Eastern Michigan Athletics
EMU Heads to Indiana State for WNIT Opener
3/14/2006 4:13:30 PM | Women's Basketball
Game time set for 7:05 Thursday, March 16, in Terre Haute, Ind.
Complete Game Notes (PDF).
Listen to the Game via WEMU.
EAGLES HEAD TO INDIANA STATE FOR POSTSEASON WNIT: Eastern Michigan University makes its third consecutive national postseason tournament appearance Thursday night when it travels to 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 18-2 mark over the last 20 games.
The Sycamores are a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and enter the tournament having the best record (26-5) among the teams left out of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Indiana State finished three games ahead of runner-up Drake in winning the MVC regular-season title, but lost to seventh-seeded Missouri State in the finals of the league tournament, which was played in Missouri State’s arena.
EMU IN THE WNIT: EMU participated in the Preseason WNIT in 2000-01 and made their first appearance in the Postseason WNIT last season versus the University of Kentucky. After trailing by as many as five-points in the first half, the Wildcats captured a hard fought 79-68 decision at Memorial Hall in Lexington, Ky., March 19, 2005.
THE SERIES WITH INDIANA STATE: Thursday’s matchup will be the fifth contest between EMU and Indiana State, with the Royal Blue and White holding all four victories in the series. The squads last played Dec. 21, 1988, when the Sycamores defeated the then-Hurons by a score of 82-73 at Bowen Field House in Ypsilanti, Mich.
MAC IN THE WNIT: Eastern is the only Mid-American Conference team participating in the 2006 Postseason WNIT. Including this season, 16 MAC teams have been selected to compete in the Postseason WNIT posting a 12-15 record since 1989. Toledo leads the way, making five appearances and finishing as high as second in the 1990 edition of the WNIT. In 2004, Western Michigan advanced to the quarterfinal game before falling to Richmond, 82-66.
EASTERN VERSUS 2006 POSTSEASON TEAMS: When examining the brackets for the 2006 NCAA and WNIT tournaments, EMU recognizes six teams that it met during the 2005-06 regular season. Out of the NCAA bracket, the Eagles played Bowling Green, DePaul, Oakland and Utah. Out of the WNIT, Eastern played Idaho State and Indiana. The Eagles’ lone victory versus the group came against Oakland, a 73-48 decision, Jan. 4, at the O’Rena in Rochester, Mich.
TO THE VICTOR: The winner of Thursday’s first-round game between Eastern Michigan and Indiana State will be paired up with the winner of Indiana University and Jackson State University/Rice University, who play Saturday, March 18. The contest will take place at a site yet to be determined sometime between March 19-21.
Indiana, a member of the Big Ten Conference, went 17-13 in the regular season and have orchestrated one of the nation’s top turn arounds. The Hoosiers claimed two wins over Top-25 teams this season, including a 63-61 overtime decision over then-No. 10 Purdue, Feb. 19, and a 61-46 win against then-No. 20 Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, March 2. Led by All-Big Ten selections Cyndi Valentin (first team) and Jenny DeMuth (second team), Indiana was the most improved Big Ten team as it tripled its conference wins from a season ago.
Rice is a member of Conference USA, and heads to the postseason with a 17-13 record. The Owls finished 11-5 in conference, and lost to NCAA tournament-bound Tulsa in the championship game of the C-USA tournament, 55-52. Rice won 11 of its last 13 games, including a nine-game streak before the loss to Tulsa.
Jackson State (17-13/14-4) won the regular-season Southwestern Athletic Conference title, but the Lady Tigers fell to Alabama State in the semifinal of the conference tournament. They also won 11 of their final 13 contests.
