Women’s Basketball Grounded by Toledo, 73-61

Box score.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore guard De'Ja Wills (Anderson, Ind.-Anderson) had a career-best 23 points but it was not enough, as the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell to the University the Toledo, 73-61, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 28, in front of a record 5,701 fans at the newly renovated Savage Arena.

Despite holding the Rockets without a field goal for the first 7:05, the Eagles could not capitalize on the opportunities to pad their early four-point cushion. EMU shot just 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field, while Toledo shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor despite starting the contest by missing its first 13 shots.

With the loss EMU falls to 7-19 overall and 3-10 in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo on the other hand clinched a first round bye the upcoming Kraft MAC Tournament by improving to 17-10 and 11-3 in the MAC. Additionally, it marked a season sweep by the Rockets, the first since the 2000-01 season.

The Eagles were led by Wills who had 23 points on the evening, including a 5-for-13 effort from beyond the arc. Prior to today's game Wills' previous best was a 14 point effort at North Dakota, Nov. 14, 2008. Sophomore Cassie Schrock (Wadsworth,Ohio-Wadsworth) chipped in 13 points and six rebounds. Freshman Kimberly Davis (Evanston, Ill.-Evanston Township) also added eight points and nine rebounds in a losing effort.

The Rockets had five players in double figures, led by junior Allie Clifton with 17 points. Sophomore Melissa Goodall (14), junior Lisa Johnson (12), freshman Naama Shafir (11) and junior Tanika Mays (10) each hit double digits as well. Shafir also contributed a career-high 13 assists, which tied for the fifth-most in school history, to tally her first career doubled-double.

EMU got on the board first with four quick points by freshman Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford), while the defense was up to the challenge holding the potent Rocket offense with out a score in first 16 attempts at a field goal (0-for-13 with 3 turnovers). UT's Lisa Johnson got the Rockets on the board with a pair of free throws at the 14:14 mark. Finally the streak ended for Toledo with 12:59 showing, when Melissa Goodall drained a 14-footer to tie the score at 4-4.

The tempo would pick up for both sides. Toledo pulled out in front 18-10 on a Clifton three-pointer with 8:43 to go before back-to-back buckets by Wills pulled EMU back within four at the 7:41 mark. A Wills trey made it a two-point contest, 19-17, but a Shafir three promptly followed to push the edge back to five.

The teams would exchange scores for the remainder of the period, but the margin would stay the same as the teams headed into the locker room at the half with Toledo clinging to a 30-25 advantage. Wills led EMU with nine points to go along with eight points from Sydney Huntley-Rogers (Cincinnati, Ohio-Purcell Marian). Shafir had nine points to lead UT.

Following the intermission the Eagles came out firing, cutting the deficit to just one, 34-33, on a James' triple from the corner with 18:43 showing. However, just as quickly the EMU offense would go silent, allowing Toledo to go on another 7-1 run to up the score to 41-34.

Eastern would respond with a quickly with a 4-0 spurt, but once again luck was on Toledo's side as Johnson would bank a triple off the glass to make the run for naught and force EMU to burn a timeout to regroup with 13:02 left.

The Rockets continued to hold a comfortable cushion until back-to-back layups from Williams and Mays pushed the score to 55-45 with 8:23 to go. Toledo pounded the ball inside leading to a 14-5 run to take its largest advantage of the game, 64-50, with 2:36 to play.

The closest EMU would get in the closing moments was 10 points on two separate occasions.

Eastern Michigan closes out the home portion of the schedule Wednesday evening, March 3, against instate rival Western Michigan University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Prior to the start of game, EMU will honor seniors Amber Land (Kulm, N.D.-Kulm) and Shana McKinney (Detroit, Mich.-Osborn (Wayne County C.C.)) for their contributions to the program.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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