Another Big Non-Leaguer Ahead of MAC Opener
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - One final tuneup ahead of the Mid-American Conference opener.
But the Central Michigan women's basketball team cannot afford to approach Wednesday's home matchup with Dayton as simply a way to stay sharp ahead of its trip to Kent State on Saturday.
In fact, getting sharp is priority No. 1 for the Chippewas, never mind the fact that the Flyers (8-3) have won seven consecutive games - including an 86-76 victory over CMU in Dayton 2 ½ weeks ago - and enter Wednesday's game with an RPI of 3.
Yes. Three. UConn is No. 1, Notre Dame No. 2, and the Flyers are third. CMU's RPI is 80.
"It's a big game," CMU senior Crystal Bradford said after the Chippewas held off Oakland, 74-69, on Sunday to snap a two-game win streak. "We owe them, we honestly owe them one."
Vengeance is the last thing on the mind of CMU coach Sue Guevara. Her attention is on getting maximum effort - and production - from her players as the clock ticks toward the league opener.
Shooting percentage has been a particular concern. The Chippewas haven't shot better than 37.3 percent from the floor since a 28-point home win over Delaware State two weeks ago. Throw out that game, and a 35-point loss to No. 1-ranked South Carolina 10 days ago, and CMU's games - win or lose - are being decided by less than four points.
The Chippewas have not shot particularly well from three-point range, and against Oakland they finished at just 17.6 percent.
In three of its last four games, CMU has made 25 percent or fewer of its triple tries.
In short, the Chippewas have been forced to grind it out. It isn't always pretty, and it's the kind of ball that can drive a coach crazy, particularly in light of the fact that a cornerstone of it is drawing fouls and, of course, making free throws.
The Chippewas made 21 of their 28 free throw attempts in the win over Oakland and are shooting 65 percent from the line on the season.
"(Guevara has) kind of stressed that we need to attack, attack, attack and we need to go to the free throw line more than our opponents, and when we get there, we have to knock the shots down," CMU senior guard Jessica Green said. "(Sunday) we were 75 percent, which is definitely a plus, and we have to keep improving for the next game."
Included in Dayton's seven-game win streak are victories over Toledo (an RPI of 64), Purdue (38), Vanderbilt (36) and Green Bay (4), which was ranked 24th before it lost, 72-66, to the Flyers on Sunday.
That win was Dayton's best-in-the-nation 32nd consecutive at home. The 30th win in that streak came over the Chippewas in a contest that was tied at 72-all with just over three minutes to play. Dayton outscored CMU, 14-4, in the final 3:02. The Chippewas missed their final five field goal attempts in the game.
"I think we definitely have to improve, we need to get in (the gym) and shoot more, work on finishing in difficult situations," Green said.
In the teams' first meeting, Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover scored 25 points apiece to pace the Flyers, while Green and Bradford scored 22 each for the Chippewas.
Bradford, who was named the MAC West Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after her 22-point, nine-rebound, four-assist performance against Oakland, is leading the Chippewas with 20 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, numbers that rank second and fifth, respectively, in the MAC.
Hoover, a senior guard, is Dayton's leading scorer (19.5) and rebounder (8.2), while Malott averages 15.7 points per game. Hoover ranks second in scoring and fifth in rebounding in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
