Chippewas Face Rematch With NIU In Tournament Quarterfinal

Wednesday, March 10

Cleveland, Ohio

4:00 P.M.

Central Michigan University

Northern Illinois

Coach Heather Oesterle's CMU women's basketball is the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament.

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

3/9/2021 4:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Central Michigan Game Notes NIU Game Notes

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A year ago, the Central Michigan women's basketball team went into the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the league's regular-season champion and the top seed.

The Chippewas ceded that crown to Bowling Green this year and are the No. 2 seed. Yet coach Heather Oesterle likes where the Chippewas are as they get set to take on Northern Illinois on Wednesday (approximately 3:30 p.m.) in a quarterfinal game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.

"The last two games I've really noticed that we have the fight back that was missing for a lot of the season," Oesterle said. "I like where we're at right now."

The Chippewas won their final two regular-season games, 87-81 in double overtime at Ball State and 74-68 at home against Northern Illinois. Last year, the Chippewas wrapped up the MAC crown with three games to play, and then lost two of those games and bowed to Toledo in a quarterfinal game in the tournament.

"The whole focus right now going into the tournament is making sure we have legs, making sure we're fresh mentally, making sure we're not overloading them with information so that they can just play and be aggressive," Oesterle said.

The Chippewas overcame a 19-point first-half deficit to beat the NIU on Saturday. They outscored the Huskies, 47-31, in the second half including 25-13 in the fourth quarter. That came on the heels of their dramatic win at Ball State, when the Chippewas were down to just five players in the second OT because three had fouled out.

"We have a few kids, especially that are seniors, that are refusing to let us lose," Oesterle said. "They want to continue to play, so they're doing everything possible to continue that. If you look at Saturday, the fourth quarter was our best quarter and that shows you that we had legs down the stretch."

Because of COVID protocols, the Chippewas are down to eight players. Their starting five – All-MAC first-teamers Micaela Kelly and Molly Davis along with Kyra Bussell, Maddy Watters and Jahari Smith – remains intact. The reserves are led Anika Weekes, who all season has provided CMU with productive minutes. Kalle Martinez and Sophia Karasinski have stepped up as Oesterle's pool of reserves has shrunk.

"Definitely eight warriors," Oesterle said. "They've all taken on their role of what they need to give us when they get in. I think we've done a better job of rotating our players in so they don't get exhausted … I think right now we have a pretty good eight-player rotation and we're trying to keep them as fresh as possible.

"We are eight right now and (it's about) staying together; nobody's playing frustrated, we pick each other up; we have a lot of energy with our staff and our team and (it's about) making sure we just stick together."

Saturday's win over NIU was also gratifying because the Huskies had drilled the Chippewas, 104-73, in DeKalb, Ill. in January. The Huskies are 12-11 and finished 10-8 MAC and are the seventh seed. They have lost five of their last six starts.

The CMU-NIU winner advances to Friday's semifinal against either No. 3-seed Ohio or sixth-seeded Ball State. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately noon. The Chippewas went 1-1 against both the Bobcats and Cardinals this season.

The championship game is slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday. The tournament champion receives the league's big to the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.