Women's basketball tips off against No. 3 Louisville at home


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Sophomore guard Micaela Kelly drives to the basket for an easy score on Nov. 17 at McGuirk Arena.

A season ago, Louisville journeyed to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.

Under head coach Sue Guevara, the Chippewas were two wins away from the same feat.

The Central Michigan women's basketball team has a date with the Cardinals (11-0), ranked No. 3 in the nation, at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at McGuirk Arena.

Even though CMU (8-1) is ranked No. 5 in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, its matchup against Louisville is the first time a robust Power Five conference women's basketball team has traveled to Mount Pleasant in recent history.

Louisville is the highest-ranked opponent CMU has faced since opening the 2016-17 against No. 1 Notre Dame in South Bend. The Fighting Irish were dominant in the victory, 107-47.

For CMU senior guard Presley Hudson, rankings don't matter. Essentially, she believes it's just another game.

"It's the game we love and play every single day," Hudson said. "It's nothing new to us. We're just going to play our game."

Hudson averages 23.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game to pace the Chippewas. She's made 36-of-85 3-point attempts and converts 46.5 percent of all field goals.

While the Chippewas average 80 points per game on offense, Louisville is fifth in the nation at 86.9. Eight spots behind Hudson in the national scoring race is senior guard Asia Durr, averaging 21.7 points per game for the Cardinals.

Hudson ranks fifth, and Durr is 13th, on the NCAA Division I scoring chart.

CMU's offensive mentality surrounds pushing the ball and shooting 3-pointers. Along with Hudson, senior guard Reyna Frost (52.6 percent), sophomore guard Micaela Kelly (47.1 percent), sophomore guard Maddy Watters (45.9 percent) and sophomore forward Kyra Bussell (44.4 percent) connect from downtown with success.

In the 2017-18 season, Frost made just 12 3-pointers. This season, she's already 10-for-19 from downtown. Known for her skills on the glass, the 6-foot forward averages a double-double – 16 points, 10.7 rebounds.

But Frost's 3-point game is continuously improving.

"I've always worked on (the 3 ball) since I've been here … the big thing was my confidence," Frost said. "I started shooting it a little bit last year but not a whole lot. Over the summer coach wanted me to get the confidence in so I shot a lot of 3s. The more you shoot the more confidence you get."

The Chippewas are coming off an impressive 66-57 win over Vanderbilt, a tough SEC opponent, on Dec. 15 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. Frost made two late 3-pointers to put the finishing touches on the Commodores.

"Frost hit some big, fat threes for us that finally got the confidence going a little bit," Guevara said. "For the size of that team, for us to out-rebound, I'm very happy with that."

Bussell chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds in key minutes off the bench. Guevara said she's seen much growth in her backup forward since the early stages of the 2018-19 campaign, and she only expects more.

"For her to be coming into her own right now is great," Guevara said of Bussell. "She doesn't have to do a whole lot more, just keep consistency."

Following its game against Louisville, CMU plays Tulane and No. 24 Miami on Dec. 29-30 in the Miami Holiday Classic before entering Mid-American Conference play on Jan. 5.

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