Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Florida International
Pittman, Schrock Lead EMU Women Past Florida International, 77-58
12/8/2007 6:04:22 PM | Women's Basketball
Schrock a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line
Box score.
MIAMI, Fla. – The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back, defeating Florida International, 77-58, here Saturday afternoon at Pharmed Arena. Sophomore guard Alyssa Pittman (Elkhart, Ind.-Elkhart Memorial) led the Eagles with 19 points, with 12 coming in the second half to lead an EMU surge which would seal the game.
With the win the Eagles improve to 5-4 on the year while the Panthers fall to 2-6.
EMU was powered by a trio of double-digit performances from Pittman, who led the way with 19, followed by senior Colleen Russell (Windsor, Ontario-Brennan), who set a career-high mark of 15 just two days ago, pitching in 13 today. Freshman Cassie Schrock (Wadsworth, Ohio-Wadsworth) turned in a career-high 17 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds in 39 minutes of action. The freshman was also a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, which is tied for the 11th best single-game performance in school-history.
LaQuetta Fergusen paced all scorers on the day with 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Also, hitting double digits for the Golden Panthers was Monika Bosilj, who chipped in 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Eagles jumped out to that 6-0 run to start the game behind jumpers from Russell and Pittman and a Schrock lay-up. Florida International would battle back to tie the game at 10 with a three-pointer from LaQuetta Fergusen at the 15:23 mark.
Howver, EMU answered with a 13-point run, giving them a 23-10 edge with 10:41 remaining in the first half, sparked by three-point field goals from Canea Williams (Mansfield, Ohio-Mansfield Senior), Schrock, and Kivilcim Yamanoglu (Antalya, Turkey-Antalya College).
Both teams would trade baskets until the half, with the Green and White shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the field for the half en route to a 39-23 advantage heading into the locker room.
FIU opened the second half with a 13-6 run, pulling to within nine on a jumper from Liene Jekabsone at the 14:20 mark. The comeback ended there for the Panthers as Eastern would propel forward on six free throws from Schrock and six points from Pittman to go up 58-40 with 10:50 remaining in the game.
Eastern would extend its lead to 24 with a lay-up from Amber Land (Kulm, N.D.-Kulm) near the five- minute mark, going up 71-47 and cruise the rest of the way. A late three-point field goal from Amanda Compton (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Huron) and a jumper from Williams would round out the scoring for EMU.
EMU has the next 13 days off before it returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for a Noon contest with Dayton on December 21. That game will be Education Day with several local school systems attending the game as guests of the EMU Athletics Department.
