Eagles Chill Penguins, 69-48

Box score.

YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team used a 22-8 run to open the second half as the Eagles cruised to 69-48 victory over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon, Dec. 10, at the Convocation Center. The victory snapped the Eagles four-game losing skid.

Eastern, now 3-4 on the year, was paced by senior Nikki Knapp who poured in a game-best 25 points in the victory. Junior Sarah VanMetre turned in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while senior Ryan Coleman scored 13 and added five assists.

Youngstown State, now 2-6 on the season, was led by Monique Godfrey and Jessica Schloemp with seven points each.

Eastern held a slim 32-26 halftime lead but the Eagles found their offense in the second half, out-scoring the Penguins by a 37-22 margin.

The visitors jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead to start the game before a Knapp layup and free throw got EMU back within two points with 16:55 to play in the period. Four quick points by Coleman at the 16:07 mark gave Eastern its first lead of the contest, 9-7.

Turnovers plagued both teams early on as the squads combined for nine in the contest’s first six-minutes, but the Eagles remained on top, 13-11, with 11:54 to go in the half. Neither team scored for nearly two minutes before the Penguins knotted the game at 13 on a Godfrey layup with 10:50 remaining.

Eastern responded with a 4-0 spurt to take its biggest lead of the contest at four, 17-13, forcing YSU to call a time-out at the 7:57 mark. Following the time-out the Eagles used a 13-6 run over the next 4:25 to take its biggest lead of the half at nine, 30-21, on a pair of VanMetre free throws. Youngstown State was unable to get any closer than six the rest of the half as Eastern Michigan headed into the locker room up 32-26.

Knapp lead all Eagles in the first half with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting while VanMetre and Coleman both chipped in six points apiece. YSU was paced by Lauren Branson with six points and four assists.

In the second half, EMU held Youngstown State scoreless for the first four minutes of the period but were unable to pull away as the Green and White managed just three points of its own over the same span. A Knapp layup and the accompanying free throw with 11:41 pushed the margin to 13, 45-32, before it was promptly answered by a pair of Penguin scores to close the gap once again.

The Eagles began to pull away going on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to go up by 20, 54-34 with 8:24 remaining. Eastern ended any hopes of a potential YSU comeback, extending its lead to 62-39 with 4:01 left in the contest.

The Eagles are next in action Tuesday, Dec. 13, at the Convo when they take on Saint Louis at 11 a.m. as part of Elementary School Day with more than 800 school children scheduled to be in the crowd as part of the special promotion.

Game Notes:

Senior Nikki Knapp surpassed Abby Wiseman for the EMU record for more free throw attempts with 9:34 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles and Penguins squared off for the sixth time in the program’s history with EMU now holding a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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