Sweeney and Morton Output Falls Short in Battle with CMU

Postgame Audio

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell in its fourth-straight contest as it was unable to secure a win over reigning Mid-American Conference Tournament Champion, Central Michigan. The Eagles were defeated 82-67 at McGuirk Arena as they are now 12-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play, while CMU improves to 12-8 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the league.

Freshmen Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) and Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) led all scorers with 26 points apiece. The mark was a career-night for Sweeney as her previous career-high was 25 that she matched twice this season. The freshmen duo combined for 77.6 percent of the Green and White's total points, while Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) contributed seven points to the Eagle effort and Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Northview Sylvania) dropped in five. Watkins pulled down a team-high and matched a career-high 15 rebounds on the night, while Morton grabbed six for EMU.

Eastern went 26-for-82 from the floor for a 31.7 shooting percentage, while Central used just a 37.2 shooting percentage to propel them to victory. Two Central players notched double-doubles on the night as Jas'Mine Bracey scored a team-high 25 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, while Crystal Bradford had 16 points and 17 boards for the Chippewas.

Central's Crystal Bradford put the Chippewa's on the scoreboard first, but the CMU offense was quickly silenced in the first five minutes of play as the Eagles went on a 15-0 run. Morton had an 8-0 run all on her own as she drained two threes from the left corner before finding a wide-open lane for an easy layup. Fouty brought the Green and White lead to nine when she popped a trey from the top of the arc to give Eastern the 12-3 lead heading into the first media timeout.

EMU continued to strike offensively off the timeout as Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) picked up a steal, passing the ball up to Sweeney for an easy fastbreak layup before the Toledo, Ohio native picked up a steal of her own and netted a fastbreak shot from the top of the key to put EMU up, 16-3.

The Eagles 15-0 run ended after Niki Diguilio found a three-pointer from the corner after a six minute CMU scoring drought. Central started to get in a groove offensively as Taylor Johnson found back-to-back three-pointers to give Central Michigan the 17-16 lead with just eight minutes left in the first half.

Eastern saw its offense slow as it went eight minutes without scoring, before Sweeney again found back-to-back makes with a three from the top of the arc and a jumper from just inside the three point line with just under five minutes to play.

The Green and White and the Chippewa's exchanged baskets to close out the half, as a final three-pointer with just under two minutes from Bradford would send CMU into the locker room with a slight 29-23 lead over Eastern.

Sweeney led EMU in the first half as she scored nine points, while Morton added eight points for the Eagles. Fouty and Watkins each had three of their own to contribute to the Green and White scoring effort. Watkins was aggressive on the boards in the first half as she grabbed 11 rebounds for the Green and White, while Morton pulled down five of her own, four of which were defensive.

Sweeney and Morton continued to have the hot hands for Eastern as they combined for five points to kick off the second half to knot the score at 31-31. Central scored five fast points to give them the nine point lead, but a steal from Sweeney allowed the Eagles to trail by seven after the first media timeout.

Central's Jordan LaDuke netted two-straight three-pointers from opposite corners of the court, allowing CMU to take the 46-33 advantage and force Head Coach Tory Verdi to call a timeout with 13:12 remaining in the contest.

Morton scored six-straight points for Eastern before the second media timeout of the half, but the Eagles could not seem to get the edge over Central as it built itself a 14-point lead with just over 10 minutes left to play.

CMU continued to build on its lead in the remaining 10 minutes of play as Bracey scored seven points before the Eagles started to chip away at the Chippewa lead. Morton went on her third personal run of the game as she scored five points to bring EMU within eight as they trailed, 65-57, but Central answered back as Jessica Green added five points to the CMU effort and Bracey notched two to bring the Chippewa lead to 72-59 with just over three minutes left in the contest.

Eastern continued to fight through the final seconds of the game as Sweeney scored eight final points to reach a new career-high 26 points but the effort would not prove to be enough as Central took the 82-67 victory, continuing its perfect MAC record.

The Eagles will return to the court, Sunday, Feb. 2, when they take on Miami University in Ypsilanti. Tip off from the Convocation Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Natachia Watkins

Olivia Fouty

Eastern Michigan Athletics