Wednesday, November 25
Ann Arbor, MI
12:30 P.M.
Central Michigan University
0-1,0-0MAC
75
at
93
Michigan
1-0,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
15
19
25
16
75
Michigan
22
20
33
18
93
Senior Micaela Kelly scored 30 points Wednesday in the Chippewas' season-opening loss at Michigan.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewa Women Drop Opener At Michigan
11/25/2020 3:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kelly (30 points), Davis (24) lead CMU
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Central Michigan women's basketball team opened the 2020-21 season on Wednesday with a 93-75 nonconference loss to 25th-ranked Michigan at the Wolverines' Crisler Center.
"It was a good wakeup call for us," second-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We're not in 40-minute shape at all right now and we've got to get there.
"We've got two weeks before we open the (Mid-American Conference) season on Dec. 9. I was playing some different combinations, giving the freshman a chance to get their feet wet in a game. But give credit to Michigan; they played really well, they beat us on the boards, they scored in a variety of ways."
How it Happened
The Chippewas trailed through most of the game but remained within striking distance. Michigan used a 14-3 run over the final 2:50 of the third quarter to put CMU in a 75-59 deficit entering the fourth.
Michigan's lead reached 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Leaders
The backcourt duo of Micaela Kelly and Molly Davis led the Chippewas, scoring 30 and 24 points, respectively, on a combined 22-of-42 (52 percent) shooting performance.
"Those two, I knew they were going to have good games because I didn't think Michigan could defend them when we would bring them out and try to take them off the dribble," Oesterle said, "but we need to get more contributions from some other people."
It marked the fourth time that Kelly, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, has scored at least 30 points in a game. Kelly averaged 21.5 points per game last season, ranking second in the MAC and fifth nationally.
It was the fourth-highest point total for Davis, a sophomore from Midland. Her career high is 28 points.
Keys
The Wolverines finished with a decided 41-23 rebounding advantage.
It didn't help, Oesterle said, that Chippewa center Jahari Smith got into early foul trouble and played just nine minutes.
"She's our best rebounder, so that hurt us," she said. "That and not having her post defense in there. We have to have Jahari for more than nine minutes."
Michigan's leaders
Naz Hillmon, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Michigan. Leigha Brown, a 6-1 junior, added 22 points. Hillmon and Brown finished a combined 20-for-26 from the floor.
First Start
Redshirt junior Annika Weekes made her first career start for the Chippewas. She scored eight points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in 35 minutes.
Weekes, who took a medical redshirt last season and did not appear in a game, started in place of senior guard Maddy Watters, who was unavailable.
College Baptism
All four freshmen on the Chippewa roster – Maryama Turkstra, Rachel Loobie, Carlee Crabtree and Sydney Graber – played in the game.
"I think it was really good for us to be able to play the freshmen a little bit because we're going to need them to play minutes for us this year," Oesterle said.
The Takeaway
Oesterle said she saw many areas in which the Chippewas need to improve, which is no different than any team, win or lose, playing its first game of the season.
"We're going to watch film, we're going to learn from it, and then we're going to get our butts in shape," Oesterle said. "I think I would rather play a team like (Michigan) right now and have it be eye-opening for our kids to know that we have to get better every single day in practice. There has to be that hunger to get better.
"We're not anywhere close to where we need to be, and right now we need to focus on some areas that we need to get better at."
Next
The Chippewas go to Dayton for a nonconference game on Sunday, Dec. 2 (2 p.m.).
The Flyers finished 25-8 last season, winning the Atlantic-10 regular-season and tournament championships. CMU defeated the Flyers, 81-80, in overtime in Mount Pleasant last season.
"It was a good wakeup call for us," second-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We're not in 40-minute shape at all right now and we've got to get there.
"We've got two weeks before we open the (Mid-American Conference) season on Dec. 9. I was playing some different combinations, giving the freshman a chance to get their feet wet in a game. But give credit to Michigan; they played really well, they beat us on the boards, they scored in a variety of ways."
How it Happened
The Chippewas trailed through most of the game but remained within striking distance. Michigan used a 14-3 run over the final 2:50 of the third quarter to put CMU in a 75-59 deficit entering the fourth.
Michigan's lead reached 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Leaders
The backcourt duo of Micaela Kelly and Molly Davis led the Chippewas, scoring 30 and 24 points, respectively, on a combined 22-of-42 (52 percent) shooting performance.
"Those two, I knew they were going to have good games because I didn't think Michigan could defend them when we would bring them out and try to take them off the dribble," Oesterle said, "but we need to get more contributions from some other people."
It marked the fourth time that Kelly, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, has scored at least 30 points in a game. Kelly averaged 21.5 points per game last season, ranking second in the MAC and fifth nationally.
It was the fourth-highest point total for Davis, a sophomore from Midland. Her career high is 28 points.
Keys
The Wolverines finished with a decided 41-23 rebounding advantage.
It didn't help, Oesterle said, that Chippewa center Jahari Smith got into early foul trouble and played just nine minutes.
"She's our best rebounder, so that hurt us," she said. "That and not having her post defense in there. We have to have Jahari for more than nine minutes."
Michigan's leaders
Naz Hillmon, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Michigan. Leigha Brown, a 6-1 junior, added 22 points. Hillmon and Brown finished a combined 20-for-26 from the floor.
First Start
Redshirt junior Annika Weekes made her first career start for the Chippewas. She scored eight points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in 35 minutes.
Weekes, who took a medical redshirt last season and did not appear in a game, started in place of senior guard Maddy Watters, who was unavailable.
College Baptism
All four freshmen on the Chippewa roster – Maryama Turkstra, Rachel Loobie, Carlee Crabtree and Sydney Graber – played in the game.
"I think it was really good for us to be able to play the freshmen a little bit because we're going to need them to play minutes for us this year," Oesterle said.
The Takeaway
Oesterle said she saw many areas in which the Chippewas need to improve, which is no different than any team, win or lose, playing its first game of the season.
"We're going to watch film, we're going to learn from it, and then we're going to get our butts in shape," Oesterle said. "I think I would rather play a team like (Michigan) right now and have it be eye-opening for our kids to know that we have to get better every single day in practice. There has to be that hunger to get better.
"We're not anywhere close to where we need to be, and right now we need to focus on some areas that we need to get better at."
Next
The Chippewas go to Dayton for a nonconference game on Sunday, Dec. 2 (2 p.m.).
The Flyers finished 25-8 last season, winning the Atlantic-10 regular-season and tournament championships. CMU defeated the Flyers, 81-80, in overtime in Mount Pleasant last season.
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Team Stats
CMU
Mich
FG%
.448
.617
3FG%
.250
.333
FT%
.750
.800
RB
23
41
TO
10
16
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
24
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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