Eastern Treks to DeKalb for the Final Road Trip of the Year

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EASTERN TREKS TO DEKALB FOR THE FINAL ROAD TRIP OF THE YEAR: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team hits the road for the final time in the regular season Saturday, Feb. 27, for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt against Northern Illinois University. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. inside the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 19-7 (9-5 MAC), two games behind the University of Toledo which sits atop the MAC West Division. Meanwhile, the Huskies are 10-16 (4-10 MAC) and currently projected to be the ninth seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament.

A BULLSEYE ON NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Saturday's contest versus Northern Illinois University marks the 33rd meeting between the Huskies and Eagles, who first met during the 1981-82 season. Eastern leads the overall series, 23-9, and has won 18 of the last 21 games over the Cardinal and Black.
In the first meeting this season, at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich., Jan. 16, the Eagles rallied from a sluggish first half to turn on the offense in time to record a 72-63 win over the Huskies. Sophomore guard Tavelyn James paced the Eagles with a game-high 29 points while junior guard Cassie Schrock added 17. Senior guard Kylie York led NIU with 23 with redshirt junior Marke Freeman adding 17 and sophomore guard Sarah Rogers scoring 13.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: Following Saturday's game, EMU returns home to host Toledo Tuesday, March 2, in the regular season finale at the Convocation Center. After the game, the Eagles will honor seniors Amanda Tretheway and Kayla Vantil.
The Rockets hold a two-game lead atop the MAC West Division and have already clinched at least a share of the division title with a 77-68 victory over Central Michigan, Feb. 24, at the Rose Center. Eastern Michigan resides in second place with a 9-5 record, but just a game in front of Central Michigan. If the Chippewas and Eagles finish with identical conference marks, CMU would 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.

A LOOK AT THE MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDS: If the regular season ended today, EMU would earn the fifth seed in the field and find itself pitted with the 12th-seeded Broncos of Western Michigan University 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 sixth seed hosting No. 11 Buffalo, No. 7 Miami would tangle with No. 10 Ohio and No. 8 Ball State would play No. 9 Northern Illinois.

SEEKING VICTORY 20: A victory Saturday would give the Eagles their fourth 20-win season in the past seven seasons. Prior to the 2003-04 campaign, Eastern Michigan had never won more than 18 games in a single year.

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.

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.

WINNING WAYS: The Eagles are 19-7 overall, their .731 winning percentage is third in the Mid-American Conference and 48th best in the nation. EMU's 19 victories are fourth most all time.
The Eagles will need to pick up three 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 525 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.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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