Central Michigan University Athletics
Ohio Presents Stiff Test for CMU Women
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan women's basketball team looks to remain unbeaten in the Mid-American Conference on Saturday when it travels to Athens, Ohio to square off with Ohio.
CMU (9-6, 4-0 MAC) is coming off a 60-54 league win over Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday, coach Sue Guevara's 250th career victory.
There's little time to celebrate the milestone as Guevara prepares the Chippewas the well-rounded Bobcats (12-3, 3-1), who have won six of their last seven games and ranked 25th in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
"(Ohio is) a very good offensive team and they have guards that can really shoot it," said Guevara, whose team is one spot behind the Bobcats in the poll. "They are averaging eight made threes a game. They do a really nice job of defensively packing it in and working you to hit the outside jumper."
Three Bobcats average more than 10 points per game. Quiera Lampkins and Lexie Baldwin come in averaging 13.5 and 10.1, respectively, while Kiyanna Black leads Ohio at 15.2 per game.
"I thought Northern Illinois was a pretty good defensive team, but watching OU on tape, they are very disciplined defensively," said Guevara, referring to the Chippewas' 56-43 victory over NIU on Saturday. "I think we're going to have to tweak our defense a little bit and continue work on getting our offensive consistency -- our short jumpers and our threes."
The Bobcats rank second in the MAC in scoring offense this season, averaging 72.9 points per game. The Chippewas are close behind that mark at 69.3 PPG and rank fourth in the conference.
Ohio also ranks second in the conference in scoring margin with an average point differential of plus-15, and is fourth in points allowed per game (57.9). CMU is eighth in the MAC at plus-2.2 and is 11th defensively (67.1).
Guevara noted that one of the keys in Saturday's game would be three-point shooting, an area in which the Chippewas have struggled of late.
The Chippewas made 44 percent (11-for-25) of their triple tries in their MAC opener against Kent State, but has gone a combined 8-for-48 (16.6 percent) in the ensuing three games.
Senior Kerby Tamm could be the player to spark the Chippewas attack from deep, as she made 4-of-8 three-pointers against Miami on Wednesday.
Senior Crystal Bradford is coming off her 49th career double-double after dropping 22 points and 15 boards against the RedHawks.
Junior guard Da'Jourie Turner also impressed with 13 points and seven rebounds against Miami. Since taking over at point guard for the injured Jessica Green before the MAC opener against Kent State, Turner is averaging 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
