Eastern Michigan Athletics
Women's Hoops Hosts Eagle Classic
11/15/2006 3:50:30 PM | Women's Basketball
Tournament to feature EMU, Grambling State, Morehead State and New Orleans
Complete Game Notes (PDF).
Live Stats.
EMU OPEN 2006-07 SEASON WITH EAGLE CLASSIC: The EMU women’s basketball team opens the 2006-07 season, Nov. 17-18, when the Eagles host the Sixth Annual Eagle Classic at the Convocation Center. The tournament returns after a year hiatus, Eastern took home the 2004 tournament crown with a 80-52 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore. EMU has won the tournament four out of the previous five times. This year's tournament features Grambling State, Morehead State and New Orleans. This will be EMU’s first meeting with all of the teams participating in the tournament.
MERCHANT APPROACHING VICTORY NUMBER 200: Head Coach Suzy Merchant needs two more victories to record her 200th victory as a collegiate coach. She is also just two victories shy of tying Kathy Hart for the most wins as the head coach in the program’s 30-year history at 146.
In 10 years as a college head coach, Merchant is 198-119, and at EMU she is 144-90. Merchant was the first female coach at EMU to win a Mid-American Conference title and was selected the BCAM Coach of the Year in 2004. That same season, the team had an RPI of 62 the highest in the history of the program and 235 positions over where the program was when Merchant first arrived in 1998.
HITTING FROM LONG RANGE: EMU’s women’s basketball team has shown it can hit from long range and has for quite a while now. Eastern has made at least one three-pointer in the last 130 games, dating back to Jan. 31, 2002. The last time the Eagles did not make one was on Jan. 26, 2002 in a 52-43 road victory over Central Michigan.
SENIORS WILL BE MISSED: With the 2006-07 season in mind the senior class of Ryan Coleman, Nikki Knapp and Melis Ulker will be missed in the score book. The trio combined to score 47.9 percent of the Eagles’ points and 35.4 percent of the rebounds during the 2005-06 campaign.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Eagles’ win over Central Michigan last winter moved the team’s record to 13-2 at the Convocation Center. Two years, ago EMU posted a record of 11-1 in the "Nest" and has won 51 of the last 63 home games dating to the 2001-02 campaign. EMU out-scored its opponents by 23.5 points per game at the Convo last season. Last year, the Eagles out-scored foes by an average of 13.6 points.
EMU VERSUS THE MAC: This is EMU’s 26th season competing in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles hold a 172-244 record against current conference foes and have posted six straight winning season in the MAC. EMU has had the most success against Northern Illinois, going 18-7, and the least versus Miami, 10-33. Western Michigan has been the Green and White’s most frequent opponent with 59 meetings while Buffalo holds the distinction of the fewest conference games against the Eagles with 11.
INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: For the Eagles, getting a good start in the game was a key two seasons ago. When leading at halftime, Eastern was 19-2, while it was 22-1 when leading with five minutes to play in the game. EMU was also 19-1 when it had a better field goal percentage than its opponents. The trend has continued last season, as Eastern was 18-1 when leading at halftime and 22-0 when leading with five minutes to play in the game.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: The Eagles have recorded one of the most successful non-league stretches in school history. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, EMU has posted 32 victories in non-league games, the second-best of any MAC school. Bowling Green leads the conference in non-conference winning percentage at 67.3 (33-16), while the Eagles are a close second at 59.3 (32-22).
Eastern Michigan has been one of the most successful teams in the Mid-American Conference over the last five years (2000-05) winning 92 games. Ball State is second with 93 victories while Kent State leads the way with 97 victories.
DEFENSE GETTING IT DONE FOR EMU: EMU held a school record 10 opponents to less than 50 points during the 2005-06 campaign and finished second in the MAC with 56.8 ppg allowed. The MAC record for scoring defense in a season is 57.3 ppg allowed set in 2005 by Kent State.
In 2004-05, the Eagles’ defense accomplished that feat six times, while the 2003-04 squad set the previous record at nine. EMU has given up 70 or more points just four times this season and tops the league in field-goal percentage defense (36.8).
EMU WINS MICHIGAN MAC TITLE: The Eagles won the inaugural Michigan Mid-American Conference Women’s title Wednesday, Feb. 22, by defeating rival Western Michigan by a score of 64-57. The award, sponsored by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, is awarded annually to the team that wins the season series among EMU, WMU, and Central Michigan. EMU won the trophy with a 4-0 record while WMU finished 2-2 and CMU 0-4.
THE BEST IN MICHIGAN: Over the past four seasons the EMU women’s team has posted the best conference mark of the 14 Division I program’s – men’s or women’s – in the state of Michigan. During the past four years EMU has combined for 47 league wins and just 17 setbacks. That is one more conference win than the Western Michigan University men, two more than the Michigan State University women and four more than Tom Izzo’s Michigan State men.
EAGLES TABBED TO WIN MAC WEST DIVISION: For the third consecutive season the EMU women’s basketball team has been picked to capture the Mid-American Conference’s West Division championship by the voting members of the MAC News Media Association. The announcement was made in Cleveland, Oct. 24, 2006, as part of the conference’s Women’s Basketball Media Day.
The Green and White received 21 of 41 first-place votes in garnering 214 total points. Western Michigan University was picked to finish second with 188. Rounding out the West Division were Ball State University (157 points), Northern Illinois University (142), the University of Toledo (94) and Central Michigan University (66). Bowling Green State University was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the East with 245 points.
The selection marks the third consecutive year that the Eagles have been tabbed as the preseason favorite to capture the West Division crown. With the honor Eastern becomes just the second team since the league switched to the divisional format in 1997-98 to be named the West Division favorite in three straight seasons. The University of Toledo did so from 1997-98 to 1999-2000, while Kent State holds the league record for most consecutive preseason nods with seven from 1997-98 to 2003-04.
This comes off a 2005-06 season that saw the Eagles post a 22-8 overall record and a school-record 15-1 MAC mark. The Green and White’s 22 wins were the second most in program history and marked EMU’s third straight 20-win season. The Eagles also made their third consecutive national postseason tournament appearance, with a berth in the 2006 Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
THE ROAD WARRIORS ARE BACK: The Eagles have been a good road team under Head Coach Suzy Merchant. In eight years under Merchant, EMU is 55-46 in road contests and 15-15 in neutral site games. This trend continues in the MAC, as the Eagles are 36-28 in conference road games.
THE KIDS CAN PLAY: The average 2006-07 EMU women’s basketball player stands 5-feet-9 tall and is 19.9 years old. The youngest Eagle is Kelly Watts, who turned 18, Aug. 14, 2006. Annie Malatinsky is the oldest Eagle having turned 22, March 23, 2005.
EAGLES CLOSE OUT A RECORD-SETTING 2005-06 SEASON: The Eastern Michigan University made its third consecutive national postseason tournament appearance Thursday, March 16, when it traveled to the Indiana State University for the first round of the 2006 Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
EMU posted a 22-7 overall record and 15-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Green and White’s 22 wins are tied for the second most in program history and marked EMU’s third consecutive 20-win season. The Eagles were the second-most dominant team in the Mid-American Conference this season, leading the West Division from wire-to-wire in the league regular season, capturing the division title by four games. After struggling to a 2-3 start and playing without Kodak/WBCA honorable mention All-American Ryan Coleman, the Eagles turned the tables to post one of the nation’s best records, going 18-3 mark over the last 21 games.
VanMetre Named to Academic All-MAC Team: Junior forward Sarah VanMetre was named to the 10-person Academic All-Mid American Conference women’s basketball team, the league office announced Friday. VanMetre is only the 10th women’s basketball player in school history to be named to the Academic All-MAC team.
A starter in 24 of EMU’s 30 games, VanMetre averaged 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. A member of the University Honors Program, VanMetre helped the Eagles capture their second MAC West title in the last three years. VanMetre hit the double-digit scoring mark in 10 of 16 MAC games, including 19 points on three separate occasions.
She ended the year with a season-high 20 points in a Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) first-round loss at Indiana State, March 16. She finished the season ranked among the MAC leaders in points per game (24th – 11.1), rebounds (12th – 6.3), steals (12th – 1.72) offensive rebounds (12th – 2.10) and defensive rebounds (12th – 4.07).
VanMetre earned her second-consecutive MAC academic honor by maintaining a 3.96 GPA in journalism. She is joined on the All-MAC team by Erin Kuhl and Casey Manning of Central Michigan, Kelsey Corbin (Ball State), Jessie Crook (Akron), Ali Mann (Bowling Green), Lindsay Shearer (Kent State), Amber Miller (Miami), Jennifer Uptmor (Northern Illinois) and Carrie Moore (Western Michigan).
To qualify a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for their particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of participation are not eligible for the honor.
2007 NCAA Women’s Final Four Coming To Cleveland: On July 9, 2001, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chose sites for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 NCAA Women’s Final Four, and Cleveland was one of the cities selected. Indianapolis was selected to host in 2005, Boston in 2006 and Cleveland was picked for 2007. The Mid-American Conference, along with Cleveland State, will serve as co-hosts for the event at Quicken Loans Arena. The Women’s Final Four will be Sunday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 3 at Quicken Loans Arena.
LOG-ON TO EMUEAGLES.com: For the most complete information on the Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball, log on to the EMU Athletic Web site, www.emueagles.com.
The site provides updated statistics, game notes and other pertinent women’s basketball information. The site also offers up-to-date information on all of EMU’s 21 varsity sports, including schedules and results, player and coach biographies as well as the latest news from the EMU athletic program.
