Wednesday, November 6
Mount Pleasant, MI
7:00 p.m.
Central Michigan University
0-1,0-0MAC
105
vs
111
Green Bay
1-0,0-0Horizon
1
2
3
4
OT 1
OT 2
F
Green Bay
21
22
22
23
12
11
111
Central Mich.
25
26
13
24
12
5
105
CMU's Kyra Bussell (50) battles for position in the Chippewas' 111-105 double-overtime loss to Green Bay on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Robert Barclay
Chippewas Fall In Wild Opener
11/6/2019 11:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bussell scores career-high 29 in double-OT loss
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- It wasn't a win, though it certainly could have been.
What it was was a test -- a test in Heather Oesterle's first game as the head coach, a test of depth, a test of a freshman point guard playing her first collegiate game, and a test of an entire team, really.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team played a wild and memorable double-overtime clash with Green Bay in its season opener on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena, finally succumbing, 111-105 in a battle of mid-major powers.
"I learned that, honestly, our team has a ton of fight in them," said Oesterle, the former associate head coach named to succeed her mentor, Sue Guevara, who retired after last season. "I'm proud of our players, the way played. There's a lot of things we're going to learn from this game."
How It Happened
The Phoenix got back-to-back inside buckets to seize a 106-102 lead with 1:20 remaining in the second overtime.
The Chippewas cut their deficit to one, 106-105, when reserve guard Kalle Martinez hit her first career 3-pointer with 1:08 to play, but the Phoenix hit five free throws over the final 45 seconds to hold off the Chippewas and end the thriller between the No. 12 (CMU) and No. 18 (Green Bay) teams in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
Missed Opportunities
The Chippewas made just two of their eight free throw attempts in the first overtime. Green Bay trailed, 100-98, when CMU's Mackenna Kelly knocked the ball away from a Phoenix player with the clock running down under 6 seconds.
Green Bay recovered the ball and, in a scramble, found Anna Dier under the basket. Her bucket with under a second remaining tied the game at 100 and sent it to the second extra session.
"I thought a couple times we had the game won," Oesterle said. "It's just hitting a couple of those free throws and then if Mackenna gets that steal."
Leaders
Junior forward Kyra Bussell, making her first career start, scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead five Chippewas in double figures.
Micaela Kelly added 20 points, Maddy Watters had 17, Molly Davis had 15, and Jahari Smith added 12 for CMU.
Karly Murphy scored 30 points to lead Green Bay.
Fine Debut
Davis, a freshman point guard making her collegiate debut, also had 10 assists and four steals while playing 49 of a possible 50 minutes.
The job of quarterbacking the team fell exclusively to Davis when Watters and Micaela Kelly, CMU's veteran guards, both fouled out.
"I was glad she kept looking to score," Oesterle said of Davis. "I think she passed up some open shots, but she led us down the stretch. Our two veteran point guards were out of the game and Molly stepped up and led the team for two overtimes.
"I just think that kid, she's got a very bright future and she just works her butt off. That kid's going to be in the gym tomorrow. I guarantee that."
Digging Deep
Oesterle expressed concerns prior to the season about the depth of her team. With both Micaela Kelly and Watters fouling out, Oesterle went to her bench where she found help in redshirt sophomore Kalle Martinez and senior captain Gabrielle Bird.
Bird hit two huge 3-pointers in the first OT and finished with a career-high-tying nine points, and Martinez, who played just 36 minutes last season, had a triple in the second OT.
"We do have more depth than I originally thought," Oesterle said. "I think we have eight, nine players that I can play right now, and I have confidence in them, and they have confidence to come in. … I like the fact that they want to come in and they want to score."
Said Watters: "I'm just super proud of how everybody stepped up and how we didn't give up. As you can see we can all play, we all have confidence in each other."
Looking Ahead
Certainly the loss hurt, but Oesterle and her team can take pride in the effort they put in against a tough-as-nails program that has won at least 20 games in each of the past 20 seasons.
The Chippewas go to Louisville on Nov. 14. The Cardinals are ranked ninth nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.
"We here at Central Michigan play good teams and we play them tight," Bussell said. "We don't care who they are, whether it's Louisville, or it's Green Bay coming in here. We play teams that are going to make us better. Green Bay, they exposed us in little ways and we're going to watch it on film and we're going to figure it out and we're going to do better the next game.
"Overall I think it was a really good opening night. Wish it would have gone the other way. Some good things came out of it too. A lot of people stepped up. Just frustrating the way it ended, but overall a good opening night and we showed the crowd that we're a team that needs to be watched and paid attention to."
What it was was a test -- a test in Heather Oesterle's first game as the head coach, a test of depth, a test of a freshman point guard playing her first collegiate game, and a test of an entire team, really.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team played a wild and memorable double-overtime clash with Green Bay in its season opener on Wednesday at McGuirk Arena, finally succumbing, 111-105 in a battle of mid-major powers.
"I learned that, honestly, our team has a ton of fight in them," said Oesterle, the former associate head coach named to succeed her mentor, Sue Guevara, who retired after last season. "I'm proud of our players, the way played. There's a lot of things we're going to learn from this game."
How It Happened
The Phoenix got back-to-back inside buckets to seize a 106-102 lead with 1:20 remaining in the second overtime.
The Chippewas cut their deficit to one, 106-105, when reserve guard Kalle Martinez hit her first career 3-pointer with 1:08 to play, but the Phoenix hit five free throws over the final 45 seconds to hold off the Chippewas and end the thriller between the No. 12 (CMU) and No. 18 (Green Bay) teams in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
Missed Opportunities
The Chippewas made just two of their eight free throw attempts in the first overtime. Green Bay trailed, 100-98, when CMU's Mackenna Kelly knocked the ball away from a Phoenix player with the clock running down under 6 seconds.
Green Bay recovered the ball and, in a scramble, found Anna Dier under the basket. Her bucket with under a second remaining tied the game at 100 and sent it to the second extra session.
"I thought a couple times we had the game won," Oesterle said. "It's just hitting a couple of those free throws and then if Mackenna gets that steal."
Leaders
Junior forward Kyra Bussell, making her first career start, scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead five Chippewas in double figures.
Micaela Kelly added 20 points, Maddy Watters had 17, Molly Davis had 15, and Jahari Smith added 12 for CMU.
Karly Murphy scored 30 points to lead Green Bay.
Fine Debut
Davis, a freshman point guard making her collegiate debut, also had 10 assists and four steals while playing 49 of a possible 50 minutes.
The job of quarterbacking the team fell exclusively to Davis when Watters and Micaela Kelly, CMU's veteran guards, both fouled out.
"I was glad she kept looking to score," Oesterle said of Davis. "I think she passed up some open shots, but she led us down the stretch. Our two veteran point guards were out of the game and Molly stepped up and led the team for two overtimes.
"I just think that kid, she's got a very bright future and she just works her butt off. That kid's going to be in the gym tomorrow. I guarantee that."
Digging Deep
Oesterle expressed concerns prior to the season about the depth of her team. With both Micaela Kelly and Watters fouling out, Oesterle went to her bench where she found help in redshirt sophomore Kalle Martinez and senior captain Gabrielle Bird.
Bird hit two huge 3-pointers in the first OT and finished with a career-high-tying nine points, and Martinez, who played just 36 minutes last season, had a triple in the second OT.
"We do have more depth than I originally thought," Oesterle said. "I think we have eight, nine players that I can play right now, and I have confidence in them, and they have confidence to come in. … I like the fact that they want to come in and they want to score."
Said Watters: "I'm just super proud of how everybody stepped up and how we didn't give up. As you can see we can all play, we all have confidence in each other."
Looking Ahead
Certainly the loss hurt, but Oesterle and her team can take pride in the effort they put in against a tough-as-nails program that has won at least 20 games in each of the past 20 seasons.
The Chippewas go to Louisville on Nov. 14. The Cardinals are ranked ninth nationally in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.
"We here at Central Michigan play good teams and we play them tight," Bussell said. "We don't care who they are, whether it's Louisville, or it's Green Bay coming in here. We play teams that are going to make us better. Green Bay, they exposed us in little ways and we're going to watch it on film and we're going to figure it out and we're going to do better the next game.
"Overall I think it was a really good opening night. Wish it would have gone the other way. Some good things came out of it too. A lot of people stepped up. Just frustrating the way it ended, but overall a good opening night and we showed the crowd that we're a team that needs to be watched and paid attention to."
Team Stats
GB
CMU
FG%
.519
.514
3FG%
.364
.366
FT%
.767
.720
RB
41
29
TO
17
20
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
12
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
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