Chippewa Women Welcome Western For Home Opener

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – One game, two weeks ago.

And now it's time for the league opener. Well, it is 2020.

The Central Michigan women's basketball team welcomes rival Western Michigan to McGuirk Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 9 (2 p.m.). It is the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools.

The Chippewas opened with an 18-point loss at 25^th-ranked Michigan and have not played since. The Broncos won their season opener, 80-76, over Illinois-Chicago on Saturday.

Normally, a team will play upwards of a dozen games before jumping into conference play. Not so in 2020-21.

"With everything that's gone on in 2020, we're just thankful," second-year CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "We're thankful every day that we get to practice – at any point anybody could be shut down; we're thankful to be able to play and that Western Michigan's healthy enough to come in here. It's a whole different kind of feeling, and we're just feeling good that we get the opportunity to play."

Cranking it Up
Wednesday's game begins the Chippewas' quest for a fifth-consecutive MAC championship. CMU was picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish first in the regular-season standings and to win the league tournament.

Wednesday's game begins a three-game CMU homestand. The Chippewas are scheduled to entertain Cincinnati on Saturday (noon) then welcomes Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday, Dec. 15 (2 p.m.) in a MAC game.

CMU has two more games – Dec. 18 at Michigan State, Dec. 22 at Dayton – scheduled before the end of the year.

Tipping it Off
Senior Micaela Kelly scored 30 points and sophomore Molly Davis had 24 in CMU's 93-75 loss to the Wolverines.

Kelly, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, is one of three Chippewas – Davis and senior forward Kyra Bussell are the others – named to the All-MAC preseason teams. Kelly earned a spot on the first team, while Bussell and Davis were named to the second team.

That trio joins senior Maddy Watters and junior Jahari Smith in comprising CMU's starting lineup. Those five started together in all 30 of the Chippewas' games a year ago.

National Exposure
Prior to the season, Kelly was named to the Lieberman Award Watch List -- the award goes to the top point guard in college basketball -- and was 23rd in ESPN's list of the top 25 players in the nation.

CMU is ranked sixth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. The only other MAC team in poll is Ohio, which is fifth.

Dominant Run
The Chippewas have won 11 of their last 12 meetings with the Broncos.

Scouting
Western Michigan, which was 18-13 overall and 10-8 MAC last season, was picked to finish last (12^th) in the preseason poll.

The Broncos graduated their entire starting five, including Breanna Mobley who averaged a double-double (13.7 points, 11.0 rebounds) last season.

A trio of experienced veterans return in 6-foot-2 Reilly Jacobson and guards Sydney Shafer and Maddie Watters. All three averaged double digits in minutes per game a year ago. Jacobson is the top returning scorer at 6.0 points per game.

The Broncos graduated 81.5 percent of their 2019-20 scoring.

In Western's season-opening win at UIC, Taylor Williams, a 6-2 freshman, posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in her first collegiate game; Jacobson scored 24 points and Shafer added 16.

The Broncos made eight of their 22 3-point tries in the game. They drained a program-record 225 from long range last season.

"That team can really shoot the ball, which is scary for our defense," Oesterle said. "A lot of those kids, we know because they're from the state and from recruiting. They've only had one game, but they beat a good UIC team, and they play well together."

"At this point in the season it's more about focusing a little bit more on us and being able to get better as a team. We want to get better every game. It's a league game, yes; but we're also using these early games to get better for March."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kyra Bussell

Molly Davis

Micaela Kelly

Jahari Smith

Maddy Watters