New Year, Same Ol' Chippewas

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Two more nonconference games for the Central Michigan women's basketball team.

Two more solid-to-outstanding opponents that will surely test the Chippewas and prepare them for March.

CMU will compete this weekend in the Miami Holiday Classic in Coral Gables, Fla. The Chippewas open the event on Saturday (noon) against Tulane and conclude it on Sunday (4 p.m.) against the host Hurricanes.

THE OPPONENTS
Both Miami and Tulane are in line with the kind of competition that 12^th-year CMU coach Sue Guevara always seeks in November and December.

• The Hurricanes are 11-2 and ranked 24^th nationally by the Associated Press. They have won five consecutive games. Included in that streak is a 25-point victory over Vanderbilt on Dec. 20. The Chippewas won at Vanderbilt, 66-57, on Dec. 15.

Beatrice Mompremier, a 6-foot-4 junior, leads Miami in both scoring (15.3 points per game) and rebounding (11.5). She ranks 17^th nationally in rebounds per game.

Miami is outrebounding its opponents by 10.1 boards per game. The Hurricanes rank 29^th nationally in that category. They also make 39.1 percent of their 3-point attempts, which is 13^th best in the nation.

• Tulane is 8-3 after losing two of its last three starts, the first at Alabama, 69-58, and the second at home to Old Dominion, 56-48.

Krystal Freeman, a 6-foot sophomore, leads Tulane in scoring at 12.3 points per game.

Tulane makes 36.6 percent of its 3-point attempts, and ranks 34^th nationally in that category. The Green Wave is holding its opponents to an average of 25.3 percent from behind the arc on a game-to-game basis. It ranks 25^th nationally in that category.

ANOTHER HEAVYWEIGHT
When the Chippewas step on the court on Sunday with Miami, they will be locking horns with yet another perennial power from a Power-5 conference.

The Hurricanes have been to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last eight seasons and are 124-25 at home since the start of the 2010-11 season.

LAST TIME OUT
CMU went down to the wire with No. 3-ranked Louisville, losing 72-68 to the Cardinals at McGuirk Arena on Dec. 20.

Miami marks the 10^th team representing a Power-5 conference that the Chippewas have played since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. The Chippewas are 6-3 against those opponents, including wins over LSU (SEC) and Ohio State (Big Ten) last March in the NCAA Tournament when CMU went to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.

The Chippewas' other wins during that streak have come over Vanderbilt (SEC), twice; Virginia (ACC), and Iowa State (Big 12).

THE CHIPPEWAS
CMU is ranked fifth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Chippewas are the highest-ranked MAC team in the poll. Buffalo is sixth, Ohio is eighth, and Toledo is 24^th. South Dakota State (fourth) and Quinnipiac (25^th) are also ranked in the poll. The Chippewas split their games with SDSU and Quinnipiac, falling to the Jackrabbits, 80-71, at home on Nov. 12, and beating the Bobcats, 67-52, in Hamden, N.H., on Dec. 2.

• Chippewa senior Reyna Frost was named the MAC West Player of the Week for her 22-point, 13-rebound performance against Louisville. It was Frost's eighth double-double of the season. She is the MAC leader in that category.

Frost ranks second on the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game and is CMU's leading rebound at 10.9 per. She ranks 27^th nationally in rebounds per game.

• Senior guard Presley Hudson leads CMU in scoring at 22.3 points per game. She ranks ninth in the nation in scoring and second in the MAC behind Buffalo's Cierra Dillard (25.4).

Hudson ranks fifth in the nation and first in the MAC in free throw percentage (93.3). She is also making 3.9 3-pointers per game, which ranks sixth in the nation.

• The Chippewas are among the top 10 nationally in two categories, 3-point field goal percentage and overall field goal percentage. CMU is making 3-pointers at 41.4 percent per game and ranks seventh nationally; the Chippewas are making 49.7 percent of their field goals overall, ranking ninth.

NEXT
The Miami Holiday Classic concludes the nonconference portion of the Chippewas' schedule. They open MAC play at home on Saturday, Jan. 5 (1 p.m.) against Akron. The Zips are 8-2.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Reyna Frost

Presley Hudson

Central Michigan University Athletics