Women’s basketball return home to play Western

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After Sunday’s loss at Toledo the Central Michigan women’s basketball team is looking to rebound against rival Western Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas (9-7, 1-1 MAC) return to Mount Pleasant after opening up Mid-American Conference play on the road. They beat Northern Illinois and lost to Toledo, making it a bitter end to what was a successful winter break for CMU.

“We’re hungrier now more than ever,” said freshman guard Crystal Bradford. “We plan on going out with a bang.”

Home court has been unfamiliar grounds for CMU. The Chippewas have played just three of 16 games in McGuirk Arena and haven’t been home since a Dec. 3 win over then-No. 12 Purdue, which is the only home win this season.

“It feels good because it has been a while since we’ve played at home,” Bradford said.

The Chippewas have played eight straight games on the road and have a 6-2 record, which has head coach Sue Guevara excited.

“It’s nice to get back and play in front of our family and fans,” Guevara said. “Western has struggled away from home and was fortunate enough to open MAC play at home, and good for them.”

WMU beat Toledo in that MAC opener in Kalamazoo. That was days before Toledo returned the favor to CMU.

“We know what we have to do to win,” Guevara said. “They (WMU) have some kids that can score and we need to be aware, especially on transition defense.”

The Chippewas rely on a few freshmen and this will be their first time experiencing the WMU rivalry.

“Western has a lot of freshman too,” Guevara said. “Our freshman have got so much experience already you really can’t even call them freshmen anymore.”

CMU will be looking to get back on track tonight and even things out in the early stages of the MAC West race. The Broncos are the only team to win their first two conference games.

WMU has struggled lately on the road. After going 2-14 away from Kalamazoo last season it followed up with a 1-6 start this year.