Women's basketball takes part in Cavalier Classic
Following a four-game home stretch, the Central Michigan women's basketball team hits the road for two games in two days at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The games, from Nov. 24-25, will be played against Virginia and Chattanooga, respectively. CMU, Virginia, Chattanooga and Saint Louis are the four participants in the tournament, which is in a true classic format, predetermined matchups and no tournament championship.
Anchored by coach Sue Guevara, the Chippewas are the favorite to earn the most wins in the Cavalier Classic. Of the three other programs, Virginia was the only to join CMU in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Central Michigan
CMU's opens the Cavalier Classic at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24 against Virginia and plays at 1 p.m. on Nov. 25 against Chattanooga before traveling back home.
In four games played, the Chippewas control a 3-1 record. Senior guard Presley Hudson leads the team with 26.3 points per game and 6.3 assists per game. Hudson has made 18-of-40 3-pointers and 31-of-34 field goals.
Right behind Hudson is senior forward Reyna Frost, who averages a double-double with 19.3 points and 11.3 assists per game. She's also dished out 14 assists this season.
Guevara hopes for Hudson and Frost to remained locked in during the two games in two days.
“Presley’s always ready,” Guevara said. “When your seniors are pretty locked in, it helps everyone else.”
Sometimes living in the shadow of Hudson and Frost is sophomore guard Micaela Kelly. Even though she's not the center-of-attention, Kelly can be lethal as an all-around player. Kelly features indefatigable defense and up-tempo offense. She's made 11-of-19 3-pointers and averages five assists, 4.3 rebounds and 16 points per game.
“Presley gets so much attention that they don’t look at (Micaela),” Guevara said. “If you ever come to practice when she and Presley are on opposite teams, it’s a 3-point battle war.”
CMU's two other starters include freshman center Jahari Smith – 12.5 points, six rebounds per game – and sophomore guard Maddy Watters, who was called upon to replace a struggling Gabrielle Bird in the corner after the first game the season.
Watters is an impressive 11-of-21 from 3-point range, good for 52.4 percent. She averages 9.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Guevara's goal is to keep Watters shooting the corner triple because it will continue to be wide open.
“I’m learning to take those shots,” Watters said. “With more playing time (than last year), I can produce more. My teammates kept telling me to shoot more, so I was just trying to find the open spots.”
Frost, with 11 rebounds against UCF on Nov. 21, is just nine away from becoming the program's career leader. Crystal Bradford, who had 1,140 from 2012-15, currently holds the top spot. Frost has 1,132.
Virginia
Virginia plays CMU at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24 and plays at 3:30 p.m. against Saint Louis to wrap up the tournament.
The Cavaliers are 2-2 overall but are currently riding a two-game winning streak – taking down Old Dominion and North Carolina A&T after losses to Mississippi State and Kentucky to open the 2018 campaign. Virginia plays in the ACC.
Coached by Tina Thompson, Virginia is led by junior guard Dominique Toussaint with 13.3 points, four rebounds and 2.8 assists. Boating a 5-foot-9 stature, Toussaint is a force when slashing toward the basket and pulled up from 3-point range. She's made a team-high 38.1 percent from her shots from beyond the arc.
Virginia's only other player who scores in double-figures is Jocelyn Willoughby at 10 points per game. She chips in 4.3 rebounds and two assists.
Thompson is in her first season at head coach. She retired from her 17-year playing career as the all-time leading scorer in WNBA history, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a four-time WNBA championship and was the first player drafted in the history of the WNBA.
Chattanooga
Chattanooga takes on Saint Louis at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 24 and finishes the two-game stint against CMU at 1 p.m. on Nov. 25.
The Mocs are 3-2 this season, earning wins against Lee University, Hampton and Liberty but losing to top-ranked Louisville and Virginia Tech. Chattanooga plays in the Southern Conference.
Like Virginia's Thompson, Chattanooga's Katie Burrows is in her first season. She spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach in the same program.
Junior guard Lakelyn Bouldin governs the Mocs by pouring in 12.2 points, 2.4 assists and two rebounds per game. Freshman forward Eboni Williams averages 10 points and 4.8 rebounds. While Bouldin and Williams are the only two players in double-figures, Burrows' group is the deepest in the Cavalier Classic.
Chattanooga has 12 players averaging over 1.5 points per game, and 11 players logging more than 12 minutes per game.
Saint Louis
Saint Louis opens up the Cavalier Classic at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 24 against Chattanooga and finishes the tournament against Virginia at 3:30 on Nov. 25.
The Billikens are 1-3 and hail from the Atlantic 10 Conference. Coach Lisa Stone's team defeated Eastern Kentucky to open the season before falling to Indiana State, Cincinnati and Tulsa.
In its most recent game, Saint Louis dropped an overtime battle 86-75 against Tulsa. In the second quarter, Tulsa annihilated the Billikens from the field, going 12-for-17 from the field including four 3-pointers. Despite the loss, Saint Louis made a season-high seven 3-pointers.
Senior guard Jordyn Frantz leads her team with 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and two assists per game. Following suit is freshman guard Ciaja Harbison's stellar performance of averaging 11.3 points and five rebounds.
The Chippewas play top women's basketball competition in the Cavalier Classic and Guevara wouldn't have it any other way.
"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."
