Central Michigan University Athletics
Thursday, November 14
Louisville, KY
6:00 p.m.
Central Michigan University
at
No.9 Louisville
Photo by: Robert Barclay
Trip To Louisville Another Big Early Season Test
11/13/2019 7:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Chippewa women set to tangle with No. 9-ranked Cardinals
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Another nonconference game, another big-time early season test for the Central Michigan women's basketball team.
The Chippewas will take on Louisville on Thursday (6 p.m.) at the Cardinals' KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals (2-0) are ranked ninth nationally. Louisville is among the nation's premier programs, having won or shared each of the last two Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championships. The Cardinals reached the Elite Eight in 2019 after making it to the Final Four in '18.
The Chippewas (0-1) opened the season with a 111-105 loss at home to Green Bay. CMU is ranked 14th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 after opening the season 12th. Green Bay is now ranked 13th after opening the season 18th.
Accepting the Challenge
First-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle, like her predecessor and mentor Sue Guevara, runs a program that embraces challenges. The Chippewas have regularly scheduled the most-difficult nonconference schedule they possibly can. All the better, Oesterle maintains, to prepare them for March.
"The message this whole week has been how excited we are to go and play against some really good competition, and that's the type of kids we recruit to come here," Oesterle said. "It's the players that want to go down there and play in front of 10,000 people and try to knock off the No. 9 team in the country."
Though they lost to Green Bay – regularly among the very best mid-major teams in the country – the Chippewas learned plenty about themselves.
That, after all, is the idea, Oesterle said.
"I think there is a really good excitement coming out of that Green Bay game that we could be pretty good," she said. "We have to clean up some things defensively and rebounding is going to be absolutely huge against Louisville. That is something we need to learn from and do a better job come Thursday."
Discovery
Oesterle learned plenty from the Green Bay game, most notably that the Chippewas are perhaps deeper than she had originally thought, and freshman point guard Molly Davis is the real deal.
CMU's two most-experienced players, guards Maddy Watters and Micaela Kelly, fouled out against the Phoenix. That necessitated more playing time for the likes of Gabrielle Bird, a senior, and Kalle Martinez, a sophomore.
"I was impressed with our toughness and our bench's toughness in that Green Bay game," Oesterle said. "To go into two overtimes with two starters on the bench, that really showed me a lot and gave me some confidence in some people."
It was the first collegiate game for Davis, and she delivered a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Last year at this time, she was just beginning practice ahead of her senior year at Dow High School in Midland.
She put on display a good amount of poise in playing 49 of a possible 50 minutes, particularly during crunch time.
"She's going to be very special," Oesterle said. "The fact that she can take over a game at the point guard position, as a freshman, in her first game and come out with a double-double. Just her poise on the floor, I think it rubs off on everybody. She doesn't get rattled.
"She's got to be the same way (against Louisville) and I don't expect her to be any different. She's tough."
Breakout Game
CMU junior Kyra Bussell also turned in a standout performance against the Phoenix. It was her first career start, though she played starter's minutes and was a key contributor throughout her sophomore season.
She scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Green Bay, earning the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Award.
Scouting
The Cardinals opened the season with a 75-56 victory over Western Kentucky (which is CMU's next opponent on Sunday, Nov. 17) and then defeated Murray State, 76-40. The Cardinals have won 97 consecutive games over unranked opponents.
Last season, CMU and Louisville played a highly competitive game at McGuirk Arena, with then-No. 3 Louisville emerging with a 72-68 victory.
Louisville All-American guard Asia Durr is gone, having been drafted by the New York Liberty of the WNBA.
But the cupboard is hardly bare – the Cardinals are, after all, a top-10 team – and are led by the likes of Dana Evans, Elizabeth Balogun and Jazmine Jones, each of whom averages in double figures in scoring.
The Cardinals added 6-foot-5 Elizabeth Dixon, a sophomore transfer from Georgia Tech. Dixon ranks sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 10 rebounds per game.
The Chippewas will take on Louisville on Thursday (6 p.m.) at the Cardinals' KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals (2-0) are ranked ninth nationally. Louisville is among the nation's premier programs, having won or shared each of the last two Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championships. The Cardinals reached the Elite Eight in 2019 after making it to the Final Four in '18.
The Chippewas (0-1) opened the season with a 111-105 loss at home to Green Bay. CMU is ranked 14th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 after opening the season 12th. Green Bay is now ranked 13th after opening the season 18th.
Accepting the Challenge
First-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle, like her predecessor and mentor Sue Guevara, runs a program that embraces challenges. The Chippewas have regularly scheduled the most-difficult nonconference schedule they possibly can. All the better, Oesterle maintains, to prepare them for March.
"The message this whole week has been how excited we are to go and play against some really good competition, and that's the type of kids we recruit to come here," Oesterle said. "It's the players that want to go down there and play in front of 10,000 people and try to knock off the No. 9 team in the country."
Though they lost to Green Bay – regularly among the very best mid-major teams in the country – the Chippewas learned plenty about themselves.
That, after all, is the idea, Oesterle said.
"I think there is a really good excitement coming out of that Green Bay game that we could be pretty good," she said. "We have to clean up some things defensively and rebounding is going to be absolutely huge against Louisville. That is something we need to learn from and do a better job come Thursday."
Discovery
Oesterle learned plenty from the Green Bay game, most notably that the Chippewas are perhaps deeper than she had originally thought, and freshman point guard Molly Davis is the real deal.
CMU's two most-experienced players, guards Maddy Watters and Micaela Kelly, fouled out against the Phoenix. That necessitated more playing time for the likes of Gabrielle Bird, a senior, and Kalle Martinez, a sophomore.
"I was impressed with our toughness and our bench's toughness in that Green Bay game," Oesterle said. "To go into two overtimes with two starters on the bench, that really showed me a lot and gave me some confidence in some people."
It was the first collegiate game for Davis, and she delivered a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Last year at this time, she was just beginning practice ahead of her senior year at Dow High School in Midland.
She put on display a good amount of poise in playing 49 of a possible 50 minutes, particularly during crunch time.
"She's going to be very special," Oesterle said. "The fact that she can take over a game at the point guard position, as a freshman, in her first game and come out with a double-double. Just her poise on the floor, I think it rubs off on everybody. She doesn't get rattled.
"She's got to be the same way (against Louisville) and I don't expect her to be any different. She's tough."
Breakout Game
CMU junior Kyra Bussell also turned in a standout performance against the Phoenix. It was her first career start, though she played starter's minutes and was a key contributor throughout her sophomore season.
She scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Green Bay, earning the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Award.
Scouting
The Cardinals opened the season with a 75-56 victory over Western Kentucky (which is CMU's next opponent on Sunday, Nov. 17) and then defeated Murray State, 76-40. The Cardinals have won 97 consecutive games over unranked opponents.
Last season, CMU and Louisville played a highly competitive game at McGuirk Arena, with then-No. 3 Louisville emerging with a 72-68 victory.
Louisville All-American guard Asia Durr is gone, having been drafted by the New York Liberty of the WNBA.
But the cupboard is hardly bare – the Cardinals are, after all, a top-10 team – and are led by the likes of Dana Evans, Elizabeth Balogun and Jazmine Jones, each of whom averages in double figures in scoring.
The Cardinals added 6-foot-5 Elizabeth Dixon, a sophomore transfer from Georgia Tech. Dixon ranks sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 10 rebounds per game.
Players Mentioned
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