Eagles Tame Bobcats In Cross-Divisional Tilt

ATHENS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team improved its Mid-American Conference mark to 7-2 (15-7 Overall) Wednesday evening, Feb. 1, after defeating Ohio (10-13, 3-6 MAC), 63-53 in a cross-divisional matchup here in the Convocation Center. The win preserves EMU's partial possession of first place in the MAC West Division, as Toledo also picked up a win this evening to maintain the two teams' tie atop the division.

Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) led the Eagles with 29 points after connecting on 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from the floor, including a 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) effort from beyond the arc. James' performance tonight moved her up the ranks in a slew of MAC career categories. Her 29 points give her 2,235 for her career and move her into fourth place all-time in conference history, surpassing Carrie Moore's (2003-07) 2,224-points with Western Michigan University. James also surpassed Amy Sherry's (Kent State, 1991-96) 776 career made field goals to take sole possession of sixth-place in that respective category with 779.

Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) recorded her fifth double-double of the season, tallying 12 points while snagging 10 boards and registering three blocks, while Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) earned her second double-double after posting 10 points and 10 boards this evening with one block and a steal.

Ohio's Tenishia Benson led the Bobcats with 15 points, while Shavon Robinson added another 14 for the home team.

EMU shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) for the contest and hit 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. The Eagles defense forced 20 turnovers in the contest and did not allow an Ohio field goal until nearly eight minutes into the opening half. EMU would also win the battle of the boards, snagging 41 rebounds compared to Ohio's 27.

Both teams remained scoreless through the first two minutes of play, but Watkins finally put the Green and White on the board at the 18:19 mark on a baseline drive to the rim. Post points from Fouty and Paige Redditt (Kansas City, Mo.-Belton) helped string together an EMU 8-2 run for a two-possession lead, but the Bobcats converted on four early free throws and cut EMU's lead to four.

James surpassed the 500-point plateau for the season after connecting on a long-range triple with 9:41 remaining to put her team up by six, but the Bobcats would slowly claw their way to within one, 19-18, on a Mariah Bynard triple at the other end with just over seven remaining on the clock.

Both teams exchanged buckets in the waning minutes, but the Eagles would head into the locker room with a 33-26 lead after shooting a healthy 46.4 percent (13-of-28) in the first half of play. The Bobcats connected on 8-of-20 (40 percent) with 3-of-9 coming from beyond the arc, but were outworked on the boards, 33-26.

In the opening minute of the second half, EMU quickly expanded its lead to 11 thanks to lay ups by James and Watkins.

Ohio later cut its deficit to four on a pair of free throws by Robinson with 7:17 on the clock, but the Green and White would never look back, outscoring the Bobcats 16-13 through the remainder of the contest to seal the 61-53 road victory.

EMU will return to action this weekend when they host Miami University, Feb. 4. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Tavelyn James

Olivia Fouty

Natachia Watkins

Paige Redditt

Eastern Michigan Athletics