Eagles Crowned MAC Champions with 72-71 Victory over Chippewas

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — The No. 2 seeded Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team needed just one field goal in the final 8:14 of play to dispatch fifth-seeded Central Michigan University, 72-71, Saturday afternoon, March 10, in the championship game of the 2012 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Paige Redditt (Kansas City, Mo.-Belton) stuffed home the game-winning layup with 1.8 seconds left to earn the Eagles their first MAC title since 2004 and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Tavelyn James (Detroit, Mich.-Mumford) and Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team, and James was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Eastern Michigan claims its second MAC crown in school history and is now 2-1 in MAC Tournament championship games. The game also marked the first meeting between the Eagles and Chippewas in the EMU's 19 trips to the annual tournament.

The Eagles (23-8) led by as many as 10 points early in the second half, but a resilient Chippewas (20-15) squad fought back to take the lead several times and as late as 14 seconds from the game's end. Despite a field goal drought in the later portion of the second half, the Green and White kept pace with CMU with a 10-of-12 performance at the free throw line in the final period.

Three Eagles finished the game in double-figure scoring. Watkins turned in another brilliant all-around performance with 25 points (11-of-16) to go along with seven boards. James poured in 23 points on 6-of-19 shooting and was a stellar 10-of-12 from the line. The Detroit native leaped past former Ohio Bobcat Caroline Mast (1982-86) for second place on the MAC all-time scoring list. Redditt hit 7-of-11 shots including the game-winning tally for a total of 18 points.

Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott) dished out 10 assists and recorded four steals while playing the entire game at point guard. James, Redditt and Watkins also played the entire 40 minutes Saturday.

Eastern and Central Michigan both displayed consistency offensively and were evenly matched for much of the game, as the two teams had even shots attempted (47) and shots made (25) with 7:27 left in the contest.

The Green and White finished the game shooting at a 49.1 percent clip (26-of-53), while the Maroon and Gold was 29-of-57 from the floor for a 50.9 shooting percentage. EMU had plenty of chances at the charity stripe, and converted on 19-of-25 attempts (76 percent).

Central Michigan received double-digit scoring contributions from four players including Taylor Johnson, who finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Crystal Bradford (16), Jessica Green (12) and Brandie Baker (10) also notched 10-or-more points for the game.

EMU began the afternoon shooting much more efficiently than in the semifinal game against the University of Toledo, converting on six of its opening nine shots for a 66.7 percent clip.

After CMU opened the scoring, Watkins filled a layup and drained a mid-range jumper to give EMU an early 4-2 edge. The Eagles took their first lead, 9-7, when Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) forced a turnover and fed James who rushed in for an easy layup at 14:31.

James put the Eagles ahead by three, 19-16, with a pair of made free throws with 9:00 showing on the clock. Watkins grew the EMU advantage to five, 21-16, when she forced another Chippewas turnover and ran the length of the court for the score.

A pair of three-pointers by Bradford and Niki DiGuilio on consecutive possessions quickly erased that lead and gave Central a brief 22-21 lead. Redditt answered with a lay-in under the basket to put EMU back ahead with 6:42 remaining.

Eastern Michigan was able to maintain a 40-35 lead heading into the locker room due in large part to the feisty play of Redditt, who forced numerous CMU fouls and accounted for the Green and White's final five points of the period.

Redditt joined James, Watkins and CMU's Johnson in a tie for the scoring lead with 12 points. The senior forward was a blazing 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line. Watkins was 5-of-9 shooting and James went 4-of-10 after 20 minutes of play.

Both teams converted at least half of their shots in the opening period, as the Chippewas shot 51.7 percent on 15-of-29 shooting and the Eagles were 15-of-30 for an even 50 percent.

The second half could not have begun much better for the Eagles, who scored five points in the first 65 seconds to charge ahead by 10, 45-35. The Chippewas responded with a 7-0 run before James and Watkins ended the streak and made it a 49-42 game with 15:50 remaining.

Central Michigan's offense continued to heat up through the middle portion of the period. At the 12:03 mark, Johnson hit her third trey of the game and Green added a fade-away jumper to cut the Eagles' lead to just one, 53-52. Skylar Miller then put CMU ahead for the first time since early in the first half, 58-57, until Watkins struck for her 11th make of the contest with 9:07 to play.

Meanwhile the Eagles were surviving off of CMU shooting fouls, making seven free throws while being held without a field goal from the 8:14 mark until the game's final play. Watkins' free throw with 3:22 to play broke a 67-67 tie.

Neither team would score again until Green regained the lead for CMU, 69-68, on a layup at the 1:36 mark. James flipped the lead once again in the Eagles' favor with a pair of free throws, 70-69, with 35 seconds to play.

Bradford hit a contested jumper with 14 ticks left for a 71-70 Chippewas lead. On her way back down court, James was called for traveling which put the ball back in the hands of Central Michigan.

The Eagles had no choice but to foul and send Green to the line for a one-and-one. The Chippewas' guard missed the free shot and Watkins grabbed the rebound and fed the ball off to Redditt. Redditt ran into a wall of Chippewa defenders in the lane, but threw up a shot into the yawning basket with 1.8 seconds remaining.

Central Michigan was unable to fire a final shot and the Eagles burst off the bench and onto mid-court in celebration of their first MAC Championship in eight seasons.

The Eagles will now await their seed and opening round opponent for the NCAA Tournament. Brackets will be revealed on ESPN Monday, March 12, from 7-8 p.m. as part of the network's Selection Monday Special. EMU will host a selection show pep rally at the Convocation Center, but details are still being finalized.

Opening statement of Head Coach Ann Marie Gilbert
“I can't say enough about our basketball team. Their resiliency is what I talked about yesterday. What people don't know about this game today, Paige Redditt came over to me with 35 seconds left and we were down, She said, 'No matter what that score reflects we got this.' She was so poised.”

Paige Redditt on the last time she practiced the left-handed spin move
“Every day, I do it all the time. It came through today.”

Tavelyn James on the emotions of winning the MAC tournament and then waiting to see who the opponent will be in the NCAA tournament
“I'm sure we're all excited to win, but we're still on our way. We can't celebrate too early because no one wants to get knocked out in the first round in the NCAA.”

Natachia Watkins on being able to hold up the trophy this year.
“It made us realize that we needed it to be us this year.”

Head Coach Ann Marie Gilbert on thinking of taking a timeout at the end of the game
“We are a team that is better in transition, but we can catch the other team off guard. I felt like if we can give it and go that's what our girls do every day. Natachia (Watkins) played point guard because she pushed that ball through traffic. Found Paige Redditt for a beautiful layup, one beautiful finish.”

Eagles Crowned MAC Champions with 72-71 Victory over Chippewas

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Team Stats

Natachia Watkins

Tavelyn James

Paige Redditt

Olivia Fouty

Eastern Michigan Athletics