Northern Illinois Hands Eastern Second-Straight Conference Loss

DEKALB, Ill (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team experienced it second-straight Mid-American Conference loss, as Northern Illinois University handed the Eagles a 77-54 road loss Sunday, Jan. 12, at the NIU Convocation Center.

The loss marked the first time the Green and White have fallen to the Huskies since Jan. 17, 2009, when the Eagles were defeated, 69-62, in DeKalb. With the setback, Eastern sees its eight-game win streak against NIU come to a close as EMU drops to 11-3 overall and 1-2 in the MAC. Northern Illinois improves to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Freshman Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) led the entire EMU offense as she netted 13 points on the afternoon, while Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) and Natachia Watkins (South Eucld, Ohio-Brush) each added 11 to the Eagle effort. Redshirt-junior Oliva Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) was a force on the boards, grabbing nine defensive rebounds and one offensive rebound, while Watkins pulled down six total boards.

The Green and White struggled offensively, as the squad shot 29.5 percent from the floor for the contest. Meanwhile, the Huskies managed a 48.3 shooting percentage and a 30-point performance from Amanda Corral to propel them to its second conference victory.

Jazmine Harris and Natecia Augusta also contributed double-digit scoring as they scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.

A quick-paced Northern Illinois came out against the Eagles as it went on an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the contest and never relinquished the lead.

The Huskies continued to build on its advantage as it went up as many as 20 over the Green and White with 6:43 left to play in the first half. The Eagles looked to come back late in the half using a Thomas jump shot and a pair of free throws from both Fouty and Morton.

Eastern struggled at the basket as it went 7-32 from the floor for a 21.9 shooting percentage in the first half, while NIU used a 46.9 shooting percentage to take the 36-19 lead into the locker room.

Thomas led EMU through the first half as she had five points, while Fouty and Sweeney each added four. Fouty also led the Eagles on the boards, pulling down six rebounds, five of which were defensive.

The Huskies started the second half much like the first as they went on an 8-0 run before a pair of free throws from Sweeney cut the NIU lead to 18. After a slew of miscues and untimely fouls Eastern saw itself down by 25 with less than 12 minutes left in the contest.

Watkins three-straight baskets and a three-point shot from beyond the arc from Morton brought the Green and White within 16 with 8:43 remaining in the half, but the 16-point deficit would be the closest EMU would come to the Huskies as NIU went on to a 77-54 victory over Eastern.

The Green and White will be back in action Wednesday, Jan. 15, when they continue MAC play with a contest against Western Michigan University. Tipoff from the Convocation Center is slated for 7 p.m.

Northern Illinois Hands Eastern Second-Straight Conference Loss

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Team Stats

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Natachia Watkins

Desyree Thomas

Eastern Michigan Athletics