Career Bests Lead EMU to 74-69 Win at UMKC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak and won its second game of the 2012-13 campaign, 74-69, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Saturday, Dec. 15. It was the first victory on the road for Head Coach Tory Verdi on at the helm of the EMU women's program.

The EMU offense was paced by Amber Bogard (Cleveland, Ohio-Beachwood) and Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) who posted 21 points apiece. Bogard's 21 was a career-high, while Watkins was a season-high. Watkins also posted a career-best eight assists and Bogard's eight rebounds were the most of her career. Miranda Tate (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Bolingbrook (South Carolina/Providence)) poured in 10 points. As a team, the Eagles shot 30-of-68 (44.1 percent) from the floor and hit 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) free throws. Chelsea Hite (Ligonier, Ind.-West Noble) notched a career-high eight points and four rebounds.

After opening the scoring, Eastern was victim of a 5-0 run by the Roos. An India Hairston (Flint, Mich.-Hamady) jumper in the lane made it a one point, 5-4, deficit for the Eagles. The Green and White tried to fight back but fell behind as many as seven, 20-13, with 6:39 left in the opening half.

The Eagles outscored the Roos, 9-2, from the over the course of three minutes and two seconds to tie the game at 22 apiece with 3:37 left in the half. The Eagles and Roos traded buckets down the stretch to find the game tied, 28-28, at the break.

EMU used Watkins' 12-first half points to remain tied, while Bogard chipped in with six points. Sara Stone (Plymouth, Mich.-Salem) led EMU on the boards with four rebounds while Watkins and Bogard each pulled down three rebounds in the first half. The Eagles shot 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) in the first half and just 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from three-point land, while UMKC went 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from the floor and 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc in the opening half.

UMKC came out scoring 12 points in the first five minutes of the second half to take a quick 40-34 lead over EMU with 15:23 left in the game. The Eagles made an offensive push to outscore the Roos, 14-8, over the next five minutes and tie the game at 48 with 10:42 left in the game. EMU was able to take their first lead, 52-50, of the second half with 9:14 left on a Hite jumper.

UMKC return-fired with a 5-0 run of its own to take the lead, 55-52, but the Eagles used a media timeout to regroup and tie the game, 60-60. On the ensuing possession, Tate knocked down her second three-pointer of the game to give Eastern a lead, 63-60, with just over five minutes left in regulation.

EMU extended their lead to six, 71-65, with just 1:57 left in the game. The Eagles used three free throws down the stretch to ice the game, 74-69.

Eastern puts its 2012-13 campaign on hiatus for almost two weeks before heading south to compete in the DoubleTree Classic hosted by Tulane University at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, La. The Green and White will square off with Tulane Saturday, Dec. 29, before matching up with either McNeese State University or the University of Mississippi Sunday, Dec. 30.

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Team Stats

Amber Bogard

Natachia Watkins

Miranda Tate

Chelsea Hite

Eastern Michigan Athletics