Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Women's Basketball Earns 20th Victory of the Season at NIU
2/27/2010 7:01:22 PM | Women's Basketball
EMU posts a 78-72 win to set the school record for most road victories in a single season
Box score.
DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team closed out the road portion of its regular season schedule with a 78-72 victory over the Northern Illinois University Huskies at the NIU Convocation Center Saturday, Feb. 27. It pushed the Eagles' record to 20-7 overall, 10-5 in the Mid-American Conference and clinched second place in the MAC West after Central Michigan fell in their game earlier in the day.
The defense rose to the occasion for the Green and White today, holding the Huskies to just two field goals in the final 4:26 of the game. Four Eagles reached double figures led by sophomore Tavelyn James' (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Cassie Schrock (Wadsworth, Ohio-Wadsworth) added 16 points, Paige Redditt (Kansas City, Mo.-Belton) scored 14 and Sydney Huntley (Cincinnati, Ohio-Purcell Marian) added 12 off the bench. EMU was very efficient on offense, shooting over 50 percent for the majority of the game only to finish up at a 45.8 percent (27-of-59) clip.
The Eagles held a 38-27 lead at halftime, but the Huskies roared out of the break and went on a 12-2 run in the first 2:37 of the second half to take their first lead since early in the first half. EMU took a timeout and Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert was able to regroup her squad as they scored on their next possession with a Chenise Miller (Oak Park, Mich.-West Bloomfield) layup to regain the advantage. Miller finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
NIU's lone senior on Senior Day, Kylie York, tied the game at 59 apiece with 9:06 to go in the game. It was then that the Eagles finally made a second half run. In just under three minutes, EMU embarked on an 11-2 run to take a nine-point advantage with nearly six minutes left.
The Huskies then cut it to 70-65 on Marke Freeman's layup with 4:26 to go. Freeman finished with a game-high 30 points on 8-of-20 shooting. The Eagles gave up 14 second chance points in the game, most of which were offensive rebound put-backs by Mauvolyene Adams and Ebony Ellis who combined for 21 points. When the game got close it was EMU's defense that stepped it up, turning 19 turnovers into 23 points.
The Eagles led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 38-29 lead into halftime. NIU's Freeman led all scorers at the break with 11 points while Schrock led EMU with nine first half points, pacing the Eagles from the free throw stripe in the process with a 7-for-8 effort. The Green and White went 13-of-15 at the charity stripe as a team in the opening frame, 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) for the game. They second half shooting percentage was identical to the first half, going 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from the field in the first and 16-of-35 in the second.
EMU's 20th win marks the fifth time in eight seasons that it has accomplished the feat. The Eagles are 17-1 when leading at halftime this season are 18-4 when holding opponents under 45 percent from the field. NIU shot 37.5 percent on 24-of-64.
Additionally, the Eagles set the school record for most road victories in a single season with 10. 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 notched nine road victories en route to MAC West Division titles.
The Eagles will honor Amanda Tretheway (San Francisco, Calif.-El Camino-Foothill C.C.) and Kayla Vantil (Mountain View, Calif.-Mountain View-Foothill C.C.) on Senior Day this Tuesday, March 2, in the regular season finale at the EMU Convocation Center against Toledo. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
