Central Michigan University Athletics
Tall Task for Chippewa Women in Season Opener
11/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Nobody ever accused Sue Guevara of backing down, from anyone.
Guevara puts her Central Michigan women's basketball team to the ultimate test right out of the chute tonight when the Chippewas take on top-ranked Notre Dame in the season opener.
"This team is basketball educated," Guevara said of the Chippewas. "They know Notre Dame. They know the players, they know where they're ranked. The focus has been not the fact that we're playing the No. 1 team, but we are looking to control what we need to control against Notre Dame."
Tipoff for the opening-round Preseason WNIT game is set for 7 p.m. at Notre Dame's Purcell Pavilion. Win or lose, the Chippewas will play a second-round game on Sunday against a to-be-determined opponent.
The Irish are unquestionably one of college basketball's premier teams led by two-time All-American Brianna Turner, the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. Notre Dame finished 33-2 last season, claiming the ACC regular season and tournament championships for the third consecutive year.
The Irish return two other starters in point guard Lindsay Allen and forward Kathryn Westbeld.
It marks the first time in program history that CMU will face the No. 1 team in the country, though under Guevara (who is in her 10th year in charge of the program), they have annually squared off with opponents ranked in the top 25 and, more often than not, have held their own, and then some.
The approach against Notre Dame is the same, Guevara said.
"If you want to get caught up in all of that, then you can lose focus of what you need to do to compete," she said. "We're looking forward to playing front of 9,000 people, we're very grateful that we have two busses, a fan bus and a student bus that are going down; we don't have any tickets left at all.
"I think it's an opportunity that no one else in our conference gets to do. What player do you know wouldn't want to play the No. 1 team in the country?"
The Chippewas were picked to win the Mid-American Conference in the preseason poll after a surprising 2015-16 season in which they finished 22-11 and captured the MAC West title and reached the league tournament championship game, where they lost in overtime to Buffalo.
CMU has reached the postseason in five of the last six years, and this year - with four returning starters - is ranked 21st in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
"The goal always is to get back to Cleveland and get to the championship game," Guevara said. "We know what we did last year, we just want to be better than what we were last year.
"I do not question the work ethic of this team. I don't have to coach effort a whole lot, and when I do they know I'm not happy. But that doesn't happen very often."
