Chippewas look to keep momentum against Iona
Following a win to open the 2018-19 season, the Central Michigan women's basketball team dropped its second game.
Four-straight wins and a Cavalier Classic title later, the Chippewas (5-1) are building momentum to carry themselves through the final six games of the nonconference schedule.
In search of five in a row, head coach Sue Guevara's group battles Iona at 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 in New Rochelle, New York. The game will be played at the Hynes Center.
"(Iona) will look to run a five out offense," Guevara said. "If we zone them, we have to know our matchups. They run some motion out there. They aren't going anything we haven't seen. I know they don't switch a lot in their man-to-man, so we have to read and play the game."
CMU continues rolling with its big three of senior guard Presley Hudson, senior forward Reyna Frost and sophomore guard Micaela Kelly. Guevara knew what she'd get from those three at the beginning of the season, but the others were an unsolved mystery.
Through six games of the season, freshman center Jahari Smith, sophomore guard Maddy Watters and sophomore center Kyra Bussell have emerged.
"I feel pretty good with the progress we've made, specifically in our starting five with Jarhari and Maddy," Guevara said. "To me, that's been nice for those two. Our defense is getting better. It's nice to have four players in double-digits, and Maddy Watters is at 9.2 (points per game)."
Hudson paces the Chippewas with 24.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists. She's made 26-of-57 3-pointers for a 45.6 percent conversion rate. Frost chips in a double-double on average with 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds.
Kelly and Smith average 15.2 and 11.0 points per contest, respectively.
Off the bench against Chattanooga on Nov. 25, Bussell poured in 14 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting from the field.
"You saw her attacking the basket, she got to the free throw line and she really went after the ball, pursued the ball," Guevara said. "It was nice to see her have a breakout game."
Scouting Iona
The Gaels (1-4) are paced by junior guard Morgan Rachu, pouring in 16.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She converts 32.6 percent of the time from the 3-point line and has a 4-to-11 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Besides Rachu, Iona does not have another play in double-digit scoring. The next two leading scorers are redshirt sophomore forward Tori Lesko and freshman guard Juana Camilion at 7.8 and 6.0 points, respectively.
Head coach Billi Chambers, even though her team doesn't score in bunches, goes very deep down her bench. She has eight players averaging over 14 minutes per game. Only 10 student-athletes have played for the Gaels this season.
The Gaels allow 67.4 points per game to opposing teams and have given them a 32.2 percent rate from 3-point range.
An interesting tie between CMU and Iona resides in the Weeks twins – freshmen from St. Joseph's College School in Ontario. Paulla plays for the Gaels and averages 2.0 points per game, while Anika takes the court for the Chippewas. Anika scores 1.5 points per game but averages over seven minutes.
The Chippewas have six remaining nonconference games on their schedule before a Jan. 5 date with Akron at McGuirk Arena in the Mid-American Conference opener. CMU plays Iona, Quinnipiac, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Tulane and Miami (FL) before league action.
"Our kids come here to play good competition," Guevara said. "That's one of the knocks against mid-majors. We have the players I feel can compete and want to compete. Our nonconference, regardless of how we come out, doesn't matter. This schedule gets us ready for January, February and March.
"It's all about March."
