Eastern Renews the Rivalry with Toledo Wednesday

EASTERN RENEWS THE RIVALRY WITH TOLEDO WEDNESDAY: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team welcomes the University of Toledo to the Convocation Center Wednesday, Jan. 16, for a Mid-American Conference West Division contest. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:04 p.m.
   Eastern Michigan enters the game with a mark of 3-12 after a 77-51 loss at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Jan. 13. The Rockets are 13-2 on the season after a 48-38 road triumph at Bowling Green State University, Jan. 13.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ROCKETS: The Jan. 16 contest marks the 69th meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-1978 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 41-27, however the Eagles swept a trio of games last season including a 54-33 victory in Ypsilanti and a 70-66 decision in Toledo. The Green and White also ousted Toledo from the 2012 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 59-57 victory in the semifinal round at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

“D” IS THE KEY: Wednesday's game features two teams that pride themselves on defense, with Toledo and Eastern Michigan ranking second and seventh, respectively, in scoring defense in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles have held eight teams under 65 points this year, while the Rockets have accomplished the feat 11 times. Against Northeastern, Nov. 11, Eastern's defense stymied the Huskies, forcing 18 turnovers and allowing just 47 points. Meanwhile, Toledo held Arkansas State to just 34 points in a 56-34 victory, Nov. 9.

A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST MEETING WITH UT: Clutch second-half performances from Tavelyn James, Natachia Watkins and Paige Redditt propelled the EMU women's basketball team into the finals of the 2012 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament after a thrilling 59-57 victory over Toledo in the semifinal round, March 9, 2012. Toledo led for the first 39 minutes of the game, but the Eagles roared back to take their first lead with 1:09 remaining in the contest.
   Toledo led by as many as 10 points, 51-41, with 7:45 to play, but the Eagles finished the contest on a torrid pace, ending the game on an 18-6 run. Redditt notched the game-winning layup and added a free throw with less than 30 seconds left to give her 11 for the game. The Rockets mounted a frenzied attack in the final minute, but were unable to force overtime.
   Watkins shined in the second half with 12 points and tied James as the game's leading points-getter at 19 apiece. Both players were 7-of-21 from the field and Watkins was 5-of-5 from the line, while James was 2-of-2. James was also named the game's Most Valuable Player.
   After shooting just 25 percent in the opening period, the Eagles finished the game strong with a 41.1 percent performance in the second half for a total of 22-of-69 (31.9 percent) from the floor. EMU was also 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) from beyond the arc and 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
   Desyree Thomas led the game in assists with nine and Olivia Fouty collected 10 boards to go along with four points.
   UT also had a trio of players in double figures as Yolanda Richardson scored 15, Courtney Ingersoll had 14 and Lecretia Smith chimed in with 10. Ingersoll was 4-of-7 from the three-point territory. The Rockets were tough on the glass, outrebounding EMU, 45-30; however, Toledo also committed 27 turnovers to EMU's six and gave up 26 points off turnovers.

BIRD EXPECTED TO RETURN: Senior Taylor Bird is expected to return to the team Wednesday, Jan. 16, for the game against Toledo. The guard had missed the previous two contests to return to Kansas for a family matter.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Eagles have won 37 of the last 49 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 69.7 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 131-57 all-time mark.

BACK-TO-BACK ON THE ROAD: EMU played back-to-back road contests to open the 2013 Mid-American Conference schedule. The last time the oddity occurred was in 2000-01 when the Eagles traveled to Central Michigan and Kent State before returning home to host Northern Illinois.

MIAMI ON THE HORIZON: The Jan. 20 contest marks the 52nd meeting between the Miami RedHawks and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first met during the 1979-80 season. Miami has dominated the all-time series, 36-15, but the Eagles have won the last three meetings including the lone contest last season. EMU posted a 72-62 victory in Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 29, 2011, and then got the better of the RedHawks in the MAC Tournament First Round, 82-74, at the Convocation Center. A year ago, Eastern rolled to a 77-66 win in Ypsilanti, Mich., Feb. 4, 2012.
   Sunday's contest will be shown regionally on SportsTime Ohio and Comcast Michigan with Mike Cairns providing the play-by-play and Jacki Windon serving as the analyst.

CAGE'S 25 POINTS LIFTS EMU PAST WMU: Freshman Bianca Cage scored a career-high 25 points, all coming in the second half, to lead the Eagles to a 56-52 victory at Western Michigan, Jan. 10. The freshman guard scored 25 of the team's final 33 points in the win. Cage finished 10-of-16 shooting from the floor including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Prior to the breakout performance, she had tallied just 11 points in the first four games of her EMU career.
   Cage's 25-point performance marked the first time an EMU “true” freshman had scored more than 20 points in a game since March 11, 2009. EMU's all-time leading scorer Tavelyn James notched 31 points in a first round of the MAC Tournament against Miami University to cap a season in which she surpassed the 20-point plateaux on seven different occasions.

AGAINST IN-STATE SCHOOLS: Eastern Michigan has had great success against other collegiate programs in the state of Michigan over the past 10 seasons. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Eagles are 44-18 (70.1 winning percentage) against in-state rivals.

EMU ADDS A TRANSFER FOR 2013-14: Head Coach Tory Verdi announced Jan. 9, the addition of Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest), who has transferred from Seton Hall University and enrolled in classes at EMU.
   Heady, a 5-11 small forward from Hazel Crest, Ill., played in two games this season for the Pirates and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining. She will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer regulations and will become eligible following the 2013 fall semester.
   As a freshman this season, Heady contributed two points, one rebound and an assist off the bench while making a pair of appearances. Heady was ranked the 73rd-best overall player by The Jump-Off Plus Report coming out of high school. The two-time Suburban Conference Player of the Year scored over 1,500 points at Hillcrest High School in Hazel Crest, Ill. During her four-year varsity career, Hillcrest notched a 116-16 record.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its three victories this season, EMU has scored 60.0 points while the opposition has posted 56.0 points. In those games, opponents shot 32.8 percent from the field compared to 37.8 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles have only posted 55.5 points, while giving up 65.5. Another factor in the Eagles' success was the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 38.7 rebounds in the wins, while in setbacks EMU has been out-rebounded by its opponents (38.6 to 38.2).

A LOOK INSIDE THE SPECIALTY STATS: The Eagles are averaging 28.4 points per game in the paint, 15.9 points off the bench, 16.0 points per game off turnovers, 11.9 second-chance points and 5.9 fast break points per game.

SHOOTING BLUES: The Eagles have struggled mightily shooting the basketball in 2012-13. The Green and White has averaged just a 35.9 percent clip from the floor and shot less than 30.0 percent against Northeastern (29.8) and Michigan (27.0). EMU's best performance occurred at South Dakota State, when the squad made 25-of-52 shots for a 48.1 percentage.
   The three-point shot has also been an issue, with EMU making more than the opposition in just two contests (Northeastern and Harvard).

EMU IN MAC OPENERS: Eastern Michigan opened its 32nd Mid-American Conference slate Jan. 10 with a 56-52 victory over the Broncos of Western Michigan University. The game marked just the third time that the two programs had squared off in a conference lid-lifter and the first since the 1991-92 campaign. EMU notched an 82-38 victory at venerable Bowen Field House, Jan. 8, 1992, while WMU turned in a 72-62 victory in Kalamazoo, Dec. 13, 1986.
   The Green and White are 15-17 all-time in league openers dating back to 1981-82. EMU has won nine of the last 111 MAC-opening tilts going back to the 2002-03 season.

NO CUPCAKES: This year's non-conference schedule left little room for error. Just ask EMU Head Coach Tory Verdi. Going into the season EMU's non-conference strength of schedule was projected to be one of the hardest in the Mid-American Conference if not the country. According to RealTimeRPI.com, EMU had the 20th toughest non-conference schedule in the nation. EMU's first 13 opponents had combined record of 119-64 (65.0 winning percentage) with five schools having won at least 10 games (Michigan State, Boston U., Wyoming, Michigan and Tulane).

EMU VERSUS THE MAC: This is EMU's 32nd season competing in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles hold a 233-282 record against conference foes and have posted winning seasons in the MAC in 11 of the last 12 campaigns. EMU has had the most success against Northern Illinois, going 28-9, and the least versus Bowling Green, 14-46. Western Michigan has been the Green and White's most frequent opponent with 72 meetings, while Buffalo holds the distinction of the fewest conference games against the Eagles with 19.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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