Eagles Speed Past Crusaders, 101-52, to Open Season

Postgame Audio: Coach Verdi. Cha_Sweeney.

Photo Gallery

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team came out strong in the 2013-14 season opener, claiming a 101-52 victory over the Madonna Crusaders. With the win, the Eagles improves to 1-0, while Madonna falls to 1-2. The 49-point margin of victory ties for the ninth-largest margin of victory inside the Convocation Center, while the 101-point finish ranks as fifth-most points scored inside Eastern's home court.

Freshman Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) was an offensive sparkplug for the Eagles, going 10-for-17 from the field for a total of 25 points, an average of one point for every minute she was on the court. Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) notched the ninth double-double of her career, posting 10 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, and also tied for a team-high three steals with Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott), who led the squad in assists with eight. Sara Stone (Plymouth, Mich.-Salem) grabbed 12 shots off the glass for the Green and White.

As a team, EMU shot 41-of-87 from the floor for a .471 clip, including 11-of-25 from beyond the arc. Eastern's bench out-scored the bench of the Crusaders, 42-23. The Green and White forced 19 turnovers that converted into 30 points. Head Coach Tory Verdi's squad pushed the tempo all afternoon, tallying 38 fastbreak points.

Madonna shot 27.5 percent, making 19-of-69 shots. Rachel Melcher led the Crusaders in scoring and rebounding, recording seven points and grabbing six boards.

The Green and White scored in each of their first two possessions of the game, as a Stone jumper and a Fouty layup gave the Eagles an early lead, 4-0. A pair of baskets gave Thomas her first points of the contest, followed by two fastbreaks from Sweeney and Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush). Less than four minutes into the game, each of the starting players had scored for the squad and established a 13-5 lead over the Crusaders.

Following a timeout, Eastern continued to showcase its agility as a pair of steals by Jamaica Bucknor (New Haven, Conn.-Weaver (ASA College)) and Sweeney resulted in two fastbreak points. Madonna managed to light a fire under its offensive effort, scoring eight points from a series of jump shots, yet still trailing 27-15 to the Eagles.

The Green and White spread the offense out around the court, which proved to be an effective strategy as Fouty and Watkins scored in the paint while Sweeney drilled a shot from beyond the arc to extend the lead to a 34-15 advantage. Not to be one to give up on the battle, Madonna reciprocated with a fastbreak layup followed up by a three-pointer to push the team over the 20-point threshold.

Back-to-back fastbreak plays swung out to Haley Moore (Milford, Neb.-Milford) for a three-point shot and dished under the basket to Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) put the Eagles up 41-22 as the Crusaders continued to score the majority of their points in the paint. Sweeney remained perfect on her three-point attempts, hitting her second and third of the afternoon, following up with a fastbreak layup and a pair of free throws to score the next 10 points for the Green and White.

Denaya Brazzle (Portland, Ore.-Jefferson (Chipola College)) and Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) broke away to score back-to-back layups, giving the Eagles a solid 57-30 edge heading into the locker room.

Madonna opened up the second half with a layup followed by a three-pointer before Sweeny dropped in consecutive jumpers to end its scoring run. Thomas got a hand on the ball during the Crusader possession, sprinting down court before stopping in for a mid-range fastbreak jump shot to bring the squad up 63-35 in the opening minutes.

The Eagles continued their run as Thomas nailed another shot from the top of the key, and Fouty found Moore on the perimeter for a three-point fastbreak play. Fouty took a break from passing out dimes to score a pair of layups herself, then Moore sunk her third three-pointer for the Green and White to advance the Eagles to 77-36 over the Crusaders.

A pair of shots from the Madonna charity stripe ended the Eagles' 15-0 scoring run, but they quickly started another dominant streak after a well-rounded selection of layups, jump shots, three-pointers, and free throws made their way through the hoop to churn out a 13-0 push for the Green and White.

A fifth successful three-pointer by Moore allowed the Eagles to cruise over the century mark with a minute left to play. EMU closed out its season opener using their relentless scoring efforts to mark a 101-52 victory.

The Eagles will host their next game, Nov. 13 versus Butler University. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff inside the Convocation Center.

Next Event

Team Stats

Cha Sweeney

Haley Moore

Desyree Thomas

Olivia Fouty

Eastern Michigan Athletics