Division Leaders Square Off Saturday At McGuirk

Saturday, February 1

Mount Pleasant, MI

1:00 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Ohio

Tickets

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

1/31/2020 6:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Central Michigan Game Notes Ohio Game Notes

Chippewa women, unbeaten in MAC, entertain preseason favorite Ohio

By: Jake Polack, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan women's basketball team looks to finish yet another week with a perfect conference record.

The Chippewas, 15-4, 8-0, will play host to Ohio on Saturday (1 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena in a battle of Mid-American Conference division leaders. CMU leads Ohio, 13-6, 6-2, in the overall MAC standings by two games. The Chippewas hold a three-game lead in the MAC West.

CMU has won 15 of its last 16 games following an 0-3 start.

Comebacks
The Chippewas have won their last four games after trailing in the fourth quarter; on Wednesday, they won in double overtime at Buffalo.

After Micaela Kelly -- who recorded her first-career triple-double on Wednesday – fouled out early in the first overtime, it was up to the likes of Molly Davis (28 points) and Kyra Bussell (15 points, 17 rebounds) to lead the Chippewas as they mounted another comeback win.

Leaders
Davis, a freshman guard, has been on a tear, averaging a shade over 20 points per game over her last five games. She has made 54.6 percent of her field goals during that stretch, including 48.4 percent (16 for 33) from 3-point range. She has scored a career-high 28 points in back-to-back games and made a career-high six triples (on nine attempts) at Buffalo.

Kelly, the nation's second-leading scorer at 23.4 points per game, is coming off back-to-back games in which she has been held under 20 points, the first time that has happened this season.

Still, she's managed to make her impact felt in other areas. Kelly recorded double-digit rebounds in her last two games and set a career-high with 10 assists in her triple-double performance at Buffalo.

Kelly has 1,330 career points and ranks 14^th on the CMU career list, 43 behind LaTanga Cox. Cox scored 1,373 from 1983-86.

Where They Rank
The Chippewas lead the MAC and ranked 22^nd nationally in scoring at 76.8 points per game.

The Chippewas are ranked seventh in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Ohio is 14^th.
CMU has an RPI of 19, while Ohio's is 72. The Chippewas and Bobcats carry the top two RPI, respectively, among MAC teams.

Scouting
The Bobcats are the only team in the MAC who ranks top three in the conference in scoring and defense. They are third in scoring at 72.2 points per game and third in defense at 65.0 points per game.

Ohio will roll out two of the top-six scorers in the MAC in Cierra Hooks (17.2) and Erica Johnson (16.8). Hooks scored 27 points while Johnson had 17 when the Chippewas defeated Ohio, 73-71, earlier this season.

Johnson is second in the MAC in 3-point field goal percentage at .446.

While the Chippewas were picked to win the West in the preseason coaches poll, Ohio was selected to win the East, the overall regular-season title, and the conference tournament.

History
The Chippewas have won six of the last seven meetings with the Bobcats, dating to the 2016-17 season.

Next
CMU will stay in town for its next game on Wednesday, Feb. 5 (7 p.m.) against Northern Illinois before heading to Ohio to take on Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, Feb. 8 (2 p.m.). NIU is 5-13, 1-6; Miami is 8-11, 1-6.