Chippewa Women's Basketball Unveils Nonconference Schedule

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – New coach, same scheduling philosophy: Tough as nails with an eye toward March.

First-year Central Michigan women's basketball coach Heather Oesterle unveiled the nonconference portion of her team's schedule today and, as was the case in the 12 years under Sue Guevara, the Chippewas face a rugged 11-game slate leading up to the Mid-American Conference opener in early January.

"We still have a preconference schedule that is going to prepare us for a very competitive MAC," said Oesterle, who was named to succeed the highly successful Guevara, who retired in July. "We get to play some of the top mid-major programs in the country. We recruit kids who want to play this type of challenging schedule.

"It's all about March and looking ahead to preparing us and to achieve the best seed that we can going into postseason."

Among the Chippewas' 2019-20 nonconference opponents is Louisville, which advanced to the Elite Eight and finished fifth in the final Associated Press poll a year ago. The Cardinals, led by All-American Asia Durr, the No. 2 pick in this year's WNBA draft, held off the Chippewas, 72-68, in a wildly entertaining game at McGuirk Arena last season.

Eight of CMU's 11 nonconference opponents reached the postseason in 2018-19 and the schedule includes longtime mid-major powers Green Bay, Western Kentucky, Dayton, South Dakota State and Central Florida. Those eight teams that reached the postseason a year ago finished a combined 181-72 (a .715 win percentage).

CMU opens at home on Nov. 6 as they play host to Horizon League foe Green Bay, which finished the 2018-19 season with an RPI of 69. Six of CMU's nonconference opponents finished last season with an RPI of 100 or better, and two others, Marist and Dayton, were just outside the top 100.

South Dakota State finished the year as the No. 1 team in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (the Chippewas were eighth), while Green Bay was 21^st in the poll.

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