Women's Basketball Helps Box Out Breast Cancer

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PINK IS THE NEW GREEN WEDNESDAY AT THE CONVO: Needing to regroup from a heartbreaking 113-107 double overtime setback Saturday at Central Michigan University, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team returns home Wednesday, Feb. 24, for a Mid-American Conference West Division bout against instate rival Western Michigan University. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 18-7 (8-5 MAC), tied for second place in the MAC's West Division with Central Michigan. Meanwhile, the Broncos are 7-19 (2-11 MAC) and currently projected to be the 11th seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament. If everything stays the same for the remainder of the regular season, WMU would find themselves again pitted with the sixth-seeded Eagles in a first-round contest, March 6, here in Ypsilanti.

A BULLSEYE ON WESTERN MICHIGAN: Wednesday's contest marks the 67th meeting between the Broncos and Eagles, who first played during the 1976-77 season. EMU leads the all-time series, 36-30, and has won eight of the last 10 meetings.
In the first meeting this season, at University Arena, Jan. 9, the Eagles used a strong second-half effort on both offense and defense to post a 61-52 win in Kalamazoo. Sophomore guard Tavelyn James led the Eagles with 18 points with junior guard Cassie Schrock added 16. Kristen Thomas grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds, her fifth double-figure rebounding game of the season.
Brenna Bankston and Miame Giden paced Western Michigan with 14 points each.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: Following Wednesday's game, the Eagles make the long trip west to DeKalb, Ill. Saturday for a 3 p.m. CST contest versus Northern Illinois. Eastern then hosts Toledo Tuesday, March 2, in the regular season finale at the Convocation Center.
The Rockets hold a two-game lead atop the MAC West Division and can clinch at least a share of the division title with a victory in any of their remaining three contests. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan are deadlocked for second place with identical 8-5 records. However, the Chippewas hold the tie breaker in a seeding situation thanks to a 67-65 victory over top-seeded Bowling Green, Feb. 10, while EMU suffered an 83-71 loss at BGSU, Jan. 23.

PINK ZONE SET FOR WEDNESDAY: Join the Eagles Wednesday as they celebrate the WBCA Pink Zone™, formerly known as “Think Pink”, an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities.
EMU “Pink Zone” t-shirts will be available for $10 and a silent auction of EMU memorabilia and apparel will be held with all proceeds benefiting the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Cash donations will also be accepted at a donation table located outside section 101. For EMU's “Pink Zone” game, the first 1,000 fans to enter the arena will receive a complimentary pink “Eagle Nation for a Cure” wristband.

RECORDS APLENTY IN 113-107 SETBACK AT CENTRAL: It was an instant classic at the Rose Center, however, it was Eastern Michigan on the short side of the 113-107 double-overtime decision at Central Michigan, Feb. 20. The contest, which featured 40 lead changes and 24 ties, saw the Eagles and Chippewas combine for 220 points to break the Mid-American Conference record for most combined points in a league contest. The previous standard of 214 points in a 121-93 victory by Bowling Green over Kent State, Feb. 23, 1991, had stood for 19 seasons.
It also marked the first time in EMU history both teams had scored more than 100 points, and it bested the 191 combined points between EMU (93) and BGSU (98) in another double overtime thriller, ironically exactly 11 years to the date, Feb. 20, 1999, at Anderson Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Defense for both teams was at a premium, with the teams exchanging scores nearly every trip down the court. Eastern Michigan finished the contest 37-of-77 from the field, including equaling the school record with 16 three-point field goals, for a 48.1 percent clip.

HUNTLEY POURS IN 36 OFF THE PINE AT THE ROSE CENTER: Sydney Huntley scored a personal-best 36 points on 12-of-22 shooting in the 113-107 double-overtime setback at Central Michigan, Feb. 20. The Cincinnati, Ohio native tied the school record with eight three pointers on the afternoon, as she at one point scored 17 consecutive points for the Eagles in the second half.
Additionally, Huntley's 36 points are the most ever for an EMU player off the bench, and the total ranks tied for third most in the EMU single-game annals.

A LOOK AT THE MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDS: If the regular season ended today, EMU would earn the six seed in the field and find itself again pitted with the 11th-seeded Broncos of Western Michigan in a first-round contest, March 6, here in Ypsilanti.
Per the final regular-season conference standings, the top four seeds will automatically advance to the quarterfinal round, with seeds 5-12 battling it out on campus sites in first round action to fill-out the remaining four quarterfinal spots.
Bowling Green would earn the top seed, while No. 2 Toledo, No. 3 Kent State and No. 4 Akron would also earn the byes and go directly to Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena. Central Michigan would be the fourth seed hosting No. 12 Ohio, No. 7 Miami would tangle with No. 10 Buffalo and No. 8 Ball State would play No. 9 Northern Illinois.

WINNING ON THE ROAD: With its 63-57 victory over Ball State, Feb. 13, Eastern Michigan tied the school record for most road victories in a single season at nine. This comes on the heals of a 2008-09 campaign in which the Eagles won just one road game the entire season. The 2004-05 and the 2007-08 squads also notched nine road victories en route to MAC West Division titles.

WINNING WAYS: The Eagles are 18-7 overall, their .720 winning percentage is third in the Mid-American Conference and 48th best in the nation. EMU's 18 victories are tied for fourth most all time with the 2001-02 squad.
The Eagles will need to pick up four more victories to equal the 2003-04 and 2005-06 squads for the second most victories in a season with 22.

JAMES SETS THE SOPHOMORE SCORING MARK AT EMU: With 518 points on the season, sophomore Tavelyn James has obliterated the EMU record for most points in a single season by a sophomore. The Eastern Michigan record for most points by a sophomore was 507 by Kristy Maska in 1998-99.
James already holds the EMU freshman scoring record with 426 points during the 2008-09 campaign. Previously, the record was held by Ryan Coleman with 417 points in 2002-03.

IN THE NCAA RANKINGS: In the most recent NCAA Division I statistics rankings, junior Cassie Schrock cracks the list at 16th in assists per contest with 5.8 dimes while sophomore Tavelyn James is 10th nationally in points per game at 20.7. James is also 16th in three-point field goals per game with 2.9 As a team, the Eagles rank eighth in steals with 12.0 swipes per contest.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Eastern Michigan is 9-2 at the Convocation Center this season. The Eagles have won 10 of the last 12 home games dating back to last year.

APPROACHING 1,000: Two Eagles are closing in on 1,000 career points. Sophomore Tavelyn James has scored 944 points during her career. She is 16th all time and needs 24 points to catch Dru Bishop for 15th. Junior Cassie Schrock has scored 894 points in her career and is 20th all time. Currently, 14 players are in the 1,000-point club for EMU women's basketball.

A LOOK INSIDE THE SPECIALTY STATS: The Eagles are averaging 30.7 points per game in the paint, 25.8 points off the bench, 23.2 points per game off turnovers, 13.7 second-chance points and 11.9 fast break points per game.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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