Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Massachusetts
Women's Basketball Stays Perfect with a Win Over UMass
11/22/2005 9:25:30 PM | Women's Basketball
Eagles go to 2-0 with a 63-45 victory
Box score.
YPSILANTI, Mich.--The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team stayed perfect on the season with a 63-45 win over a visiting University of Massachusetts team here Tuesday night in the Convocation Center.
Sophomore guard Canea Williams (Mansfield, Ohio-Mansfield Senior) led three Eagles in double figures with 18 points, including connecting on 4-of-7 three-point field goals. Junior Sarah VanMetre (Noblesville, Ind.-Noblesville) added 17 points with eight rebounds while Nikki Knapp (Blue Springs, MO.-Blue Springs South) scored 13 points with nine rebounds. The win boosted EMU to 2-0 on the year.
UMass, now 1-2 on the year, was paced by Pam Rosanio with nine points and six rebounds.
Head Coach Suzy Merchant’s Eagles held UMass to just 29.3 percent shooting from the field (17-of-58) and also out-rebounded the visitors by a whopping 15 boards (49 to 34).
The Eagles opened the game with plenty of offensive firepower, as sophomore guard Williams hit two three-point field goals on her first two shot attempts to put the Eagles up by a 6-2 score after three minutes.
The EMU offense continued to built a lead, leading by as many as 22 points, 26-4, at the 6:37 mark on a layup by VanMetre. Meanwhile, the EMU defense was also doing its part, holding the visitors to just 18.5 percent from the field in the first half (5-of-27) while connecting on 10-of-25 shots for 40 percent.
VanMetre led all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 14 points while Knapp scored seven points with five rebounds.
Eastern opened the second half with another offensive flurry, taking a 23-point lead, 40-17, with 16:21 left in the game, allowing Merchant the luxury of giving the bench more playing time.The closest the Minutewomen would get in the second half was 16 points, 40-24, with 14:11 left.
The Eagles will hit the road tomorrow for a trip to Hawaii where they will play in the 27th Annual Wahine Classic Friday-Sunday (Nov. 25-27). Eastern opens the tournament Friday against DePaul at 3:30 p.m.
