Eagles Down Golden Flashes, 88-70, in 33rd MAC Opener

KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — Four Eagles scored in double figures as the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team defeated Kent State University, 88-70, Saturday afternoon, Jan. 4, in the Mid-American Conference opener at the M.A.C. Center. EMU has now won 10 of the last 12 MAC-opening tilts going back to the 2002-03 season.

With the victory, the Eagles now sit with a record of 11-1 (1-0 MAC) while the Golden Flashes fell to 3-9 (0-1 MAC). EMU's record is still on pace with the 2004-05 team for the best start in school history.

The Green and White were led by freshman Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minnesota-Osseo), who scored 21 points for the Eagles and grabbed three steals in the win. Classmate Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) followed closely behind with 19 points, five assists, and three steals. Two other Eagles landed in double-digit land as senior Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott) contributed 15 while dishing out a game-high five assists and grabbing four steals, while senior Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) added 10 points. Redshirt-junior Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) led the squad with seven rebounds on the afternoon.

As a team, Eastern Michigan was 33-of-71 from the field for a 46.5 percent clip. The Green and White also boasted an 83.3 percent success rate from behind the charity stripe. Eastern's stingy defense and full-court press forced 27 turnovers, and ample sharing resulted in 21 total assists.

The Golden Flashes had a comparably high shooting percentage, hitting 45.3 percent of their shots. However, the Eagles kept Kent State from taking many shots, as they made 24 of just 53 attempts. Krista White led the scoring front for the Golden Flashes, notching 17 points. KSU was aggressive under the basket, pulling down 40 rebounds in the matchup thanks in large part to Montia Johnson and CiCi Shannon grabbing 12 and 10 boards, respectively.

After Sweeney scored the first pair of points for the Eagles, the team would never relinquish the lead. The Golden Flashes managed to knot the score, 2-2, with a layup from Mikell Chinn, but Morton quickly responded with a three-pointer on the following play to take the definite lead that would only continue to grow.

Eastern built up a considerable advantage thanks to a handful of perimeter shots and a pair of layups from Jamaica Bucknor (New Haven, Conn.-Weaver (ASA College)), bringing the score to 16-6 with 13 minutes remaining in the half. Kent State went on a short three-point run thanks to a trio of free throws, but was quickly silenced by back-to-back three-pointers from Fouty, giving the Eagles a 12-point lead over the Golden Flashes.

A layup from Montia Johnson brought the score to 22-12, but the 10-point margin was the closest that Kent State would get to Eastern for the rest of the game. The Green and White built their edge up to 20 points following an and-one play from Thomas, bringing the count to 39-39 with four minutes remaining in the half. KSU was able to battle back for the closing minutes, due in large part to efficient free throw shooting. However, their efforts seemed futile in comparison as they still trailed by 16 points, 46-30, as the teams left for halftime.

Thomas and Morton led the way for the Eagles in scoring, both recording 11 points in the opening half as Thomas recorded five of her eight assists. Sweeney also knocked down 10 points and led the team in rebounding with five boards. The Eagles were 17-of-40 shooting for42.5 percent and were a flawless 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The Golden Flashes were held to making only eight field goals, but conversely they sank 12-of-14 free throws to make up for their offensive deficit. In the first half alone, the Eagles forced 13 turnovers from Kent State, while also recording 12 assists.

Kent State was the first to get on the board in the second half following a layup from Johnson, and the contest turned into a back-and-forth skirmish between the two teams as the Golden Flashes continued to chip away at the score, getting as close to an 11-point margin. The Eagles began to pull away with eight minutes remaining in the game after Watkins hit a jump shot to bring the count to 65-52.

With the remaining time, the Eagles got back into their usual high-scoring groove, going on a 21-11 run capped off by a shot from beyond the arc and a layup by Sweeney to give the Green and White its largest margin of the contest, a 23-point gap, at 86-63.
Kent State finished up by going on a 7-2 run led by Amber Dunlap, but its effort still left the team 18 points in the hole, as Eastern came out victorious in its first MAC matchup with a 88-70 win.

The Eagles will return to the Convocation Center after being away for over a month when they go head-to-head against MAC opponent Ball State (5-7 (0-1 MAC)) Thursday, Jan. 9. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Desyree Thomas

Natachia Watkins

Eastern Michigan Athletics