Eastern Renews the Rivalry with Northern Illinois Thursday

EASTERN RENEWS THE RIVALRY WITH NORTHERN ILLINOIS THURSDAY: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team welcomes Northern Illinois University to the Convocation Center Thursday, Jan. 31, 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 4-15 (2-4 MAC) record, after being tripped up at home by Bowling Green State University, 61-47, Jan. 27. The Huskies are 5-14 (0-6 MAC) on the season following a 44-42 home setback to the University of Toledo, Jan. 26.

A SPOTLIGHT ON THE HUSKIES: The Jan. 31 contest marks the 38th meeting between the Northern Illinois Huskies and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first played during the 1981-82 season. Eastern leads the overall series, 28-9, and has won 23 of the last 26 games over the Cardinal and Black. The Huskies' last victory in the series occurred Jan. 17, 2009, when NIU notched a 69-62 overtime victory in DeKalb.
EMU has been dominant in Ypsilanti, as Northern Illinois last win at the Convocation Center came 2,945 days ago, Jan. 8, 2005. In that contest, Mary Basic hit a game-winning three-pointer from the corner with 7.6 seconds left in the game to seal the 55-53 upset victory for the Huskies.

CAGE HEATING UP: Freshman Bianca Cage has found Mid-American Conference play to her liking. Through six games the Memphis, Tenn. native is averaging a team-best 13.3 points per game and a 46.2 percent shooting clip.
She is one of only five freshmen to average double figure points in MAC-only contests, joining Ohio's Kiyanna Black (14.2), Buffalo's Mackenzie Loesing (13.5), Western Michigan's Marquisha Harris (12.2) and Ball State's Nathalie Fontaine (11.0)

THE LAST TIME WE MET: Thanks to a 77-57 road victory over Northern Illinois, Feb. 18, Eastern Michigan preserved its share of the Mid-American Conference West Division. EMU shot 44.8 percent in the contest behind a 26-of-58 effort from the floor and held the Huskies to a 34.8 clip (16-of-46). The Eagles also forced 20 NIU turnovers and edged the home team on the boards, 36-34.
Tavelyn James led all scorers and registered her 17th 20-plus point performance of the season. The guard tallied 29 points this afternoon behind a 10-of-23 shooting effort and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Natachia Watkins netted 18 points and snagged 12 boards in her fourth double-double of the year, while Paige Redditt rejected two shots in the contest and added 10 points for the Eagles.
NIU's Kim Davis drained 14-of-15 free throw attempts in a 26-point effort.

SMILES & BASKETBALL - EMU TO STAGE A CLINIC IN NEWTOWN, CONN.: Head Coach Tory Verdi was born and raised in Connecticut. His first coaching experiences came at Western Connecticut State University and before that at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, Conn., located just 10 miles from Newtown.
On Dec. 14, the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown shook the entire world, sparking a desire to help the community in any way possible. In response, Verdi and his Eastern Michigan team plan to help stage an afternoon of basketball instruction and fun activities for youngsters in Newtown on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Verdi and members of the Eastern team will work with the Newtown Youth Basketball Association to stage the “Smiles & Basketball” clinic, from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. at Newtown High School.
The clinic will be for students from kindergarten through eighth grade. There will be three hours of basketball instruction and an hour of entertainment for two separate groups, kindergarten through third grade and fourth through eighth grades. A carnival area will consist of games, arts and crafts, face painting, a balloonist and clowns, plus food and prizes. Eastern's players will be working at stations in both the gym and carnival areas. Verdi says his and the team's objective is to help the children and families of Newtown keep moving forward, and understand that they are not alone.

HITE CONTINUES TO GROW: Senior Chelsea Hite continues her development on the court, as the senior center turned in arguably her best career game against Bowling Green, Jan. 27. The 6-foot-4 Hite equaled her career-high in points with eight on 4-of-6 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds in 32 minutes of action. She also collected a steal as the Eagles' held the Falcons to just 18-of-47 shooting from the field and 17 turnovers.
This season, Hite has new single-season standards in points (44), rebounds (42), blocks (5), and minutes played (177).

DOMINANCE AT THE M.A.C. CENTER: Turning pressure defense into up-tempo offense, Eastern Michigan rolled to a 64-45 victory over the Kent State, 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.
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.

ALLOWING 50 OR LESS: Eastern Michigan is 96-0 all time when allowing 50 points-or-less. Since 2003-04, the Green and White has accomplished the feat 51 times with 26 of those coming against Mid-American Conference foes.

BALL STATE ON THE HORIZON: The Feb. 3 contest marks the 65th meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles, who first played during the 1979-80 season. Eastern Michigan leads the series, 36-28, as the teams split a pair of contests last season. BSU notched a 54-51 victory at Worthen Arena, Jan. 5, 2012, to open conference play, but EMU returned the favor with a 74-43 win at the Convocation Center, Feb. 25, 2012.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos