Thursday, November 14
Louisville, KY
6:00 p.m.
Central Michigan University
0-2,0-0MAC
63
at
76
No.9 Louisville
3-0,0-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
15
21
10
17
63
Louisville
22
17
20
17
76
CMU guard Micaela Kelly eyes the basket in the Chippewas' 76-63 loss to No. 9 Louisville on Thursday.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewas Go Down Swinging At No. 9 Louisville
11/14/2019 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They never backed down, again.
Central Michigan team went toe-to-toe with one of the true heavyweights of women's college basketball on Thursday before succumbing, 76-63, to ninth-ranked Louisville before 7,605 at the Cardinals' KFC Yum! Center.
The loss dropped the Chippewas to 0-2 and it came a week after their season-opening 111-105 double-overtime home loss to mid-major power Green Bay.
"For the most part I thought we battled with a really, really, really good team," first-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I just love the fact that we just battled. We were more physical than we were against Green Bay.
"Every possession here matters, and we have to outwork people and we have to be physical enough to box them out. I'm really proud of the way we played. We played hard, and I just think (if we continue to) trust in the process we're going to be a pretty good team down the road."
How It Happened
Louisville led throughout most of the game, but the Chippewas remained a stride or two behind and trailed just 39-36 at halftime.
Louisville's largest lead, 59-44, came with a minute to play in the third quarter, but the Chippewas managed to slice their deficit to six, 59-53, on a Micaela Kelly jumper with 7:58 remaining.
But CMU would get no closer the rest of the way. The Chippewas were within eight points, 71-63, with under 40 seconds remaining. Louisville (3-0) made five of its six free-throw attempts in the final 28 seconds to hold the Chippewas at bay.
Leaders
Kelly scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Chippewas, while Kyra Bussell had 11 points and Jahari Smith added 10.
Jazmine Jones scored 25 points and Dana Evans added 24 to lead the Cardinals. Evans scored 17 of her points in the second half.
Learning Lessons
Oesterle went deep into her bench in the first half, a departure from the way the Chippewas played last season, when they rarely went beyond two or perhaps three reserves on any given night.
"I played almost our entire bench in the first half," she said. "I was trying to see who was going to give us contributions in a game like this.
"I told our team, 'Look we have the pieces to be a really special team in our conference and throughout; that's why we play these games early. This is why you come to Central Michigan because we schedule like this.'
"We schedule teams like this because we're getting better tonight. They've all bought in and we've just got to trust the process."
Freshman Guard
Chippewa freshman point guard Molly Davis finished with nine points and committed seven turnovers against a tenacious Louisville defense designed to pressure the Chippewa guards. She fouled out with under 4 minutes to play and the Chippewas trailing, 65-57.
"This team applies an incredible amount of pressure," Oesterle said of the Cardinals. "I think their pressure did wear on us … They're a very good defensive team.
"Molly, she's special. I'm bringing her in front of 10,000 people against the No. 9 team in the country and she's got the ball in her hands 90 percent of the game. I have a lot of respect for her game and a lot of confidence in her.
"We were this close with the No. 9 team in the country. If Molly Davis doesn't foul out, if a couple things bounce our way, I think we had a good shot to stay with them until the end."
Numbers
Louisville finished with a 41-34 rebounding edge, including 18-8 on the offensive end as the Cardinals scored 15 second-chance points to CMU's four. The Chippewas committed 19 turnovers to Louisville's 12, and the Cardinal bench outscored CMU's, 17-3.
Next
The Chippewas go to Western Kentucky for a nonconference game on Sunday, Nov. 17 (2 p.m.). WKU, another strong mid-major program, is 2-1 after defeating Belmont, 77-46, on Wednesday. Western Kentucky opened the season with a 75-56 loss at Louisville.
Central Michigan team went toe-to-toe with one of the true heavyweights of women's college basketball on Thursday before succumbing, 76-63, to ninth-ranked Louisville before 7,605 at the Cardinals' KFC Yum! Center.
The loss dropped the Chippewas to 0-2 and it came a week after their season-opening 111-105 double-overtime home loss to mid-major power Green Bay.
"For the most part I thought we battled with a really, really, really good team," first-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I just love the fact that we just battled. We were more physical than we were against Green Bay.
"Every possession here matters, and we have to outwork people and we have to be physical enough to box them out. I'm really proud of the way we played. We played hard, and I just think (if we continue to) trust in the process we're going to be a pretty good team down the road."
How It Happened
Louisville led throughout most of the game, but the Chippewas remained a stride or two behind and trailed just 39-36 at halftime.
Louisville's largest lead, 59-44, came with a minute to play in the third quarter, but the Chippewas managed to slice their deficit to six, 59-53, on a Micaela Kelly jumper with 7:58 remaining.
But CMU would get no closer the rest of the way. The Chippewas were within eight points, 71-63, with under 40 seconds remaining. Louisville (3-0) made five of its six free-throw attempts in the final 28 seconds to hold the Chippewas at bay.
Leaders
Kelly scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Chippewas, while Kyra Bussell had 11 points and Jahari Smith added 10.
Jazmine Jones scored 25 points and Dana Evans added 24 to lead the Cardinals. Evans scored 17 of her points in the second half.
Learning Lessons
Oesterle went deep into her bench in the first half, a departure from the way the Chippewas played last season, when they rarely went beyond two or perhaps three reserves on any given night.
"I played almost our entire bench in the first half," she said. "I was trying to see who was going to give us contributions in a game like this.
"I told our team, 'Look we have the pieces to be a really special team in our conference and throughout; that's why we play these games early. This is why you come to Central Michigan because we schedule like this.'
"We schedule teams like this because we're getting better tonight. They've all bought in and we've just got to trust the process."
Freshman Guard
Chippewa freshman point guard Molly Davis finished with nine points and committed seven turnovers against a tenacious Louisville defense designed to pressure the Chippewa guards. She fouled out with under 4 minutes to play and the Chippewas trailing, 65-57.
"This team applies an incredible amount of pressure," Oesterle said of the Cardinals. "I think their pressure did wear on us … They're a very good defensive team.
"Molly, she's special. I'm bringing her in front of 10,000 people against the No. 9 team in the country and she's got the ball in her hands 90 percent of the game. I have a lot of respect for her game and a lot of confidence in her.
"We were this close with the No. 9 team in the country. If Molly Davis doesn't foul out, if a couple things bounce our way, I think we had a good shot to stay with them until the end."
Numbers
Louisville finished with a 41-34 rebounding edge, including 18-8 on the offensive end as the Cardinals scored 15 second-chance points to CMU's four. The Chippewas committed 19 turnovers to Louisville's 12, and the Cardinal bench outscored CMU's, 17-3.
Next
The Chippewas go to Western Kentucky for a nonconference game on Sunday, Nov. 17 (2 p.m.). WKU, another strong mid-major program, is 2-1 after defeating Belmont, 77-46, on Wednesday. Western Kentucky opened the season with a 75-56 loss at Louisville.
Team Stats
CMU
LOU
FG%
.388
.373
3FG%
.167
.273
FT%
.821
.852
RB
34
42
TO
19
12
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
11
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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