Women's Hoops Ends Toledo's 17-Game Home MAC Winning Streak

Re-Listen to the Game.

TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — In a battle of Mid-American Conference West Division powers, Eastern Michigan University used strong shooting and aggressive defense to disrupt the potent University of Toledo offense, en route to a 70-66 victory Wednesday evening, Jan. 11, in front of a raucous crowd of 3,710 at Savage Arena.

The loss snaps Toledo's 17-game conference winning streak inside Savage Arena, and moves EMU to 10-23 all-time on the Rockets' home court. UT's last home conference loss was a 75-69 setback to Ball State on March 7, 2009.

With the victory, Eastern Michigan improves to 10-6 (2-1 MAC) while Toledo goes to 8-7 (1-2 MAC).

The Green and White were led by senior guard Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-21 shooting in 39 minutes of work. Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) followed with 13 points and Paige Redditt (Kansas City, Mo.-Belton) chipped in 12. Junior Taylor Bird (Lawrence, Kan.-Lawrence-Johnson County CC) turned in her best game as an Eagle as well with career-high eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Yolanda Richardson and Andola Dortch each had 11 points to pace Toledo. Brianna Jones was the only other Rocket to reach double figures with 10 points off the bench.

Eastern Michigan shot 50.0 percent (26-of-52) for the game, including a blistering 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from three-point range, compared to a 47.2 percent (25-of-52) clip for Toledo. However, the Rockets controlled the glass (29 to 28) but EMU forced 19 UT turnovers that led to 21 points.

The matchup showcased two of the premier MAC programs over the last two-plus seasons. The Rockets have won 27 league contests since the start of 2009-10, second-highest total in the conference, while the Eagles have claimed 23 victories, fourth-most wins in that time span. Bowling Green leads the way with 29 triumphs and Kent State is third with 24 victories.

The sides exchanged hoops for the opening five minutes of the contest, before the Green and White would find their rhythm to build a 24-16 advantage with 8:14 to play. Four different players found the scoring column in the run, including four points from James and a three-pointer by Bird.

James would carry the Eagles the rest of the first half, scoring 17 of the squads's final 23 points to give EMU a 47-33 advantage at halftime.

The second half was a much different story as Toledo came out with a renewed fire to close the deficit to seven, 47-40, with 17:36 remaining in regulation. EMU quickly countered with a pair of baskets by Watkins and James, before Toledo answered with another run to make the score 51-50 at 13:43. Dortch had the opportunity to tie the contest, but she split a pair of charity tosses to close out rally for the Midnight Blue and Gold.

Unphased, Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert's countered punched with an 11-0 run of their own to push its advantage back to 62-50 at the 7:31 mark. UT made one final push and received back-to-back three-point field goals from Courtney Ingersoll, as well as one from junior Kyle Baumgartner to pull with two points, 66-64, at 1:52.

The Eagles missed on their ensuing field-goal attempt, but Redditt came down with the offensive carom and was hacked on the play. The Kansas City, Mo. native calmly connected on both free throws to push the lead to 68-64.

Following a Toledo layup the Rockets were not forced to foul James, the MAC 's best free-throw shooter, with only a few seconds still showing on the clock. She split the two tosses, but Redditt came up big once again with the offensive board to seal the four-point victory.

Eastern Michigan returns to action Saturday afternoon, Jan. 14, at home against instate rival Western Michigan University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

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Team Stats

Tavelyn James

Natachia Watkins

Paige Redditt

Taylor Bird

Eastern Michigan Athletics