KALAMAZOO, Mich. –  The Western Michigan basketball team heads to McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Jan. 13 to face the Chippewas of Central Michigan.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's matchup between the Broncos and Chippewas will be available for streaming via ESPN+/ The link to the stream is listed above, and can also be found HERE. 
 
THE MATCHUP
The Chippewas lead the all-time series between the two teams. Western Michigan won its last two contests against Central Michigan to break its eight-win streak against the Broncos. 
 
Overall: 52-59
Home: 25-26
Away: 22-29
Neutral: 5-4
MAC Tournament: 9-3
 
SCOUTING THE CHIPPEWAS 
Central Michigan enters play following its road matchup against Bowling Green State University, falling by a final score of 101-68. BGSU outshot the Chippewas in Wednesday's matchup, shooting 50 percent from the field, 48.1 percent from deep, and 76.9 percent from the free throw line. Central Michigan (3-11,1-2 MAC) shot just above 41 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from deep. 
 
The Chippewas were led by freshman Sydney Harris, who tied her season high with six three-pointers, in scoring a game-high 23 points. Brigget Utberg added 13 points and sophomore Karrington Gordon had 10 on the night. 
 
Collectively Central Michigan scores an average of 62.2 PPG on 38.1 percent shooting. From the three-point range, CMU knocks down 28.5 percent of their looks and capitalizes on 72.3 percent of their chances from the charity stripe, averaging 6.5 made threes per game and 9.9 free throws per outing. Central Michigan dishes out an average of 10.8 APG and possesses an assist/turnover ratio of -4.8 on the year. 
 
On the glass, CMU pulls down an average of 36.6 boards each time out and posts a margin of 0.1 on the season. Central Michigan is led offensively by Harris, who averages 16.9 PPG on 39.6 percent from the field and 88.9 percent from the foul line. Utberg has been an asset for CMU, averaging 10 PPG on 33.8 percent shooting to go along with 81.5 from the line. 
 
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM WESTERN MICHIGAN 
Last time out, the Broncos sealed their first Mid-American Conference victory of the season with a resounding 79-70 performance over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. WMU was led by redshirt junior Taylor Williams, redshirt sophomore Lauren Ross, junior Hannah Spitzley, and fifth-year Maddie Watters, who combined to score 75 of 79 points. 
 
Ross registered 31 points shooting 11-of-22 from the field and a perfect 9-9 from the line. Williams tallied 23 on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and a team-high of 15 rebounds. Spitzley downed 11 points, shooting 2-of-5 from the field, 2-of-4 from deep, and 5-of-6 from the line. She recorded seven rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Maddie Watters added 2-of-9 from the field, 2-of-8 from deep, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the line for 10 points. 
 
Offensively, Western Michigan (6-8, 1-2) shows two players average double-figures on the year. Ross averages 21.7 PPG, shooting 46.3 percent from the field. Ross averages 5.0 RPG and 2.2 APG. Taylor Williams is next, averaging 14.8 PPG on 49.4 percent shooting, as well as the team-high 8.2  RPG with 1.3 steals and 2 blocks per contest. 
 
MAC STANDINGS
Akron  (3-0 MAC, 12-2 Overall)
Bowling Green (2-1 MAC, 13-2 Overall)
Toledo (2-1 MAC, 11-3 Overall)
Ball State (2-1 MAC, 12-4 Overall)
Kent State (2-1 MAC, 10-4 Overall)
Buffalo (2-1 MAC, 7-5 Overall)
Eastern Michigan (1-2 MAC, 9-5 Overall)
Northern Illinois (1-2 MAC, 9-5 Overall)
Western Michigan (1-2 MAC, 6-8 Overall)
Miami (1-2 MAC, 6-10 Overall)
Central Michigan (1-2 MAC, 3-11 Overall)
Ohio (0-3 MAC, 2-12 Overall)

LEADING THE MAC (*National Ranking) 
Lauren Ross
            Field Goal Attempts - 2nd (214), *101st
            Field Goal Percentage - 5th (46.3), *112nd
            Field Goals - 1st (99), *76th
            Free Throw Attempts - 2nd (38), *93rd
            Free Throw Percentage -  3th (86), *59th
            Free Throws - 1st (80), *19th
            Points Per Game - 1st (21.7), *8th
            Three Pointers Per Game - 7th (1.86), *222nd
 
Taylor Williams
            Blocks - 2nd (26), *51st
            Blocks Per Game - 2nd (2.00), *28th
            Field Goal Percentage - 4th (49.4), *87nd
            Points Per Game - 10th (14.8), *178th
            Rebounds Per Game - 3rd (8.2), *96th

Hannah Spitzley
            Steals Per Game - 7th (2.00), *140th
 
UP NEXT 
After Saturday's contest, the Broncos get set to battle Ohio University on Wednesday. Tip-off against the Bobcats in Athens, Ohio is on January 18 and is set for 7 p.m. and will be available for streaming via ESPN3/ ESPN+.