Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Purdue
Eagles Return to the Postseason WNIT for the Third Time
3/16/2010 2:12:57 PM | Women's Basketball
Wednesday’s contest marks the second meeting between the Boilermakers and Eagles
Click Here for the Complete Release (PDF).
Click Here to Listen to the Game.
Click Here for Live Stats.
Click Here to Watch the Game Online.
EAGLES EARN THIRD POSTSEASON WNIT BID: After a three-year hiatus from post-season play, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team returns to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) Wednesday, March 17, against Purdue University. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The winner of the game will face the winner of Illinois State versus Butler.
Coming off a 72-46 setback to fourth seeded Akron in the Quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, March 10, the Eagles enter the game with a mark of 22-8 (11-5 MAC). Meanwhile, Purdue sports a 14-16 (9-9 Big Ten) mark after bowing out in the opening round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament with a 73-51 loss to Wisconsin, March 5.
A BULLSEYE ON PURDUE: Wednesday's contest marks the second meeting between the Boilermakers and Eagles, who first met during the 2000-01 season. Purdue leads the series, 1-0, with an 84-60 victory in the Preseason WNIT at Mackey Arena, Nov. 11, 2000.
Eastern battled in the first half and trailed by 10, 41-31, at the intermission and followed that up with the first four points of the second half. But No. 4/6 ranked Purdue answered with a 21-6 run to put the game out of reach. Kristy Maska led EMU with 18 points on a school record-tying six three pointers. Stephanie Smiley added 15 points, while Kris Kachaturoff chipped in 14 off the bench.
GILBERT VERSUS THE BIG TEN: For the first time since Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert's arrival, the Eagles will take on a team from the Big Ten Conference. EMU is 10-34 all-time versus the Park Ridge, Ill. based conference, but the Green and White are 4-5 against Big Ten foes since the 2000-01 campaign. During that span, Eastern Michigan has posted wins over Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Northwestern, with losses coming against Purdue, Illinois, Indiana and MSU.
EMU IN THE WNIT: EMU participated in the Preseason WNIT in 2000-01 and made its first appearance in the 2005 Postseason WNIT versus the University of Kentucky. After trailing by as many as five points in the first half, the Wildcats captured a hard-fought 79-68 decision at Memorial Hall in Lexington, Ky., March 19, 2005.
EMU was then paired with Indiana State University in the 2006 Postseason WNIT, with the Sycamores recording a 79-59 victory in Terre Haute, Ind., March 16, 2006. Academic All-American Sarah VanMetre poured in 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting in a losing effort for EMU.
MAKING HISTORY NOTHING NEW FOR THIS PROGRAM: Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert and crew can add another first to their already impressive 2009-10 resume. The Eagles are the first Mid-American Conference women's basketball program to post a 20-win season following a year in which the team won less than 10 games.
The Eagles are also just one victory shy of equalling the 1985-86 Ohio University squad for the biggest single-season turnaround in league history. That Bobcat crew won 26 games after posting just 11 victories during the entire 1984-85 campaign.
NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White have posted a 19-17 record during the month of March over the last 12 years, including a 2-1 mark this season.
MAC IN THE WNIT: Eastern is one of three Mid-American Conference schools participating in the 2010 Postseason WNIT. Including this season, 22 MAC teams have been selected to compete in the Postseason WNIT posting a 15-21 record since 1989. Toledo leads the way, making six appearances and finishing as high as second in the 1990 edition of the WNIT. In 2004, Western Michigan advanced to the quarterfinal game before falling to Richmond, 82-66.
EASTERN VERSUS 2010 POSTSEASON TEAMS: When examining the brackets for the 2010 NCAA, WNIT and WBI tournaments, EMU recognizes eight teams that it met during the 2009-10 regular season. Out of the NCAA bracket, the Eagles played Bowling Green, Temple, Cleveland State and Notre Dame. Out of the WNIT, Eastern played Toledo, Kent State and Missouri State, while also meeting Akron which is participating in the WBI. The Eagles' recorded a 4-6 record against those teams.
JAMES NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-MAC: Sophomore guard Tavelyn James continued to add accolades to her basketball resume, as she was named first team All-Mid-American Conference by the conference coaches Tuesday, March 9. She is the first EMU women's basketball player to receive First Team All-MAC honors in five years and only the seventh student-athlete to receive the honor in the program's history.
A 2009 All-Freshman Team honoree, James set the EMU single-season record for points in a season surpassing Laurie Byrd's mark of 602 in 26 games during the 1981-82 season. Additionally, at her current pace, James' total would come up just short of the all-time mark among sophomores in conference history. Ohio University's Caroline Mast holds down the league's current sophomore standard of 635 points during the 1983-84.
In 30 games, the Detroit native is averaging 20.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.6 assists in 30.9 minutes per game. She leads the Eagles in points (613), field goals made (210), field goals attempted (524), three pointers made (80) and three pointers attempted (241).
Twice named the MAC's West Division Player of the Week during the 2009-10 campaign, the sophomore has reached double figures in points on 44 occasions in her brief 59 game career. The Detroit native has scored 20 or more in 22 of those contests for a total of 1,039 points. James scored her 1,000th point against Toledo, March 2, she became just the 15th member of the exclusive club.
JAMES SETS THE EMU RECORD FOR POINTS IN A SEASON: With her proficiency to score in bunches, sophomore guard Tavelyn James has set the EMU single-season record for points in a season. With an average of 20.4 points per game, the Detroit native passed Laurie Byrd's mark of 602 in 26 games during the 1981-82 season.
Additionally, at her current pace, James' total would come up just short of the all-time mark among sophomores in Mid-American Conference history. Ohio's Caroline Mast holds down the league's current sophomore standard of 635 points during the 1983-84.
A GRAND ACCOMPLISHMENT: When Tavelyn James scored her 1,000th point against Toledo, March 2, she became just the 15th member of the exclusive club and the first to reach the grand mark since former EMU Academic All-American Sarah VanMetre did so during the 2006-07 campaign.
The Detroit, Mich. native is the fastest in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, doing so in just 57 career games. To better demonstrate just how impressive of an accomplishment that is, the University of Tennessee's Candace Parker, the 2006-07 State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year, needed 56 career games to reach the prolific total and become the Volunteers' fastest player to 1,000 points.
TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: Junior Cassie Schrock is quickly moving up the EMU record book, ranking second with 379 free throws made and third all time with 511 free throws attempted. The Wadsworth, Ohio native trails Nikki Knapp's standard of 411 makes in 626 attempts.
WINNING ON THE ROAD: With the 78-72 victory over Northern Illinois, Feb. 27, Eastern Michigan set the school record for most road victories in a single season with 10. This comes on the heels 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.
A LOOK AT THE BIGGEST SINGLE-SEASON TURNAROUNDS IN MAC HISTORY: With its 14-game win improvement in 2009-10, EMU ranks among the top 15 single-season MAC turnarounds since the 1982-83 campaign.
The 14-game improvement from eight wins in 2008-09 to the 22 victories this season is the biggest in school history. The previous standard of a nine-game turnaround came during the 2003-04 campaign, when the Eagles went from 13 victories to 22 wins en route to the MAC Tournament championship.
