Eastern Travels to Toledo for Saturday Night Tussle

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EASTERN TRAVELS TO TOLEDO FOR SATURDAY NIGHT TUSSLE: The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team hits the road for a pair of Mid-American Conference West Division tilts, traveling first to John. F. Savage Hall in Toledo, Ohio for a Saturday evening, Jan. 6, contest with the Rockets of Toledo.

The Eagles enter the game with a record of 6-6 (1-0 MAC) after upending Northern Illinois University, 80-66, Wednesday night, Jan. 3, in the conference lid-lifter. Meanwhile, the Rockets are 4-9 (0-1 MAC) on the year and have dropped four consecutive games, including a 80-59 setback Wednesday night at Ball State University.

THE SERIES WITH THE ROCKETS: Saturday night’s contest marks the 54th meeting between the Rockets and Eagles, who first met during the 1977-1978 season. Toledo leads the overall series, 35-18. However, Eastern swept last year’s season series, posting a 68-40 decision at the EMU Convocation Center, Jan. 10, 2006, along with a dominating 73-49 win at Savage Hall, Feb. 18, 2006.

Historically, UT’s Savage Hall a has been a building that Eastern teams have struggled in. The Green and White have posted an all-time record of 6-20 in the 31-year old building. Prior to last season’s victory, the Eagles’ most recent EMU victory in Toledo occurred Feb. 21, 2000, when Eastern took home a 91-54 victory.

FROM ROLE PLAYER TO ONE OF THE NATION’S BEST: The 2006-07 campaign has been a break-out season for senior forward Sarah VanMetre. A solid contributer during her first three-years, the Noblesville, Ind. native has taken her game to a whole new level in her final season in Ypsilanti. VanMetre is averaging 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 34.5 minutes per game. She leads the league in rebounding and ranks third in scoring, nationally she is listed 57th in rebounding and 77th in scoring according the most recent NCAA statistics as of Dec. 31, 2006.

Selected the Mid-American Conference’s 2003-04 Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman, VanMetre averaged 11.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She followed it up with a sophomore season that saw her numbers drop to 7.4 points and 4.1 boards per game when she switched to the guard position. In 2005-06 VanMetre returned to her natural forward spot and saw he numbers return to her freshman year levels of 11.1 points and 6.3 caroms per contest.

VanMetre has already secured a place in the EMU record books, becoming just the eighth player in the program’s history to score more than 1,000 points and grab more than 500 rebounds in a career. She is also on track to capture the EMU record for the most games played in an EMU uniform.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WAS NO CUPCAKE: The Eagles team will enter the Mid-American Conference section of the schedule battle tested as the Eagles have played some very tough competition. Eastern’s non-conference opponents have a combined 66-80 record. Five teams had winning records, including Massachusetts (10-4), Illinois State (9-4), Boston University (8-5), Western Carolina (8-6) and Northern Arizona (7-6) who are a combined 42-25 on the season.

WNIT BANNER UNVEILING SET FOR JAN. 28: The EMU women’s basketball team will celebrate its 2005-06 MAC West Division Championship and WNIT Postseason appearance as they unveil the banner at halftime of the men’s basketball game versus Buffalo, Jan. 28.

EMU RELIES HEAVILY ON FRESHMAN: The Eagles are very dependant on its freshman class. As a group, EMU’s frosh are averaging 22.3 points per game, which accounts for 35 percent of the offense.

EMU VERSUS THE MAC: This is EMU’s 26th season competing in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles hold a 173-244 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 19-7, 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.

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS: The Eagles’ victory over Northern Illinois (Dec. 6) moved the team’s record to 4-1 at the Convocation Center this winter. Last year, EMU posted a record of 13-2 in the "Nest" and has won 55 of the last 68 home games dating to the 2001-02 campaign. EMU out-scored its opponents by 23.5 points per game at the Convo last season. This year, the Eagles have out-scored foes by an average of 14.4 points.

EAGLES STRUGGLING TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START: The first half of games has plagued the Eagles during the non-conference portion of the 2006-07 schedule. Eastern has been out-scored 364 to 380 during the opening stanza and led at the half in just five of the 11 contests. The second half has been the Eagles’ dominate frame, reversing the trend to out-score the opposition 416 to 373.

This trend has accounted for EMU rallying from both 17-point deficit at Massachusetts, Dec. 13, and a 10-point hole against Furman. Dec. 30. UMass was able to recapture the advantage and go on to win the game, 83-30, while EMU has able to upend Furman, 64-62, for the team’s first come-from-behind win of the year.

RACKING UP THE MILES: The Eagles’ recent wrapped up their five-game road trip, logging more than 3,861 miles of travel. Eastern traveled 390 miles round trip to Wright State, 1,374 miles to play at Massachusetts, 710 miles to Illinois State and 1,387 miles for the two-game trip versus Furman and Western Carolina.

Those travel miles do not even include the 4,076 round-trip miles the Eagles had already accumulated from the Arizona State Classic, Dec. 1-2.

Merchant Gives Birth to a Baby Boy: The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball family grew by one over the holiday break. Head coach Suzy Merchant and her husband, Gary Rakan, became proud parents of Tyler Glen, Dec. 24, at 6 a.m. The baby boy was born a healthy six pounds, 13 ounces, and 20 1/2 inches long.

After a brief maternity leave, Merchant is expected to resume her full-time role sometime in the winter semester after consulting with her physicians. In the meantime, assistant coach Shane Clipfell has been serving as the team’s acting head coach.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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