Eagles Soar Past Golden Flashes, 64-45

KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – Turning pressure defense into up-tempo offense, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team rolled to a 64-45 victory over the Kent State University Golden Flashes Thursday night, Jan. 24, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

The 19-point victory in Kent is a rare one for the Eagles, as EMU holds a 5-20 all-time record in the M.A.C. Center.

Head Coach Tory Verdi decided to tweak his starting lineup, and his bench came alive, scoring a season-high 40 points. Bianca Cage (Memphis, Tenn. – Southwind) scored 19 points to lead the Eagles. Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich. – Mott) was the other EMU player in double digits, tallying 12 points. Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio – Brush) padded the statistical categories with nine points, nine rebounds, four steals, and two assists on the night.

EMU shot 25-of-54 from the floor for a 46.3 shooting percentage. Defensively, the Eagles forced 23 turnovers, converting the KSU mistakes into 28 points. With the win, Eastern improves to 4-14, 2-3 MAC on the year.

The Golden Flashes were led in scoring by Jamie Hutcheson with 16 points off of the bench. Kent St. shot 34.0 percent from the field, making 18-of-53 buckets. The 45 points for KSU were the lowest they have scored against Eastern Michigan on its home floor since they tallied 54 against the Green and White Jan. 6, 1980. The low-mark also broke an all-time low scoring record for Kent State against EMU. The previous low was 46 points, Feb. 19, 1983, at venerable Bowen Field House.

After Kent St. scored the game's opening bucket, EMU responded by pushing the ball up the court, going on an 8-0 run and forcing a KSU timeout with 15:53 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles continued to run with India Hairston (Flint, Mich. – Hamady) grabbing a defensive rebound and finding Cage running the floor for an easy deuce. Cage applied full-court pressure for an easy steal-and-layup. The freshman continued her hot start a few possessions later, nailing a three to give Eastern a 17-6 lead at the 12:34 mark of the first half.

EMU's defense continued to be strong, keeping the Golden Flashes from getting within eight points for the duration of the first half. Scoring 15 points off of 15 turnovers, the Green and White took a 32-19 lead into the half.

The 13-point lead at the half was the largest lead of the season for Eastern, surpassing the 12-point lead that EMU held in the first half against Ole Miss, Dec. 30. Also, Eastern's 32 first half points matched a season-high as the Eagles also notched the mark in the scoring column against South Dakota St., Dec. 4.

The Eastern bench scored 28-of-32 points for the Eagles in the opening 20 minutes, led by Cage and Watkins who scored 14 points and eight points, respectively. EMU made half of its shots in the first half, going 15-of-30 from the field.
Cage and Watkins also led EMU on the defensive side of the ball in the first half with three and four steals, respectively, as the Eagles forced 15 turnovers and limited KSU to a 29.2 shooting percentage (7-of-24).

Following an impressive defensive showing in the opening half, the Eagles kept up the pressure to start the second half as the Golden Flashes could only muster two points in the first six minutes of the second half. The Green and White started the second half on 9-2 run to begin the second half, increasing the margin to 41-21 with 13:15 remaining in the game.

EMU grew its lead all the way up to 25 points, and KSU would not get within 17 points for the remainder of the game as the Eagles cruised to its second MAC win of the season.

After splitting a pair of MAC contests on the road, the Eagles will return to the Convocation Center this Sunday, Jan. 27 for a 2 p.m. tip against the Bowling Green State University Falcons.

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Team Stats

Bianca Cage

Desyree Thomas

Natachia Watkins

Sara Stone

Eastern Michigan Athletics