Pink is the New Green Saturday at the Convo

PINK IS THE NEW GREEN SATURDAY AT THE CONVO: In association with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund's Play 4Kay initiative (formerly known as WBCA Pink Zone) and its continuing mission of raising awareness and funds for breast cancer research and treatment, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team will hold its annual pink game Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Eagles welcome Mid-American Conference East Division foe Ohio University to the Convocation Center. Tip off is scheduled for 12:04 p.m.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 5-17 (3-6 MAC), after an 82-81 road setback to the University of Akron, Feb. 6. Meanwhile, the Bobcats are 5-16 (0-9 MAC) following a 73-52 defeat to Northern Illinois University, Feb. 6.

THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF TELEVISION: Saturday's contest will be shown regionally on SportsTime Ohio with Mike Cairns providing the play-by-play and Jacki Windon serving as the analyst.
With the EMU men's basketball team on the road for a game at the University of Toledo Saturday, the women's contest will only be broadcast on Eagle All-Access rather than WEMU (89.1 FM). Ryan Wooley and Greg Steiner will have the call beginning at 11:50 a.m. from the Convo.

ABOUT THE PINK ZONE CAUSE: EMU is proud to support the Kay Yow Fund's Pink Zone initiative which is a global, unified effort for the organization's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. To date, the Fund has raised over $7 million in support of women's cancer research. All fans are encouraged to wear pink on Saturday, and those that do will be admitted to the game free of charge.

A SPOTLIGHT ON THE BOBCATS: The Feb. 9 contest marks the 53rd meeting between the Ohio Bobcats and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first met during the 1980-81 season. Ohio leads the series, 30-22, with EMU posting a 63-53 victory in the team's only meeting last season back in Athens, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2012.

THE LAST TIME WE MET: EMU improved its Mid-American Conference mark to 7-2, Feb. 1, 2012, after defeating Ohio, 63-53, in a cross-divisional matchup in the Ohio Convocation Center. Tavelyn James led the Eagles with 29 points after connecting on 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from the floor, including a 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) effort from beyond the arc. Olivia Fouty recorded her fifth double-double of the season, tallying 12 points while snagging 10 boards and registering three blocks, Natachia Watkins earned her second double-double after posting 10 points and 10 boards with one block and a steal.
Ohio's Tenishia Benson led the Bobcats with 15 points, while Shavon Robinson added another 14 for the home team.

EMU POSTPONES TRIP: EMU has postponing its scheduled trip to Newtown, Conn., because of the predicted severe weather in that area. The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning for much of New England from 6 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8, to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. The team, led by Head Coach Tory Verdi, was to conduct a special basketball clinic on Sunday, Feb. 10 for the youngsters of Newtown. The team plans to reschedule its visit for a date in the near future.

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 2-6 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.

OFFENSE APLENTY AT THE J.A.R.: Offensive prowess was on display in EMU's contest at Akron, Feb. 6. The Eagles scored a season high 81 points, shot a season high 50 percent from the field, and dished out a season high 22 assists.
The scoring onslaught was the most the Eagles have scored since an 83-56 win over Western Michigan University, Feb. 15, 2012. Last February's victory over WMU was similarly the last time the Eagles shot for 50 percent.

MORE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS FROM AKRON: In the Feb. 6 contest at Akron, four players for the Green and White scoured double digit points; India Hairston, Natachia Watkins, Desyree Thomas, and Bianca Cage. Thomas scored a career high 14, while Hairston tied her previous high of 18.
The front court did the heavy lifting for the Eagles, scoring 56 in the paint and pulling down 41 rebounds compared to Akron's 24. The bigs got a little help from their friends in the backcourt, as the Green and White tallied 22 assists.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CLEVELAND: With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles would currenly be the eight-seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament, March 13-16.

BUFFALO ON THE HORIZON: The Feb. 16 contest marks the 19th meeting between the Bulls and Eagles, who first met during the 1993-1994 season. EMU leads the series, 13-5, including winning 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two schools. The teams met only once during the 2011-12 regular season with EMU claiming a 72-54 decision at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.

CAGE HEATING UP: Freshman Bianca Cage has found Mid-American Conference play to her liking. Through seven games the Memphis, Tenn. native is averaging a team-best 12.7 points per game and a 42.3 percent shooting clip. She is one of only five freshmen to average double figure points in MAC-only contests, joining Buffalo's Mackenzie Loesing (13.1), Ball State's Nathalie Fontaine (12.7), Ohio's Kiyanna Black (11.9) and Western Michigan's Marquisha Harris (11.8).

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Eagles have won 38 of the last 53 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 68.8 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 132-60 all-time mark.

SHOOTING BLUES: The Eagles have struggled mightily shooting the basketball in 2012-13. The Green and White has averaged just a 36.9 percent clip from the floor and shot less than 30.0 percent against Northeastern (29.8), Michigan (27.0) and Ball State (25.4). EMU's best performance occurred at Akron, when the squad made 37-of-574 shots for a 50.0 percentage.
The three-point shot has also been an issue, with EMU making more than the opposition in just two contests (Northeastern and Harvard).

THOMAS DISHING OUT THE ASSISTS: Court vision is what most guards work on daily in practice, and lately for junior Desyree Thomas it has come naturally. Thomas tallied 11 assists in the 67-62 victory over Northern Illinois, Jan. 31, which is tied for the 11th most in a single game in the program's 37-year history. To add to the impressive feat, the Waterford, Mich. native had zero turnovers in 33 minutes of work.
Betsy Brown holds the record set in 1995 with 14 dimes against Chicago State.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Sophomore Amber Bogard has missed the last four games after suffering an arm injury in the first half at Kent State, Feb. 24. The Cleveland, Ohio native is listed as day-to-day.

SURPASSING SINGLE-SEASON BESTS: Several Eagles have already surpassed their single-season bests with plenty of basketball still to be played. Senior India Hairston has notched new single-season highs in points (196), rebounds (141), assists (13), steals (23) and minutes played (662). Meanwhile classmate Chelsea Hite has new single-season standards in points (60), rebounds (50), blocks (6), and minutes played (224).

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its five victories this season, EMU has scored 62.2 points while the opposition has posted 55.0 points. In those games, opponents shot 38.9 percent from the field compared to 40.3 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles have only posted 54.3 points, while giving up 65.4. Another factor in the Eagles' success was the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 37.0 rebounds in the wins, while in setbacks EMU has been out-rebounded by its opponents (37.2 to 38.2).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos