Great Anticipation as CMU Women Tip Off
11/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The long wait is just about over.
For the Central Michigan women's basketball team, coach Sue Guevara, and two players in particular who have been eyeing this day with anticipation for a long time.
The Chippewas will tip off the 2014-15 season Sunday at McGuirk Arena with a non-league game against UMass, signaling the start of a season that holds arguably as much promise as any in the 40-plus-year history of the program.
"It's the first time we get to play, it's our opener, our home opener," said Sue Guevara, who is in her eighth season as the Chippewas' coach and her 34th in the coaching business. "So that's an excitement. I would feel that way if it was my first year or my 34th year.
"Now we get to go out and play and put our uniforms on and feel the atmosphere here in McGuirk, and I'm excited for the fans to see this year's version of this team."
Fueling the buzz is the fact that four starters return, along with a number of key reserves, from a team that finished 20-12 and won the Mid-American Conference West Division title last season. The Chippewas were picked to win the West and the league tournament in the preseason coaches poll.
For Chippewas Crystal Bradford and Lorreal Jones, the start of the season could not arrive soon enough.
Bradford was injured late last season and missed the conference tournament and CMU's season-loss in the Women's NIT. She earned MAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors and is an All-America candidate entering her senior season.
Jones, also a senior, transferred to CMU from Saint Louis before last season. She practiced every day with the Chippewas last season, but couldn't travel with the team or dress for games because of NCAA transfer rules. Sunday will mark her first official appearance in a Chippewa uniform.
"I am ready - I am ready and excited," Jones said. "I am happy, and anxious, to play and that I get a chance to play with great players."
Whether Jones starts Sunday -- or at some point down the road -- isn't much of an issue, Guevara said. Either way, the 6-foot forward from Detroit figures prominently into the Chippewas' plans and is a key cog.
"I tell the players, `Please don't get caught up with who starts. Get caught up in who finishes,'" Guevara said.
Bradford has undergone a grueling rehabilitation on her knee and has, understandably, been anxious to return to the court.
"I'm excited to be back playing with my teammates," Bradford said. "The biggest thing is just being able to go again."
Guevara said Bradford's playing time will be limited, just as her practice and scrimmage time has been closely monitored throughout the preseason.
The important thing, Guevara has said throughout the preseason, is that Bradford is 100 percent when the Chippewas open MAC play in early January.
"I don't expect her to give us 30 minutes a game," Guevara said of her early season plans for Bradford. "She played 20 in our last scrimmage. I think CB is understanding she's going to have limited minutes and eventually she's going to get the 35-36 minutes she wants."
UMass, which finished 4-27 last season, opened Friday with a 63-41 loss at Western Michigan.
The Chippewas' non-conference schedule, which has increasingly been regarded as one of the most difficult in the country in recent years, does indeed get tougher.
After the UMass game, they play host to perennial Southeastern Conference contender Kentucky, which is ranked 11th, on Saturday, Nov. 22, then head to Las Vegas for a Thanksgiving tournament in which they will play Richmond and Oregon.
