Chippewa Women Host Monday Matinee
12/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - There will be a different feel on the sidelines as the Central Michigan women's basketball team looks to end its four-game losing streak Monday when it takes on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in a 2 p.m. matinee at McGuirk Arena.
Associate head coach Heather Oesterle will lead the Chippewas (4-4) in the absence of head coach Sue Guevara, who will miss the game to attend an out-of-state funeral.
"It's under the wrong circumstances, but I'm really excited for the opportunity," said Oesterle, who is in her sixth year at CMU, her fourth as the associate head coach. "This is a good team to do it with. They're very coachable and work really hard."
Forget, for a minute, about who's drawing up plays or delivering an inspirational pre-game speech. The Chippewas simply need a win to get back on track. During their losing streak, three of the losses have come by five points or fewer.
"They're young and they're really frustrated right now," Oesterle said. "It's about us keeping them positive because it is a process.
"Should we be clicking eight games in? We still have some work to do, we still have things to do in terms of getting a young team together and learning how to win. Every day we've just got to keep getting better."
In their last outing, a 64-61 loss to Memphis, the Chippewas had the ball and the game was tied with under 20 seconds remaining. A late turnover, one of a season-high 20 committed by CMU in the game, proved critical and led to the game-winning points.
"We went back and rehashed some of the things that happened in the Memphis game - stuff that our team has to learn from," Oesterle said. "We started two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior. With a young team like that, there are situations that we need to put them in in practice so that they are learning. A lot of our practice (on Friday) was about situations, like the end of the quarter …"
Besides reducing the number and frequency of turnovers, a point of emphasis has been post production. Reyna Frost, a 6-foot freshman, had 11 points and eight rebounds against Memphis in her first career start.
Tinara Moore, a 6-3 sophomore who had started CMU's first seven games, came off the bench against the Tigers, finishing with 13 points and 12 boards.
The key, Oesterle said, is in getting consistent production from that duo along with 6-2 junior Jewel Cotton, who is working to develop her jumpshot to complement her ability to get to the basket.
"Tinara, she came in with the fire lit because she didn't start the game," Oesterle said. "She went after rebounds, she went after the ball inside even though she had two people on her, and (she was) just being stronger with the basketball.
"Jewel, the best part of her game is getting to the basket. She needs to develop more of an outside game. She has a beautiful shot. She just second-guesses herself - whether to shoot it or not. She's just got to get the reps in so that she's confident in taking the shot."
SIUE (5-7) is coming off a 69-56 loss to Valparaiso on Saturday. Monday's game is the Cougars' last on their non-conference slate. They open Ohio Valley Conference play on New Year's Eve at Jacksonville State.
Guards Shronda Butts and CoCo Moore lead the Cougars in scoring at 19.5 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Donshel Beck, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, leads SIUE in rebounding at 8.3 per. She and fellow forward Gwen Adams both average 9-plus points per game.
After the SIUE game, the Chippewas take a seven-day break for Christmas and resume play at the Hawk Classic at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia.
On Monday, Dec. 28, the Chippewas will play Rider; on Tuesday, Dec. 29, they will take on either Saint Joseph's or Maryland-Baltimore County.
CMU plays host to Kent State in its Mid-American Conference opener on Saturday, Jan. 2.
