Saturday, March 13
Cleveland, Ohio
11 A.M.
Central Michigan University
18-8,13-6MAC
77
vs
72
Bowling Green
20-6,14-4MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
11
23
27
16
77
Bowling Green
16
18
26
12
72
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Steep Climb, Sweet Reward
3/13/2021 3:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Chippewas bring home the hardware from MAC Tournament
CLEVELAND – They're going dancing, a proposition that appeared ever dimmer just a few short weeks ago when the Central Michigan women's basketball team lost back-to-back games that effectively ended their hopes of a fifth-consecutive regular-season Mid-American Conference championship.
Then, to make matters worse, COVID protocols claimed one-third of the roster, leaving the Chippewas with just eight healthy bodies.
Title-less and shorthanded, the Chippewas dug deep and lived up to the age-old adage: Adversity doesn't build character; but reveals it.
The Chippewas used heart, guts, grit and, well, talent in capping off their run through the MAC Tournament on Saturday, beating top-seeded Bowling Green, 77-72, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The win puts CMU in the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio. It is CMU's third-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I'm just so proud of our players. We've gone through some speed bumps this year, some slumps, some adversity.
"For it to come full circle this year, I'm just so happy. I wanted this so bad for our seniors. They've worked hard and they've put a lot into this program. to see them go out on top is pretty special. It is an incredible feeling to go dancing and to win this tournament."
One of those seniors, guard Micaela Kelly, scored 25 of her 29 points in the second half and sophomore guard Molly Davis added 23 as the Chippewas held off the Falcons, who were looking to complete a storybook worst-to-first turnaround by adding the tournament crown to their regular-season title.
"The grit and the fight from this team -- we had eight people and we never gave up our battle," Kelly said. "We got a lot of stuff thrown at us; one thing we did do is come together. The love, I love my sisters; and the coaching staff, they work really hard."
Said Davis: "It was just a little bit of adversity. The message in the locker room was, it's all about how we handle it. We can hang our heads, but as a team we knew we had to fight through everything. For us to have these 8 players here, just feels great."
How It Happened
It was a game of spurts and the Chippewas got the last and most important one, a 12-5 run that began with a Davis 3-pointer with 5:00 to play that put CMU in front to stay, 68-67.
Jahari Smith followed with a layup off a Kelly feed to make it 70-67; Kelly extended the advantage to five, 72-67, with a jumper with 2:35 left; and then Davis struck the most-damaging the blow – the one that put the Falcons back on their heels – a triple with 55 seconds left to make it 75-67.
The bucket came with the shot clock running out and on a pass from Kelly, who was driving to the basket and found Davis on the perimeter.
"Twin and I know each other pretty well," Davis said. "She drove to the lane, kind of created some space for me and I got the shot off."
When the dust settled, the Chippewas had held Bowling Green scoreless for more than five minutes, the key turn as CMU beat the team that had delivered the most-devastating blow to its title hopes in the form of a 76-67 defeat in Bowling Green less than a month ago.
Big Half
Kelly made 10 of her 18 field goal attempts in the game and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line. She was 2-of-3 from 3-point range in the final two quarters after missing all four of her first-half triple tries.
Kelly's big second-half outburst shocked absolutely nobody in maroon and gold.
"It's tough to stop Twin for two halves," said Davis, referring to Kelly by her nickname. "We all knew it was coming. She had the confidence in herself, we had the confidence in her. She kind of just took over in that second half."
Kelly scored just 8 seconds into the second half on a drive to the basket. It was a play Oesterle drew up specifically to get her star guard jump-started.
"At the end of the day, it's not about how you start; it's about how you finish," Kelly said. "Coach said, 'Twin this is your half.' She drew up the first play for me and once that got going it was just the momentum and confidence."
New Year, Different Feel
There was a different feel for the Chippewas going into the 2021 league tournament compared to the past two years.
As the regular-season champ from 2017-20, the Chippewas were the No. 1 seed. They won the 2018 tournament, which ignited their run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2020, CMU was upset by ninth-seeded Toledo in a quarterfinal game; in 2019, the Chippewas lost to fourth-seeded Buffalo in the semifinals.
The turning point for the Chippewas this season came in their 87-81 double-overtime victory at Ball State on March 3. That was followed by a 74-68 victory at home over Northern Illinois in the regular-season finale.
And then the tournament run, beginning with a pull-away-late 83-69 victory over NIU in the quarterfinals, and then a 100-92 OT victory over third-seeded Ohio in Friday's semifinal.
"I was really happy with where we were after the Ball State and NIU games," Oesterle said. "I thought we were in good shape heading into the tournament. Our team (was) coming together at the right time. Last year I didn't think we were peaking – we won the regular season (title), but I didn't think we were peaking in March.
"I saw a totally different team when we went to Ball State and won in two overtimes. It's just a team that was hungry and was going to fight for every possession and that just carried over to the tournament."
Special Bond
Oesterle said she texted with her mentor, former CMU coach Sue Guevara, in the morning before the Chippewas' win in the title game. She then face-timed shortly after the final buzzer and on-court celebration.
Oesterle served for nine years under Guevara, first as an assistant and then as the program's associate head coach. Oesterle also played for Guevara when the latter coached Michigan.
"I've had an incredible mentor in coach Guevara," Oesterle said. "She got me ready to lead this program and I just wanted to make her proud today."
Then, to make matters worse, COVID protocols claimed one-third of the roster, leaving the Chippewas with just eight healthy bodies.
Title-less and shorthanded, the Chippewas dug deep and lived up to the age-old adage: Adversity doesn't build character; but reveals it.
The Chippewas used heart, guts, grit and, well, talent in capping off their run through the MAC Tournament on Saturday, beating top-seeded Bowling Green, 77-72, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The win puts CMU in the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio. It is CMU's third-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "I'm just so proud of our players. We've gone through some speed bumps this year, some slumps, some adversity.
"For it to come full circle this year, I'm just so happy. I wanted this so bad for our seniors. They've worked hard and they've put a lot into this program. to see them go out on top is pretty special. It is an incredible feeling to go dancing and to win this tournament."
One of those seniors, guard Micaela Kelly, scored 25 of her 29 points in the second half and sophomore guard Molly Davis added 23 as the Chippewas held off the Falcons, who were looking to complete a storybook worst-to-first turnaround by adding the tournament crown to their regular-season title.
"The grit and the fight from this team -- we had eight people and we never gave up our battle," Kelly said. "We got a lot of stuff thrown at us; one thing we did do is come together. The love, I love my sisters; and the coaching staff, they work really hard."
Said Davis: "It was just a little bit of adversity. The message in the locker room was, it's all about how we handle it. We can hang our heads, but as a team we knew we had to fight through everything. For us to have these 8 players here, just feels great."
How It Happened
It was a game of spurts and the Chippewas got the last and most important one, a 12-5 run that began with a Davis 3-pointer with 5:00 to play that put CMU in front to stay, 68-67.
Jahari Smith followed with a layup off a Kelly feed to make it 70-67; Kelly extended the advantage to five, 72-67, with a jumper with 2:35 left; and then Davis struck the most-damaging the blow – the one that put the Falcons back on their heels – a triple with 55 seconds left to make it 75-67.
The bucket came with the shot clock running out and on a pass from Kelly, who was driving to the basket and found Davis on the perimeter.
"Twin and I know each other pretty well," Davis said. "She drove to the lane, kind of created some space for me and I got the shot off."
When the dust settled, the Chippewas had held Bowling Green scoreless for more than five minutes, the key turn as CMU beat the team that had delivered the most-devastating blow to its title hopes in the form of a 76-67 defeat in Bowling Green less than a month ago.
Big Half
Kelly made 10 of her 18 field goal attempts in the game and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line. She was 2-of-3 from 3-point range in the final two quarters after missing all four of her first-half triple tries.
Kelly's big second-half outburst shocked absolutely nobody in maroon and gold.
"It's tough to stop Twin for two halves," said Davis, referring to Kelly by her nickname. "We all knew it was coming. She had the confidence in herself, we had the confidence in her. She kind of just took over in that second half."
Kelly scored just 8 seconds into the second half on a drive to the basket. It was a play Oesterle drew up specifically to get her star guard jump-started.
"At the end of the day, it's not about how you start; it's about how you finish," Kelly said. "Coach said, 'Twin this is your half.' She drew up the first play for me and once that got going it was just the momentum and confidence."
New Year, Different Feel
There was a different feel for the Chippewas going into the 2021 league tournament compared to the past two years.
As the regular-season champ from 2017-20, the Chippewas were the No. 1 seed. They won the 2018 tournament, which ignited their run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2020, CMU was upset by ninth-seeded Toledo in a quarterfinal game; in 2019, the Chippewas lost to fourth-seeded Buffalo in the semifinals.
The turning point for the Chippewas this season came in their 87-81 double-overtime victory at Ball State on March 3. That was followed by a 74-68 victory at home over Northern Illinois in the regular-season finale.
And then the tournament run, beginning with a pull-away-late 83-69 victory over NIU in the quarterfinals, and then a 100-92 OT victory over third-seeded Ohio in Friday's semifinal.
"I was really happy with where we were after the Ball State and NIU games," Oesterle said. "I thought we were in good shape heading into the tournament. Our team (was) coming together at the right time. Last year I didn't think we were peaking – we won the regular season (title), but I didn't think we were peaking in March.
"I saw a totally different team when we went to Ball State and won in two overtimes. It's just a team that was hungry and was going to fight for every possession and that just carried over to the tournament."
Special Bond
Oesterle said she texted with her mentor, former CMU coach Sue Guevara, in the morning before the Chippewas' win in the title game. She then face-timed shortly after the final buzzer and on-court celebration.
Oesterle served for nine years under Guevara, first as an assistant and then as the program's associate head coach. Oesterle also played for Guevara when the latter coached Michigan.
"I've had an incredible mentor in coach Guevara," Oesterle said. "She got me ready to lead this program and I just wanted to make her proud today."
Team Stats
CMU
BGSU
FG%
.467
.467
3FG%
.258
.450
FT%
.813
.875
RB
34
32
TO
10
11
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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