Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, February 25
Convocation Center
2 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Ball State
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Randy Mascharka
Eagles Entertain the Cardinals in 2012 Home Finale
2/24/2012 12:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 » 2:06 p.m. » Convocation Center (8,784) » Ypsilanti, Mich.
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EAGLES ENTERTAIN THE CARDINALS IN 2012 HOME FINALE: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team closes out the home portion of the 2011-12 schedule Saturday afternoon, Feb. 25, against Mid-American Conference West Division rival Ball State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:06 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
Prior to the start of the contest, EMU's two seniors - Tavelyn James and Paige Redditt - will be honored. The game is also the first part of a doubleheader with the EMU men's basketball team, which tangles with BSU 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's contest.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 20-7 (12-2 MAC) and can clinch at least a share of the West Division title with a victory. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 9-18 (4-10 MAC) after falling to Western Michigan University, 67-65, at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind., Feb. 22.
PLENTY RIDING ON SATURDAY'S CONTEST: With 14 Mid-American Conference games already in the books, Eastern Michigan sits alone atop the MAC West Division with a 12-2 mark heading into Saturday's home finale. A win by EMU would give the Green and White at least a share of a divisional title and a bye to the semifinals of the 2012 First Energy MAC Tournament, March 9, at Quickens Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Meanwhile, if EMU wins and Toledo loses, the Eagles would claim the outright West Division championship. Additionally, the Eagles are tied with Bowling Green State University in the race for the league's regular-season crown. BGSU holds the tie-breaker over EMU in a seeding scenario due to its head-to-head victory, but the MAC honors co-championships should the teams finish with identical league records.
STRIVING FOR NINE STRAIGHT: The Eagles have strung together eight consecutive victories for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign. That year the Green and White rolled off a pair of nine-game winning streaks from Dec. 30 through Jan. 28 and again from Feb. 4 to March 8. In total, the program has 15 winning streaks of five-or-more contests.
During the current steak, the Eagles are winning games by an average of more than 23 points (75.0 to 51.5) and out-rebounding opponents by 12 rebounds per game (44.5 to 31.9). Hot shooting has been another key as Eastern is shooting 44.2 percent from the floor while the defense is holding the opposition to just 33.7 percent.
Of further note, EMU's mark is tied with Hartford, Howard and Missouri State for the nation's 16th longest active winning streak.
A SPOTLIGHT ON THE CARDINALS: The Feb. 25 contest marks the 64th meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles, who first played during the 1979-80 season. Eastern Michigan leads the series, 35-28, but BSU got the better of EMU with a 54-51 victory in the team's first meeting this season at Worthen Arena, Jan. 5. The Eagles led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Cardinals used a 28-14 run to take a 52-51 lead with 1:32 to play. EMU had a chance to force overtime, as it faced a three-point deficit with just 14.4 seconds on the clock, but the Eagles could not manage to put up a shot, allowing the Cardinals to secure the victory.
Tavelyn James led all EMU scorers with 20 points on a 6-of-12 shooting effort. India Hairston sank 3-of-5 with eight points and snagged a team-high nine boards. The Eagles shot 16-of-54 in the contest for a 29.6 percent effort from the floor. EMU scored 25 points off 25 BSU turnovers, and out-rebounded the Cardinals, 42-41. BSU hit 19-of-55 shots (34.5 percent) and drained 7-of-17 from beyond the arc. Jazmin Hutchens led the Cardinals with 16 points, while Brittany Carter chipped in with 14.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Eastern Michigan is 10-1 at the Convocation Center this season, marking the sixth time since moving to the Convo the Green and White have tallied double digit home wins. This year's team is also looking to join the 2004-05 squad as the only ones to tally just one home blemish. That team posted an 11-1 mark at home en route to a 23-8 overall record.
The Eagles have won 35 of the last 44 home games dating back to the 2008-09 campaign. Eastern Michigan has racked up a solid home-court advantage inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center since the doors opened during the 1998-99 campaign. The Green and White has won 70.6 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 129-54 all-time mark.
NO MATTER THE OUTCOME, EMU IS HEADED TO CLEVELAND: The win over Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, clinched a top-four spot in the regular-season standings, and gave the Eagles a berth in the league tournament quarterfinals. In effect, EMU has earned a 'double bye' and, with two games left in the regular season, the Eagles are looking to secure a 'triple bye' and a berth into the semifinals of the tourney.
EMU RECORDS SIXTH 20-WIN SEASON: With the team's 54-33 victory over Toledo, Feb. 21, the Eagles secured their sixth 20-win season in the past nine campaigns. Prior to the 2003-04 year, Eastern Michigan had never won more than 18 games in a single season.
DOUBLE DIGIT WINS IN MAC PLAY: The 2011-12 campaign marks the eighth time in the last nine years that EMU has posted at least 10 victories in Mid-American Conference play. Prior to the 2001-02 season, EMU had never won more than nine games in league action.
SENIORS CLOSE IT OUT: On Saturday, Feb. 25, against Ball State, the EMU women's basketball program will honor a pair of seniors who have helped transform the Eagles into one of the elite teams in both the Mid-American Conference and the nation. During their tenure at EMU, the team has posted 74 victories, three 20-win seasons, a pair of WNIT appearances and the biggest single-season turnaround in school history.
Paige Redditt. Having played in 125 career games for the Green and White, she has been the ultimate team player in the post. One of just two players in school history to post more than 900 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career, Redditt ranks second all-time in blocks, seventh in rebounds and 20th in scoring. In her career, she has reached double figures in points 45 times and has posted 12 double-doubles. Earlier this season against Loyola, Redditt had a monster night on the glass, hauling down 18 caroms, which was tied for seventh most in a single-game for the Eagles. As a sophomore, she enjoyed her best offensive output by dropping 23 points at Central Michigan.
Tavelyn James. Tavelyn has earned four letters and numerous mentions in the EMU record book. An outstanding scorer her first three years, she has taken her game to a whole new level in her final season. She leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring, and nationally she is ranked second in scoring and 25th in free-throw percentage. Twice selected first-team All-MAC and a heavy favorite for this year's Player of the Year Award, she is the EMU all-time leader in career scoring, three-point field goals made, points in a game and three-pointers made in a game. Additionally, she holds the EMU freshman, sophomore, junior and senior single-season scoring marks. Just the 11th student-athlete in MAC history to surpass the 2,000-point mark in a career, she ranks third in MAC history in scoring and has been named the league Player of the Week eight times in her outstanding career. Earlier this year, she became the first student-athlete from a Mid-American Conference institution to be selected to play for Team USA in the Pan-American Games.
EMU SEARCHING FOR FOUR MAC WEST CROWN: The Eagles are just one victory shy of capturing the team's fourth Mid-American Conference West Division championship. Since the league switched to the current division format for the 1997-98 campaign, EMU has claimed MAC West titles in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
DEFENSE RATCHETS IT UP AGAINST TOLEDO: There was plenty at stake Feb. 21 in the Convocation Center and the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team was up to the challenge, using a fast-paced offense and a smothering defense to record a 54-33 win over Toledo in a battle for sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Toledo's efficient offense was stymied by EMU's pressure defense and limited to 35.1 percent (13-of-37) from the field, including 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc, en route to its lowest scoring output since Nov. 24, 2004 when Marquette held them to 28 points. The Rockets were also guilty of a season-tying worst 28 miscues, which EMU translated into 23 points to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2008.
The 2010-11 MAC regular-season champs came into the division showdown pacing the league in overall field-goal percentage (42.9%), three-point field-goal percentage (36.4%) and three-point field goals made (6.8).
JAMES MOVING UP THE MAC LIST: Senior Tavelyn James, the leading scorer in EMU history, is also moving up the Mid-American Conference list. Just the 11th student-athlete in MAC history to surpass the 2,000-point mark in a career, James needs 78 points to pass Ohio's Caroline Mast (1982-86) for second on the MAC list. For the complete list of her accomplishments, turn to page 10 of these notes.
JAMES BECOMES EMU SINGLE-SEASON POINTS LEADER: With her 29 points at Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, Tavelyn James became the EMU single-season points leader with 643, surpassing her own standard of 642 set a season ago in 37 games.
JAMES TAKES IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL AGAINST TOLEDO: Senior guard Tavelyn James has saved some of her career best performances for the Rockets. In nine career games against the Midnight Blue and Gold, James is averaging 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. She has tallied three games with 30-or-more points, including a 40-point output at the Convocation Center, March 2, 2010.
JAMES IN SOME RAREFIED COMPANY: With a 30-point performance at Western Michigan, Feb. 15, senior Tavelyn James became the most prolific senior scorer in program history. The MAC record for most points by a senior is Western Michigan's Carrie Moore with 813 points in 2006-07. James also holds the EMU freshman (426), sophomore (641) and junior (642) single-season scoring marks.
NCAA RANKINGS: The latest NCAA Statistical Rankings came out Feb. 23 and the Eagles are sixth in the nation (out of 336 eligible teams) in steals per game at 13.0. They are 15th in rebounding margin (+8.8), 12th in turnover margin at +6.04 and 22rd in scoring margin (+13.4). Individually, Tavelyn James is second in the nation in scoring with an average of 24.6 points per game and 23rd in free throw percentage per game at 86.3. Desyree Thomas is ninth in the nation with an average of 3.4 steals per game, while Olivia Fouty is 99th in the nation in rebounds with an average of 8.4 per game.
SUPER SOPHOMORES: The sophomore trio of Olivia Fouty, Desyree Thomas and Natachia Watkins have been a large part of the team's continued success in 2011-12. The trifecta has combined for 38.8 percent of EMU's points (737), 43.0 percent of its rebounds (486) and 56.7 percent of the assists (212).
This is a dramatic change from their freshman campaign, when the three players combined for a season total of 170 points, 159 rebounds and 41 assists.
REDDITT PASSES 900 POINTS: Senior forward Paige Redditt reached a milestone by recording her 900th career point in the team's 83-47 victory over Kent State University, Feb. 11. Redditt totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the 21st member to join the 900-point club for the EMU women's basketball program.
Redditt joins Stephanie Smiley (1998-02) as the only players in school history to post more than 900 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career. Redditt has accumulated 942 points, 747 rebounds and 121 blocks, while Smiley finished her career with 1,401 points, 784 caroms and 103 rejections.
GET THAT SHOT OUTTA HERE: Senior forward Paige Redditt recorded a blocked shot Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the victory against Toledo. She upped her career total to 121 and currently stands in second place on the EMU all-time list. The EMU career leader is Sharon Rose (1983-87) with 144.
JAMES SCORING IN BUNCHES: James is one of only nine players in Division I basketball this year to score 25 or more in a half. She holds the standard for points scored in a half this season with 32 points in the opening half against Marygrove, Nov. 14. UMKC's Dayon Hall-Jones is the only other Division I player to reach 30 points in a half when she rolled in 31 versus Oral Roberts, Dec. 31.
INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 20 victories this season, EMU is averaging 73.7 points while the opposition is posting just 52.8 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 37.2 percent from the field compared to 43.5 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 60.9 points, while giving up 69.0. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 42.3 rebounds to just 31.6 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks EMU is out-rebounding its opponents by only three caroms (40.7 to 37.3).
PIPING HOT TURNOVERS: After forcing 769 turnovers (20.8 per game) last season, Eastern Michigan is at it again this year, causing 628 turnovers (23.3 per game) in its 27 outings. The majority of those turnovers have come via EMU steals, with the Eagles registering 352 thefts (13.0 per game) after ranking first in the Mid-American Conference in that category last season.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Eastern Michigan has had double-digit steal totals in 21 games this season. The Green and White has also forced 21 opponents into more than 20 turnovers in a contest.
NEW MAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT IN 2012: Under the new MAC Tournament format, the top four seeds will receive multiple byes in 2012. The third and fourth seeds will earn berths in the quarterfinals, with seeds one and two being placed directly into the semifinal round. To put it another way, a team seeded first or second will need to win only two MAC Tournament games to capture the title, while the third or fourth seed would need three wins. Any team seeded fifth through 12th will need to reel off five consecutive wins to capture the tourney crown. The seeding is based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division. For a projected tournament bracket, turn to page 15 of these notes.
A SPOTLIGHT ON THE CHIPPEWAS: The Feb. 28 contest marks the 69th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 37-31, but EMU has won 18 of the last 23 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign.
JAMES NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN HER CAREER: Senior guard Tavelyn James was named the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball West Division Player of the Week, the conference office announced Feb. 20. It marks the eighth time she has won the award in her career and the sixth time this season
James had another prolific scoring week by averaging 29.5 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the floor. In the victory over the Broncos, Feb. 15, James poured in a game-high 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting. She then followed it up with a 29-point performance at Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, in 38 minutes of work.
ALLOWING 50 OR LESS: Eastern Michigan is 93-0 all time when allowing 50 points or less. Since 2003-04, the Green and White has accomplished the feat 48 times with 24 of those coming against Mid-American Conference foes.
Watch the Game.
Listen to the Game.
Live Stats - Fan-Based. Media-Based.
EAGLES ENTERTAIN THE CARDINALS IN 2012 HOME FINALE: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team closes out the home portion of the 2011-12 schedule Saturday afternoon, Feb. 25, against Mid-American Conference West Division rival Ball State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:06 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
Prior to the start of the contest, EMU's two seniors - Tavelyn James and Paige Redditt - will be honored. The game is also the first part of a doubleheader with the EMU men's basketball team, which tangles with BSU 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's contest.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 20-7 (12-2 MAC) and can clinch at least a share of the West Division title with a victory. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 9-18 (4-10 MAC) after falling to Western Michigan University, 67-65, at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind., Feb. 22.
PLENTY RIDING ON SATURDAY'S CONTEST: With 14 Mid-American Conference games already in the books, Eastern Michigan sits alone atop the MAC West Division with a 12-2 mark heading into Saturday's home finale. A win by EMU would give the Green and White at least a share of a divisional title and a bye to the semifinals of the 2012 First Energy MAC Tournament, March 9, at Quickens Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Meanwhile, if EMU wins and Toledo loses, the Eagles would claim the outright West Division championship. Additionally, the Eagles are tied with Bowling Green State University in the race for the league's regular-season crown. BGSU holds the tie-breaker over EMU in a seeding scenario due to its head-to-head victory, but the MAC honors co-championships should the teams finish with identical league records.
STRIVING FOR NINE STRAIGHT: The Eagles have strung together eight consecutive victories for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign. That year the Green and White rolled off a pair of nine-game winning streaks from Dec. 30 through Jan. 28 and again from Feb. 4 to March 8. In total, the program has 15 winning streaks of five-or-more contests.
During the current steak, the Eagles are winning games by an average of more than 23 points (75.0 to 51.5) and out-rebounding opponents by 12 rebounds per game (44.5 to 31.9). Hot shooting has been another key as Eastern is shooting 44.2 percent from the floor while the defense is holding the opposition to just 33.7 percent.
Of further note, EMU's mark is tied with Hartford, Howard and Missouri State for the nation's 16th longest active winning streak.
A SPOTLIGHT ON THE CARDINALS: The Feb. 25 contest marks the 64th meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles, who first played during the 1979-80 season. Eastern Michigan leads the series, 35-28, but BSU got the better of EMU with a 54-51 victory in the team's first meeting this season at Worthen Arena, Jan. 5. The Eagles led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Cardinals used a 28-14 run to take a 52-51 lead with 1:32 to play. EMU had a chance to force overtime, as it faced a three-point deficit with just 14.4 seconds on the clock, but the Eagles could not manage to put up a shot, allowing the Cardinals to secure the victory.
Tavelyn James led all EMU scorers with 20 points on a 6-of-12 shooting effort. India Hairston sank 3-of-5 with eight points and snagged a team-high nine boards. The Eagles shot 16-of-54 in the contest for a 29.6 percent effort from the floor. EMU scored 25 points off 25 BSU turnovers, and out-rebounded the Cardinals, 42-41. BSU hit 19-of-55 shots (34.5 percent) and drained 7-of-17 from beyond the arc. Jazmin Hutchens led the Cardinals with 16 points, while Brittany Carter chipped in with 14.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Eastern Michigan is 10-1 at the Convocation Center this season, marking the sixth time since moving to the Convo the Green and White have tallied double digit home wins. This year's team is also looking to join the 2004-05 squad as the only ones to tally just one home blemish. That team posted an 11-1 mark at home en route to a 23-8 overall record.
The Eagles have won 35 of the last 44 home games dating back to the 2008-09 campaign. Eastern Michigan has racked up a solid home-court advantage inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center since the doors opened during the 1998-99 campaign. The Green and White has won 70.6 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 129-54 all-time mark.
NO MATTER THE OUTCOME, EMU IS HEADED TO CLEVELAND: The win over Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, clinched a top-four spot in the regular-season standings, and gave the Eagles a berth in the league tournament quarterfinals. In effect, EMU has earned a 'double bye' and, with two games left in the regular season, the Eagles are looking to secure a 'triple bye' and a berth into the semifinals of the tourney.
EMU RECORDS SIXTH 20-WIN SEASON: With the team's 54-33 victory over Toledo, Feb. 21, the Eagles secured their sixth 20-win season in the past nine campaigns. Prior to the 2003-04 year, Eastern Michigan had never won more than 18 games in a single season.
DOUBLE DIGIT WINS IN MAC PLAY: The 2011-12 campaign marks the eighth time in the last nine years that EMU has posted at least 10 victories in Mid-American Conference play. Prior to the 2001-02 season, EMU had never won more than nine games in league action.
SENIORS CLOSE IT OUT: On Saturday, Feb. 25, against Ball State, the EMU women's basketball program will honor a pair of seniors who have helped transform the Eagles into one of the elite teams in both the Mid-American Conference and the nation. During their tenure at EMU, the team has posted 74 victories, three 20-win seasons, a pair of WNIT appearances and the biggest single-season turnaround in school history.
Paige Redditt. Having played in 125 career games for the Green and White, she has been the ultimate team player in the post. One of just two players in school history to post more than 900 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career, Redditt ranks second all-time in blocks, seventh in rebounds and 20th in scoring. In her career, she has reached double figures in points 45 times and has posted 12 double-doubles. Earlier this season against Loyola, Redditt had a monster night on the glass, hauling down 18 caroms, which was tied for seventh most in a single-game for the Eagles. As a sophomore, she enjoyed her best offensive output by dropping 23 points at Central Michigan.
Tavelyn James. Tavelyn has earned four letters and numerous mentions in the EMU record book. An outstanding scorer her first three years, she has taken her game to a whole new level in her final season. She leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring, and nationally she is ranked second in scoring and 25th in free-throw percentage. Twice selected first-team All-MAC and a heavy favorite for this year's Player of the Year Award, she is the EMU all-time leader in career scoring, three-point field goals made, points in a game and three-pointers made in a game. Additionally, she holds the EMU freshman, sophomore, junior and senior single-season scoring marks. Just the 11th student-athlete in MAC history to surpass the 2,000-point mark in a career, she ranks third in MAC history in scoring and has been named the league Player of the Week eight times in her outstanding career. Earlier this year, she became the first student-athlete from a Mid-American Conference institution to be selected to play for Team USA in the Pan-American Games.
EMU SEARCHING FOR FOUR MAC WEST CROWN: The Eagles are just one victory shy of capturing the team's fourth Mid-American Conference West Division championship. Since the league switched to the current division format for the 1997-98 campaign, EMU has claimed MAC West titles in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
DEFENSE RATCHETS IT UP AGAINST TOLEDO: There was plenty at stake Feb. 21 in the Convocation Center and the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team was up to the challenge, using a fast-paced offense and a smothering defense to record a 54-33 win over Toledo in a battle for sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Toledo's efficient offense was stymied by EMU's pressure defense and limited to 35.1 percent (13-of-37) from the field, including 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc, en route to its lowest scoring output since Nov. 24, 2004 when Marquette held them to 28 points. The Rockets were also guilty of a season-tying worst 28 miscues, which EMU translated into 23 points to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2008.
The 2010-11 MAC regular-season champs came into the division showdown pacing the league in overall field-goal percentage (42.9%), three-point field-goal percentage (36.4%) and three-point field goals made (6.8).
JAMES MOVING UP THE MAC LIST: Senior Tavelyn James, the leading scorer in EMU history, is also moving up the Mid-American Conference list. Just the 11th student-athlete in MAC history to surpass the 2,000-point mark in a career, James needs 78 points to pass Ohio's Caroline Mast (1982-86) for second on the MAC list. For the complete list of her accomplishments, turn to page 10 of these notes.
JAMES BECOMES EMU SINGLE-SEASON POINTS LEADER: With her 29 points at Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, Tavelyn James became the EMU single-season points leader with 643, surpassing her own standard of 642 set a season ago in 37 games.
JAMES TAKES IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL AGAINST TOLEDO: Senior guard Tavelyn James has saved some of her career best performances for the Rockets. In nine career games against the Midnight Blue and Gold, James is averaging 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 34.0 minutes per game. She has tallied three games with 30-or-more points, including a 40-point output at the Convocation Center, March 2, 2010.
JAMES IN SOME RAREFIED COMPANY: With a 30-point performance at Western Michigan, Feb. 15, senior Tavelyn James became the most prolific senior scorer in program history. The MAC record for most points by a senior is Western Michigan's Carrie Moore with 813 points in 2006-07. James also holds the EMU freshman (426), sophomore (641) and junior (642) single-season scoring marks.
NCAA RANKINGS: The latest NCAA Statistical Rankings came out Feb. 23 and the Eagles are sixth in the nation (out of 336 eligible teams) in steals per game at 13.0. They are 15th in rebounding margin (+8.8), 12th in turnover margin at +6.04 and 22rd in scoring margin (+13.4). Individually, Tavelyn James is second in the nation in scoring with an average of 24.6 points per game and 23rd in free throw percentage per game at 86.3. Desyree Thomas is ninth in the nation with an average of 3.4 steals per game, while Olivia Fouty is 99th in the nation in rebounds with an average of 8.4 per game.
SUPER SOPHOMORES: The sophomore trio of Olivia Fouty, Desyree Thomas and Natachia Watkins have been a large part of the team's continued success in 2011-12. The trifecta has combined for 38.8 percent of EMU's points (737), 43.0 percent of its rebounds (486) and 56.7 percent of the assists (212).
This is a dramatic change from their freshman campaign, when the three players combined for a season total of 170 points, 159 rebounds and 41 assists.
REDDITT PASSES 900 POINTS: Senior forward Paige Redditt reached a milestone by recording her 900th career point in the team's 83-47 victory over Kent State University, Feb. 11. Redditt totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the 21st member to join the 900-point club for the EMU women's basketball program.
Redditt joins Stephanie Smiley (1998-02) as the only players in school history to post more than 900 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career. Redditt has accumulated 942 points, 747 rebounds and 121 blocks, while Smiley finished her career with 1,401 points, 784 caroms and 103 rejections.
GET THAT SHOT OUTTA HERE: Senior forward Paige Redditt recorded a blocked shot Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the victory against Toledo. She upped her career total to 121 and currently stands in second place on the EMU all-time list. The EMU career leader is Sharon Rose (1983-87) with 144.
JAMES SCORING IN BUNCHES: James is one of only nine players in Division I basketball this year to score 25 or more in a half. She holds the standard for points scored in a half this season with 32 points in the opening half against Marygrove, Nov. 14. UMKC's Dayon Hall-Jones is the only other Division I player to reach 30 points in a half when she rolled in 31 versus Oral Roberts, Dec. 31.
INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 20 victories this season, EMU is averaging 73.7 points while the opposition is posting just 52.8 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 37.2 percent from the field compared to 43.5 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 60.9 points, while giving up 69.0. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 42.3 rebounds to just 31.6 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks EMU is out-rebounding its opponents by only three caroms (40.7 to 37.3).
PIPING HOT TURNOVERS: After forcing 769 turnovers (20.8 per game) last season, Eastern Michigan is at it again this year, causing 628 turnovers (23.3 per game) in its 27 outings. The majority of those turnovers have come via EMU steals, with the Eagles registering 352 thefts (13.0 per game) after ranking first in the Mid-American Conference in that category last season.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Eastern Michigan has had double-digit steal totals in 21 games this season. The Green and White has also forced 21 opponents into more than 20 turnovers in a contest.
NEW MAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT IN 2012: Under the new MAC Tournament format, the top four seeds will receive multiple byes in 2012. The third and fourth seeds will earn berths in the quarterfinals, with seeds one and two being placed directly into the semifinal round. To put it another way, a team seeded first or second will need to win only two MAC Tournament games to capture the title, while the third or fourth seed would need three wins. Any team seeded fifth through 12th will need to reel off five consecutive wins to capture the tourney crown. The seeding is based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division. For a projected tournament bracket, turn to page 15 of these notes.
A SPOTLIGHT ON THE CHIPPEWAS: The Feb. 28 contest marks the 69th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 37-31, but EMU has won 18 of the last 23 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign.
JAMES NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN HER CAREER: Senior guard Tavelyn James was named the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball West Division Player of the Week, the conference office announced Feb. 20. It marks the eighth time she has won the award in her career and the sixth time this season
James had another prolific scoring week by averaging 29.5 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the floor. In the victory over the Broncos, Feb. 15, James poured in a game-high 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting. She then followed it up with a 29-point performance at Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, in 38 minutes of work.
ALLOWING 50 OR LESS: Eastern Michigan is 93-0 all time when allowing 50 points or less. Since 2003-04, the Green and White has accomplished the feat 48 times with 24 of those coming against Mid-American Conference foes.
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