Talent, Depth, Experience Fuel High Hopes

Nov. 4, 2014

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - There's a long way to go until March.

And it could be a very fun, memorable and even historic ride.

"We're taller than what we've ever been, we're bigger than what we've ever been, we're longer than what we've ever been," said Central Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara Tuesday at the team's Media Day. "You get to a point where it's like, `I'm tired of practicing, let us play.' And we're getting to that point."

True, the Chippewas are taller, bigger and longer than they have ever been in Guevara's eight-year tenure in Mount Pleasant.

They may also be more talented and more experienced. And, hungriar.

"We want to leave our legacy here," said senior Crystal Bradford, the reigning MAC Player of the Year. "It should be a show this year. I'm shooting for a movie-like fairytale ending here."

Bradford could go down as the best ever to wear a Chippewa uniform. She is joined by fellow seniors -- returning starters all - Jas'Mine Bracey, Jessica Green and Kerby Tamm. Lorreal Jones, a senior, joins the fray this season after sitting out last season after transferring from Saint Louis.

The quartet of Bradford, Bracey, Green and Tamm has been at the forefront of an amazing three-year stretch during which the Chippewas have gone a combined 61-40, made an NCAA Tournament appearance, earned two WNIT bids, and won the Mid-American Conference Tournament in 2013.

But there have been disappointments along the way too. The Chippewas won the Mid-American Conference West Division title last season, then lost in the league tournament semifinals without an injured Bradford.

Three years ago, when Bradford and Co. were freshmen, the Chippewas lost a one-point heartbreaker in the MAC championship game.

Now, there is a sense of urgency, the potential to do something truly special. The Chippewas are savoring that opportunity.

"It's definitely a now-or-never thing because we're not going to get this moment back," Bracey said. "This is our last year."

The focus, Guevara said, is squarely on the future, not the past.

"It's been talked about, but that's all in the past," she said. "Now it's time to go get it.

"Everybody is picking up, taking it up, doing one more thing for this team. It's one more time. One more. That's kind of what we've been talking about all year. One more."

The health of Bradford is critical to how far the Chippewas could go in 2014-15. She has rehabilitated her knee, but Guevara is taking a pragmatic approach in bringing her star up to full speed.

"The most important thing is for her to be 100 percent on Jan. 3 when we open (the MAC schedule) with Kent," said Guevara, who, entering her 35th year in the coaching business, knows the focus has to remain on the big picture. "To win a championship, you have to be lucky, you have to get some 50-50 balls, and you have to stay injury-free."

The biggest holes to fill are those left by the graduation of sharpshooting guard NIki DiGuilio and forward Taylor Johnson, a two-time MAC Sixth Player of the Year.

Both were long-range threats (DiGuilio is CMU's all-time leader in three-pointers), and Guevara will look to the likes of Tamm and Green to fill the void.

"I'm embracing it," said Tamm, who knocked down 62 triples (42.2 percent of her attempts) last season and is seventh on CMU's all-time list with 121. "I want to do what's best for the team and that's my role. Coach tells me I have the ultimate green light. That's the first thing I have to do when I catch the ball, look for my shot."

Green is also well aware that she needs to score from long range.

"I've been working on my three ball," she said. "I get in early every day and shoot 150 threes before practice."

The 6-foot-2 Bracey has proven to be a force in the post. Last season, she was one of just two MAC players to average a double-double - 10.9 points, 10.6 rebounds.

Bracey should get some help down low from the likes of the 6-foot Jones.

"Loreal Jones is just a beast," Guevara said. "She's really good inside, she can jump, she finishes inside and she can defend (positions) one-through-five."

There won't be much of a drop-off when Guevara goes to her bench. Junior guard DaJourie Turner and sophomore forward Jewel Cotton have logged significant playing time, and the Chippewas feature a five-player freshman class that has assimilated well, Guevara said.

"I really like this freshman class," she said. "They work so hard, and there's no complaints and they're just very, very coachable.

"The seniors have really done a good job of taking them under their wing and helping them understand that look, you've got to help us do this. And then it'll be your turn."

Guevara has installed a new defense, the pack line, which resembles a sagging man-to-man, the better to stymie penetration, and teams that play it generally rebound well.

"I hate playing against the pack line, and that's exactly why we went to it," Guevara said. "We started with it last spring so our upperclassmen got an idea of what it was like.

"Northern Illinois' women run it, and Northern Illinois is one of the best defenses in our conference and we always struggle against them. So I thought, you know, we're going to run that thing. And I think it's going to help us when we play our non-conference games too because we're playing bigger people."

The non-league portion of the schedule is, once again, rugged. It includes second-ranked South Carolina, 11th-ranked Kentucky, 22nd-ranked Dayton (twice), along with Minnesota.

South Carolina is the defending Southeastern Conference regular-season champion, Kentucky is a perennial SEC contender, Dayton is the defending Atlantic 10 champion, and the Golden Gophers are coming off a 20-win season, a WNIT appearance, and features the 2014 Big Ten freshman of the year, Amanda Zahui B.

"I'm a glutton for a tough non-conference schedule and I think that's only going to help us when it comes to the MAC," Guevara said. "I think it benefitted us last year."

The Chippewas were picked to win the MAC West and the league tournament in the coaches preseason poll.

Guevara knows there is a lot of basketball to be played before any of that potential can be realized. So do her players. And they're also well aware - for the core of the team, anyway - that this is their last shot.

"People are going to give us a run for our money," Green said. "We have that target on our back. There's no coming back. Everything has to be left out on the floor. You never know what could happen. You play every game like it's your last. It's all or nothing. I really want that second (championship) ring. I definitely want to be a part of that, and to get into the NCAA Tournament."