Eastern Michigan Athletics
Tuesday, December 4
Brookings, S.D.
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
1-7
65
at
66
South Dakota State
5-4
1
2
F
Eastern Michigan
32
33
65
South Dakota State
29
37
66
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Randy Mascharka
Women's Hoops Drops Close Road Encounter, 66-65
12/4/2012 10:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Late bucket gives Jackrabbits victory over the Eagles
BROOKINGS, S.D. (EMUEagles.com) – The first meeting between the two schools was a memorable as Megan Waytashek's layup with 9.8 seconds remaining gave the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits a come-from-behind victory over the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team, 66-65, at Frost Arena, Dec. 4.
Miranda Tate (Bolinbrook, Ill.-Bolingbrook) scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field while Amber Bogard (Cleveland, Ohio-Beachwood) tallied 11 points to go with seven rebounds for the Eagles, who drop to 1-7 on the season.
The Jackrabbits were led in scoring by Waytashek and Ashley Eide who scored 17 points and 15 points, respectively.
Eastern outshot South Dakota State, shooting a season-best 48.1 percent from the floor while forcing 22 turnovers and holding the Jackrabbits to a 40.4 shooting percentage. SDSU provided aggressive defense that ended up forcing 27 turnovers. The teams' tough defenses paid off for 46 combined points off turnovers.
Both teams missed crucial free throws down the stretch with EMU going 9-of-16 from the charity stripe while SDSU converted 15-of-22 free throws.
The game started sloppy with both teams turning the ball over and failing to score. South Dakota State broke the scoreless tie with a fast break layup. However, Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) responded with a baseline jumper for Eastern to tie the game. Following another Jackrabbit basket, EMU took its first lead of the game, 5-4 with 15:01 remaining in the first half, courtesy of a corner three-pointer by Tate.
The Eagles crashed the boards as Tate and Chelsea Hite (Ligonier, Ind.-West Noble) added offensive put-backs to increase the EMU lead to three. Two minutes later, Taylor Bird (Lawrence, Kan.-Lawrence) found India Hairston (Flint, Mich.-Hamady) on the block for a bucket plus the foul. Hairston converted the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play, and Tate hit a jumper on the next possession to give the Green and White a 20-13 lead with 8:52 remaining in the opening stanza.
Eastern increased its lead to double-digits, 26-16, after turning back-to-back steals into points on both possessions. However, the Jackrabbits responded with a 7-0 run to make it a three point game, 26-23, with 4:25 left in the first half.
With the Eagles leading by six, SDSU's Gabrielle Boever took a steal and swished a running three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to three as Eastern Michigan took a 32-29 lead into the locker room. The 32 first-half points were a season-high for the Eagles.
EMU's stifling defense forced 16 first-half turnovers. On the offensive side of the floor, Eastern shot 50 percent in the opening half led by 11 points from Tate.
Unlike the first half, the Eagles came out on fire shooting 6-of-8 to begin the second half and doubling their lead, 45-39, with 15:15 to go in the contest.
Using pressure defense with their guards, South Dakota State forced a few turnovers and were able to cut the lead to 52-51. Once again, EMU responded as a Bogard put-back followed by a Bird three gave the Green and White a 57-51 lead with 8:03 remaining.
With 3:48 on the clock, the Jackrabbits sank two free throws to cut the lead to one. Nonetheless, Tate came up big again hitting a clutch shot from beyond the arc to make the game a four point differential. Following an exchange where each team made a free throw, Eastern held a 65-61 advantage with just 1:21 left in the game.
Out of a timeout, the Jackrabbits hit a three-ball from the corner to make it a one point game with 1:09 left on the clock.
On the next offensive possession, Eastern gave the ball right back to the Jacks. However, Hairston's solid defense down in the post forced a traveling violation to give EMU the ball back with a 65-64 lead with 33.6 seconds to go.
Applying pressure, SDSU was too aggressive and fouled Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.- Waterford Mott), sending her to the line for two shots. Thomas missed both attempts, and South Dakota State grabbed the rebound, calling a timeout with 20.7 seconds left.
The timeout paid off for SDSU as Hannah Strop found Waytashek on a backdoor cut to give the Jackrabbits a 66-65 lead with 9.8 seconds left. Thomas drove down for a tightly-contested layup that rolled off of the iron, giving SDSU the victory.
The Green and White will be back in action in one week to host the University of Michigan, Dec. 11, with a 7 p.m. tip from the Convocation Center. This will be the final game of the “Beat the BIG 10 Challenge” where fans in attendance can enter to win an apartment for a year. For more information along with other ticket deals, check out EMUEagles.com.
Miranda Tate (Bolinbrook, Ill.-Bolingbrook) scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field while Amber Bogard (Cleveland, Ohio-Beachwood) tallied 11 points to go with seven rebounds for the Eagles, who drop to 1-7 on the season.
The Jackrabbits were led in scoring by Waytashek and Ashley Eide who scored 17 points and 15 points, respectively.
Eastern outshot South Dakota State, shooting a season-best 48.1 percent from the floor while forcing 22 turnovers and holding the Jackrabbits to a 40.4 shooting percentage. SDSU provided aggressive defense that ended up forcing 27 turnovers. The teams' tough defenses paid off for 46 combined points off turnovers.
Both teams missed crucial free throws down the stretch with EMU going 9-of-16 from the charity stripe while SDSU converted 15-of-22 free throws.
The game started sloppy with both teams turning the ball over and failing to score. South Dakota State broke the scoreless tie with a fast break layup. However, Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) responded with a baseline jumper for Eastern to tie the game. Following another Jackrabbit basket, EMU took its first lead of the game, 5-4 with 15:01 remaining in the first half, courtesy of a corner three-pointer by Tate.
The Eagles crashed the boards as Tate and Chelsea Hite (Ligonier, Ind.-West Noble) added offensive put-backs to increase the EMU lead to three. Two minutes later, Taylor Bird (Lawrence, Kan.-Lawrence) found India Hairston (Flint, Mich.-Hamady) on the block for a bucket plus the foul. Hairston converted the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play, and Tate hit a jumper on the next possession to give the Green and White a 20-13 lead with 8:52 remaining in the opening stanza.
Eastern increased its lead to double-digits, 26-16, after turning back-to-back steals into points on both possessions. However, the Jackrabbits responded with a 7-0 run to make it a three point game, 26-23, with 4:25 left in the first half.
With the Eagles leading by six, SDSU's Gabrielle Boever took a steal and swished a running three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to three as Eastern Michigan took a 32-29 lead into the locker room. The 32 first-half points were a season-high for the Eagles.
EMU's stifling defense forced 16 first-half turnovers. On the offensive side of the floor, Eastern shot 50 percent in the opening half led by 11 points from Tate.
Unlike the first half, the Eagles came out on fire shooting 6-of-8 to begin the second half and doubling their lead, 45-39, with 15:15 to go in the contest.
Using pressure defense with their guards, South Dakota State forced a few turnovers and were able to cut the lead to 52-51. Once again, EMU responded as a Bogard put-back followed by a Bird three gave the Green and White a 57-51 lead with 8:03 remaining.
With 3:48 on the clock, the Jackrabbits sank two free throws to cut the lead to one. Nonetheless, Tate came up big again hitting a clutch shot from beyond the arc to make the game a four point differential. Following an exchange where each team made a free throw, Eastern held a 65-61 advantage with just 1:21 left in the game.
Out of a timeout, the Jackrabbits hit a three-ball from the corner to make it a one point game with 1:09 left on the clock.
On the next offensive possession, Eastern gave the ball right back to the Jacks. However, Hairston's solid defense down in the post forced a traveling violation to give EMU the ball back with a 65-64 lead with 33.6 seconds to go.
Applying pressure, SDSU was too aggressive and fouled Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.- Waterford Mott), sending her to the line for two shots. Thomas missed both attempts, and South Dakota State grabbed the rebound, calling a timeout with 20.7 seconds left.
The timeout paid off for SDSU as Hannah Strop found Waytashek on a backdoor cut to give the Jackrabbits a 66-65 lead with 9.8 seconds left. Thomas drove down for a tightly-contested layup that rolled off of the iron, giving SDSU the victory.
The Green and White will be back in action in one week to host the University of Michigan, Dec. 11, with a 7 p.m. tip from the Convocation Center. This will be the final game of the “Beat the BIG 10 Challenge” where fans in attendance can enter to win an apartment for a year. For more information along with other ticket deals, check out EMUEagles.com.
Team Stats
EMU
SDSU
FG%
.481
.404
3FG%
.600
.321
FT%
.563
.682
RB
36
31
TO
27
22
STL
12
13
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
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