Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Toledo
Women's Basketball Comes Up Short at Toledo, 72-63
1/13/2010 11:45:54 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore guard Tavelyn James pours in 30 points in 38 minutes of action
Box score.
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TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – With sole possession of the Mid-American Conference West Division on the line, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team came up short against the University of Toledo, 72-63, Wednesday evening, Jan. 13, in front of 2,047 at Savage Arena. Both teams entered the contest with an unblemished 2-0 record in the league, but it was Toledo using a 10-2 run in the closing moments to pull away with the nine-point victory.
The loss drops EMU to 12-3 (2-1 MAC) and snaps the Eagles seven-game conference winning streak. On the other side of the floor, Toledo claims sole possession of atop the MAC West Division standings with a 13-3 (3-0 MAC) record despite playing without the services of senior co-captains Allie Clifton and Lisa Johnson.
The Eagles were led by sophomore guard Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) who scored a team-high 30 points, connecting five times from three-point range. Junior Kristin Thomas (Winter Park, Fla.-Edgewater-Hillsborough C.C.) recorded her first-career double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The Rockets was led by Tanika Mays who scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
In a battle of the conference's two most statistically dominant squads, EMU's defense was solid forcing 23 turnovers along holding the Rockets without a score for more than seven minutes during the first half. However, Toledo controlled the rebound edge (50 to 41) en route to picking up 19 second-chance points.
Toledo finished the divisional contest shooting 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field, including an impressive 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three-point land, and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, EMU shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the field, and just 5-of-22 from downtown. Additionally, the Eagles shot just 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the free throw line.
The Rockets built a nine point second half advantage, 41-32, on a Mays layup with 15:03 showing on the clock. Unfazed by the deficit, Eastern Michigan would use a 12-3 run over the next 2:45 to knot the score at 44 on a Raina Spencer (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville-Fordham) jumper at the 11:44 mark.
Momentum was still in the direction of the Green and White, when a James three-pointer provided EMU its first lead of the contest, 47-46, with 10:56 still to play. The lead would see-saw back in favor to Toledo before another put back by Thomas gave the Eagles their final lead of the ball game at 49-48.
A quick 9-0 run ensued for the Rockets to again push the margin to eight points, 57-49, with 7:17 showing.
As all good teams do though, the Eagles continued to battle whittling the lead down to a points, 62-61, as James connected on her final triple of the evening as the clock neared the three minute mark.
However, Mays and Melissa Goodall each converted layups to preserve the win, as UT closed the contest on a 10-2 run.
The opening period was a struggle for both teams, as each tried to settle their nerves and establish a good offensive rhythm. Unfortunately, neither squad shot more than 30 percent from the field or 70 percent from the charity stripe in the stanza.
Despite its early shooting woes, UT received a triple from sophomore Clare Aubry and a pair of free throws from Shafir to make the score 15-9 at the 13:25 mark. The Rockets maintained a comfortable cushion, as a Mays' layup increased the margin to 24-15 with 8:34 remaining in the period.
But the EMU defense would stand tall, holding Toledo scoreless for more than seven minutes. Unfortunately, the Eagles were not able to capitalize on the situation with UT still holding a 28-25 edge at the intermission.
Eastern Michigan returns to action Saturday, Jan. 16, against Northern Illinois University. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. with Eagle All-Access video steaming the game over the Internet.
