Chippewas Finish Eight-Game Road Trip at Toledo

Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video

Central Michigan (9-6, 1-0) vs. Toledo (7-6, 0-1)

Sunday, January 8, 2 p.m., Toledo, Ohio, Savage Arena

Broadcast Information
Live Audio: 91.5 wmhw-fm

Preview

The two top pre-season choices, Central Michigan and Toledo, will face off in the second game of Mid-American Conference play on Sunday. The Rockets were picked to finish first in the MAC West and win the MAC Tournament (33 votes), while the Chippewas were picked second in the West and in the Tournament (10 votes).

This will be the 67th meeting of these two teams, dating back to 1980. UT owns a 40-26 edge in the all-time series, and is 6-2 in the past four years. The last win for CMU at Savage Arena came back in 2006. These two teams met up twice last year with each team winning one game on their own home court.

The Maroon and Gold are coming off an 86-67 win to begin MAC play over Northern Illinois on Thursday night, while the Rockets fell, 70-67, to Western Michigan. CMU comes into the game with the second best overall scoring offense in the conference, averaging 72.6 points per game, while UT has the second best scoring defense, holding its opponents to 58.3 points per game. Both of these teams are among the top-five in field goal percentage, and the Rockets are the best three-point shooting team overall in the conference at 38.3 percent. Another battle will be on the boards. CMU is the number one rebounding team in the MAC, averaging 43.3 rebounds a game, while UT is only allowing its opponents to grab 33.7 boards.

Four of the top 10 scorers in the MAC will be on display in CMU's Crystal Bradford (14.5 points per game) and Jessica Green (11.7 points per game) and UT's Andola Dortch (13.8 points per game) and Courtney Ingersoll (12.3 point per game).

Probable Starters
		Name	Ht.	Yr.	GP-GS	PPG	RPG		Notes
(1) G	3	Jessica Green	5-10	Fr.	15-9	11.7	4.3	2.8 APG	Scored a season-high 24 points to begin MAC play.
(2) G	4	Kylie Welch	5-4	So.	8-6	1.4	0.1	1.4 APG	Against Southeast Missouri State she had a career-high nine points.
(3) G	31	Jordan LaDuke	5-11	So	7-5	8.1	4.1	1.4 3PG	Hit a season-high five threes against the College of Charleston.
(4) F	23	Crystal Bradford	6-0	Fr.	14-12	13.6	7.9	2.3 APG	Has posted four double-doubles this season.
(5) F	32	Jas'Mine Bracey	6-2	Fr.	14-14	11.0	7.4	1.5 BPG	Has three double-doubles on the season.

News and Note

The Series -- The Rockets own a 40-26 edge in the all-time series that began in 1980, and a 6-2 advantage since head coach Sue Guevara took over the Chippewas' bench. These two teams faced each other twice last year with each team winning a game on their own home court. UT has won four straight meetings on its home floor, with CMU's last win at Savage Arena coming in 2006.

The Rockets were tabbed as this year's preseason number one in the MAC West as well as MAC Tournament Champions (33 votes). CMU was picked to finish second in the MAC West and were second in the MAC Tournament standings with 10 votes.

MAC Openers -- The Chippewas have started the MAC schedule on the road four out of the last five seasons, including this year against NIU. CMU is 2-3 in MAC openers under head coach Sue Guevara, and for the second straight year has won its MAC opener under Guevara (at Western Michigan 1/5/11, 72-62, at Northern Illinois 1/5/11, 86-67). The Chippewas are 11-22 on the road during conference play during Guevara's tenure.

Freshmen Force -- Three freshmen are leading CMU's offense - Crystal Bradford, Jas'Mine Bracey and Jessica Green. Bradford has posted four double-doubles against PITT, South Florida, Ole Miss, and Wright State. She is currently averaging 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. She has also scored in double figures in every game but one this season. Bradford ranks seventh among NCAA freshmen in field goal percentage (42.7) and is eighth in blocked shots per game (1.9) (as of 1/6/12).

Green is second on the team in scoring averaging 11.7 points and 2.8 assists a game.

Bracey, who is third on the team in scoring, is averaging 10.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She has scored 20 or more points twice this season.

Road Warriors -- The win at Northern Illinois marks the seventh straight game the Chippewas have been on the road. This is the second road stretch the Maroon and Gold have been on this season. It began on Dec. 14 with a win at Ole Miss. They followed that game up by competing in the Wright State Invitational where they went 3-0. They finished the 2011 calendar year going 1-1 during the Tulane Holiday Invitational.

The Chippewas finished their first road trip 2-3. After dropping their first two road games in Pennsylvania CMU was able to claim their first win in the Carrs/Safeway Alaska Shootout.

While on the road the Maroon and Gold have played in four overtime games holding a 3-1 record. They are averaging 72.9 points a game while holding the opponent to only 68.8. They are forcing the home team into 22 turnovers a game while only committing 19 themselves. CMU is also averaging 4.5 blocks and 12.4 both greater then the home team.

Changing it Up -- Head coach Sue Guevara has now used six different line-ups this season. The current lineup, which is 2-0 this season, consists of three freshmen and two sophomores. Heading into the Wright State Invitational she had used a consistent line up for six straight games. She changed things up at WSU and started Brandie Baker, Kylie Welch, Jordan LaDuke, Crystal Bradford, and Jas'Mine Bracey. That lineup holds a 3-1 record.

Double or Nothing -- Four different players have posted double-doubles this season. Crystal Bradford leads the way with four double-doubles while Jas'Mine Bracey has three.

Brandie Baker	vs. Purdue (16 pts., 10 rebs.)
Jas'Mine Bracey	at Robert Morris (21 pts., 11 rebs.)
	vs. Longwood (18 pts., 15 rebs.)
	vs. College of Charleston (18 pts., 15 rebs.)
Crystal Bradford	at PITT (18 pts., 12 rebs.)
	vs. South Florida (22 pts., 17 rebs.)
	at Ole Miss (12 pts., 14 rebs.)
	at Wright State (17 pts., 13 rebs.)
Taylor Johnson	at Ole Miss (16 pts., 10 rebs.)

Overtime Anyone? -- In the win over the College of Charleston the Maroon and Gold used overtime for the fourth time this year. This makes it the most extra time games played since the 2004-05 season. Thus far the Chippewas hold a 3-1 record in overtime games. CMU has never played in more than four overtime games in a single season.

Rebounding Key to Chippewas' Success -- In the win over Ole Miss, CMU grabbed a total of 61 rebounds, the most since 2004 when it also grabbed 61 against Tri-State and the fifth-most in program history. As a team the Chippewas are in the top four in the conference for rebounding and have three players averaging more than 5.5 rebounds per game.

Hit the Free Ones -- Against Ole Miss CMU shot 41 free throws - the most since the team attempted 49 against Miami last year. The Chippewas have been to the line 20 or more times in eight games this year. They have made over 60 percent of their free throws in 12 of the 15 games. LaDuke is a near perfect 9-for-10 while Johnson is 24-for-29.

MAC Preseason Poll --

East Division
1. Bowling Green
2. Miami
3. Akron
4. Kent State
5. Ohio
6. Buffalo

West Division
1. Toledo
2. Central Michigan
3. Eastern Michigan
4. Northern Illinois
5. Ball State
6. Western Michigan

MAC Tournament Winner
Toledo (33 votes)