Chippewa Women Prep For Best In MAC East

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan women's basketball team hits the midway point of the Mid-American Conference season this week, and before the Chippewas make the turn, they will encounter a couple of high hurdles.

The Chippewas go to Buffalo on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and then return to McGuirk Arena on Saturday (1 p.m.) to face Ohio.

Ohio and Buffalo are the top two teams in the MAC East, respectively. The Bobcats, who are 12-6 overall, are 5-2 in league play. The Bulls are 13-5, 4-3. The Chippewas are 14-4, 7-0. They lead the West by two games over Ball State, and they have the overall lead in the MAC over both Ball State and Ohio.

The Chippewas are ranked eighth, Buffalo is 13^th, and Ohio is 14^th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. They are the only three MAC teams in the rankings.

CMU has an RPI of 21, which is the best among all MAC teams and is third among the nation's mid-majors. Buffalo has an RPI of 68, and Ohio's is 77.

The Chippewas
CMU continued to its steady march to March, and through the MAC schedule, with victories last week over Eastern Michigan and Toledo.

The margin of victory in both games was seven points, and the route to victory was nearly identical: The Chippewas used a fourth-quarter surge to take control and snuff out the opponent.

Junior guard Micaela Kelly spearheaded the CMU victories as she averaged a double-double – 24 points, 10 rebounds – in the two wins and was named the MAC West Player of the Week for the fifth time this season.

Kelly ranks second nationally in scoring at 23.9 points per game.

Key Numbers
The Chippewas lead the league and rank 27th nationally at 75.6 points per game. Buffalo is seventh in the league in scoring at 68.7 and is the MAC's second-best defensive team, holding opponents to 63.8 per.

Buffalo leads the MAC in rebounds per game with 43.0 and in rebounding margin, plus 4.6.

"Buffalo is a very, very good team," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "They're physical, they can shoot the 3 ball, they're athletic, they can get in the passing lanes."

The Bulls' defense, a matchup zone, is similar to that employed by Central Florida, which defeated the Chippewas, 64-58, on Dec. 30 in Orlando. It was CMU's last loss and the 58 points tied the Chippewas' season low.

"I think our team's ready for the test, especially going on the road," Oesterle said. "This is a really good resumé builder come March. To go on the road and beat a team with a really good record, a team of Buffalo's caliber, and then heading into Ohio. They're both going be really tough games, but we go into every game one at a time."

Scouting
Freshman Dyaisha Fair, a 5-foot-5 guard, leads the Bulls and ranks second in the league in scoring at 22.1 points per game. Fair averages 3.2 triples per game and ranks second in the league in that category.

Freshman Showdown
Wednesday's game features two of the league's best freshmen in Fair and CMU point guard Molly Davis. They are tied for third in the league with 4.3 assists per game.

Davis scored a career-high 28 points in the Chippewas' win over Toledo on Saturday. She tied her career high with four 3-pointers in the game and committed just one turnover while playing all 40 minutes.

She has averaged 18.7 points in her last four games.

Terrific Trio
Buffalo and CMU have established themselves over the past five years as the MAC's premiere programs, and Ohio can make a legitimate case for joining the Chippewas and Bulls among the league's best.

Going back to the 2014-15 season, the Chippewas have won four consecutive MAC West titles and three straight overall league regular-season titles along with one conference tournament crown (2018); Buffalo has captured two MAC Tournament titles and a divisional championship; and Ohio has won an overall regular-season championship, two division crowns, and a MAC Tourney title.

Kent State, with an East Division title in 2017, is the only team other than CMU, Buffalo and Ohio to have won a team championship in the MAC since 2015-16.

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Players Mentioned

Molly Davis

Micaela Kelly