Eagles Drop Tight Contest to MAC East-Leading Bowling Green

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell to Bowling Green State University, 61-56, in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional contest Saturday, Feb. 15, here at the Convocation Center. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 14-9 overall and 4-8 in MAC competition. Meanwhile, BGSU improves to 21-3 overall and 11-1 in conference play.

Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) was the high scorer for EMU for the third time this season, draining 15 points and pulling down a team-best nine rebounds. Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) and Cha Sweeney (Toldeo, Ohio-Rogers) each added 10 points, while Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) added seven points and grabbed seven boards. Fouty and Watkins combined for four blocks, three assists and two steals, while Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott) added six assists and five steals to go along with her nine points.

Eastern shot at a 33.9 clip, while Bowling Green used a 36.5 shooting percentage to propel it to victory. The Falcons were led by Jillian Halfhill who notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Alexis Rogers contributed a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and dished out seven assists. Although being out-rebounded, 51-34, EMU tied its season-best with five blocked shots and tallied 16 fastbreak points compared to BGSU's two.

The Eagles got off to a quick start when Thomas opened up the contest with a three-pointer, giving Eastern its first lead against Bowling Green since Mar. 12, 2011 at the 17:34 mark of the second half. A Fouty three from the top of the arc and a defensive rebound which resulted in a fastbreak jumper from the top of the key allowed Eastern to take the 8-2 lead over the Falcons, forcing Head Coach Jennifer Roos to call a timeout just two minutes into the game.

Bowling Green was unable to get into an offensive rhythm, missing a slew of shots and allowing EMU to extend its lead to 13-4 with just under 15 minutes to play in the first half. The Green and White's quick feet on defense continued to be a problem for BGSU when Thomas picked the ball off the dribble and scored a fastbreak layup for the Eagles before Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest (Seton Hall)) grabbed an offensive put-back, allowing Eastern to take a 19-8 lead into the second media timeout.

Eastern suffered a scoring setback of its own, not finding a basket for nearly six minutes until Sweeney swished a shot from downtown, but not before the Falcons went on a 7-0 run of their own to creep within six of EMU.

A three-pointer from Jasmine Matthews brought Bowling Green within one of the Green and White, 26-25, but a jumper from Sweeney on the Eagles next possession down the court increased the EMU lead to 28-25 heading into the final media timeout of the first 20 minutes of play.

Back-to-back shots from just inside the arc by Halfhill and a layup from Rogers handed BGSU its first lead of the half. A free throw by Sweeney broke up the Falcon run, but Halfhill added one final three to put Bowling Green up 34-29 to close out the first half.

Thomas led the Eastern offensive output notching seven points, while Sweeney tallied six points and Fouty added three. Watkins came out hot in the first half; grabbing a first half team-high six boards while adding four points, two assists, two blocks and one steal to her stat line.

Eastern shot at a 37.5 clip for the first half, while Bowling Green used a 37.1 shooting percentage to take the slight lead after 20 minutes of action. Halfhill led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, while Rogers added eight and Matthews notched six for the Falcons.

The start of the second half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team finding an edge over the other, allowing BGSU to keep a slight three-point lead over Eastern with 16:21 left to play in the contest.

A shot clock violation out of the media timeout to Bowling Green gave Eastern some momentum when a Fouty jumper made it a one-point game before the redshirt-junior found an offensive put-back, giving Eastern its first lead of the second half. BGSU answered back on its next trip down the court when Halfhill made a three while falling to the ground before back-to-back layups extended the Falcon lead to 46-40.

Fouty went on a six-point run of her own with under eight minutes to play but Bowling Green maintained a five-point advantage when Halfhill notched her seventh field goal of the day. A shot from beyond the arc by Morton brought the Eagles within four, while a Falcon miscue put the ball in the Green and White's hands. EMU was unable to capitalize on the turnover, missing two shots, but a foul charged to BGSU put Morton on the line.

Morton brought Eastern within two, draining both of her free throws, while a second shot clock violation by the Falcons gave the Eagles a chance to tie the game with 1:18 remaining in the contest. After a Tory Verdi timeout, the Green and White were once again unable to capitalize, while Rogers found a wide open layup on the opposite end of the floor, increasing the Falcon lead to four with less than a minute of action remaining.

Thomas made two key free throws for EMU in the final 20 seconds of the contest, but Bowling Green shut the door on the Eagle offense and took home the 61-56 victory.

The Eagles will be back in action Wednesday, Feb. 19, when they take on the University of Toledo inside the Convocation Center. Tip off for the MAC contest is slated for 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Olivia Fouty

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Desyree Thomas

Eastern Michigan Athletics