackadaisical passes, we had more turnovers than we had points. It was stunning to me how we started this game. It was very disappointing. The message was to play for what’s across your chest.”
The Chippewas trailed by as many as 11 points midway through the first quarter, but a 3-pointer by Aleah Swary sparked a 13-3 CMU run, giving the Chippewas the momentum they needed. Micaela Kelly hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Chippewas their first lead, 19-18. They never trailed again.
“We can score when we need to score,” Guevara said. “We have five people that can score, but you can’t score if you turn it over. Aleah came off the bench for us and gave great energy and she shot. We were passing up shots and once we stopped doing that, they started going in.”
After halftime, the Chippewas ran with their lead and didn’t look back. Central Michigan led by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“We have a lot of weapons on the floor,” Hudson said. “So if they take away one, another person is going to step up every game. It’s hard to contain all five people, so we’ll all step up.”
Hudson, daughter of Wayland High School varsity basketball coach Mike Hudson, was an all-state performer for the Lady Wildcats and was runner-up in the balloting for Miss Basketball in 2015. She owns the Wayland career scoring record and the game scoring record at CMU with 43 points.