Eastern Renews the Rivalry with Toledo Wednesday

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EASTERN RENEWS THE RIVALRY WITH TOLEDO WEDNESDAY: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team welcomes the University of Toledo to the Convocation Center Wednesday, Feb. 19, for a Mid-American Conference West Division contest. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:04 p.m.
Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 14-9 (4-8 MAC) record, after being tripped up at home by Bowling Green State University, 61-56, Feb. 15. The Rockets are 12-11 (7-5 MAC) on the season following a 62-58 home triumph over Ohio University, Feb. 15.
Veteran broadcasters Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM) beginning at 6:50 p.m. Live video and statistics of the game can also be found on EMUEagles.com.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TOLEDO: The Feb. 19 contest marks the 71st meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-1978 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 43-27, including winning both meetings last season. UT notched a 56-40 victory in Ypsilanti, Jan. 16, before closing with a 48-38 win back in the Glass City, March 3.
EMU's last victory in the series occurred March 9, 2012, when the Eagles notched a 59-57 win in the semifinal round of the 2012 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Toledo led by 10 points with 7:45 to play in the game, but the Eagles finished the contest on an 18-6 run. Paige Redditt notched the game-winning layup and added a free throw with less than 30 seconds left, as EMU would go on to upend Central Michigan the next day for the NCAA Tournament berth.

CLOSE BUT NOT QUITE: Central Michigan and Bowling Green have proved so far to be the class of the Mid-American Conference since moving into conference play. The Eagles showed they were able to hang with both programs, holding 13-point first half leads against both opponents.
Eastern Michigan led the Chippewas by a score of 16-3 early in the Jan. 30 contest at McGuirk Arena. CMU would eventually take the contest by a score of 82-67. The Eagles also raced out to a quick 21-8 edge to begin the Feb. 15 contest against Bowling Green; however, EMU was unable to hold on as the Falcons claimed a 61-56 victory at the Convocation Center.

OFFENSE LOOKING TO BLAST OFF AGAINST TOLEDO: The Eagles' offense was limited to a combined 78 points last season versus Toledo, while the Rockets were only able to muster 104 points in the two contests against Eastern Michigan. The Green and White have significantly improved its offense in just one year, having scored at least 78 points in 11 games this season.

HANGING TIGHT IN THE TOP 40: The Eagles continue to rank inside the top-40 nationally in five different categories. Eastern Michigan is ranked fourth in turnover margin, sixth in steals, 32nd in fewest turnovers, 35th in assist-to-turnover and 35th in scoring offense.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: For the sixth consecutive year, the Eagles have had their starting point guard distribute at least 100 assists in a season. Desyree Thomas dished out six helpers against Bowling Green, Feb. 15, to pass the mark for the third consecutive time after posting 135 last year and 174 in 2011-12.

CHA CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Leading the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game, freshman Cha Sweeney is making her mark in her first season as an Eagle. With 361 points thus far in 2013-14, the EMU guard is ranked fourth in the EMU record books for most points scored by a freshman. She is just 33 points away from surpassing Holly Mitchell for third on the all-time list.
EMU great Tavelyn James scored 426 points throughout the 2008-09 season to top that freshman scoring chart. However, at her current pace, Sweeney will de-throne James' freshman total. If she remains averaging 15.7 points per game for the rest of the season, the Toledo, Ohio native will have at least 470 points by season's end, flying past the record-setting mark put up by James.

MAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES: Freshmen Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton are both making a strong candidacy for the MAC Freshman of the Year award. The two are the only freshmen ranked inside the league's top-20 in scoring; Sweeney is sixth in the MAC, averaging a team-best 15.7 points a game while ranking ninth in both steals (1.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) . Meanwhile, Morton cracks the rankings in three-pointers made (3rd - 2.3), scoring (8th - 14.5 ppg), and free-throw percentage (12th - 77.1). No EMU student-athlete has won the award since Alyssa Pittman claimed the honor following the 2006-07 campaign.
JUST TWO HOME GAMES REMAIN: Following Wednesday's game against Toledo, the Eagles will hit the Convocation Center floor just twice more in the 2013-14 regular season. The Green and White host Northern Illinois, March 2, before taking on Central Michigan, March 8, in a senior day affair.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Senior Natachia Watkins has scored 958 points in her career and is 20th all time for EMU. There are currently 17 players in the 1,000-point club for EMU women's basketball.

NORTHWEST OHIO COMES TO YPSI: Eastern Michigan has long had a history of pulling student-athletes from Northwest Ohio, but Head Coach Tory Verdi has taken it to a whole new level. The Eagles feature three products from the Toledo area including Olivia Fouty (Sylvania Northview), KaBria Walker (Toledo Rogers) and Cha Sweeney (Toledo Rogers). The three have combined for 28.6 percent of the team's rebounds and 35.3 percent of its offense.

TOP FRESHMEN SCORERS: Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton are two of just 15 freshmen ranked nationally in the NCAA's top 250 scorers. The first-year players include: Chrishae Rowe, Oregon (23.0), Kelsey Plum, Washington (19.7), Sara Dickey, Evansville (18.2), Kaela Davis, Georgia Tech (18.0), Larryn Brooks, Indiana (17.0), Kaylah Keys, High Point (16.9), Diamond DeShields, North Carolina (16.8), Jasmine Nwajei, Wagner (16.5), Sweeney (15.7), Fanni Szabo, Dartmouth (15.4), Erica Williams, Winthrop (15.3), Amanda Zahui B., Minnesota (15.0), Nia Coffey, Northwestern (14.9), Tiasha Gray, Austin Peay (14.8) and Morton (14.5)

YOUTH BEING SERVED: Heading into the 2013-14 campaign, Head Coach Tory Verdi knew he would be leading a very young team this season as the Eagles welcomed eight newcomers to the roster. In 23 games, the newcomers have combined for 54.9 percent (979 points) of the squad's offense.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK: Eastern has forced opponents to turn the ball over 184 more times (493 to 309) for a turnover margin of +8.0. If this stands, EMU will have shattered its previous best of +6.00 during the 2011-12 campaign.

BACK ON DEFENSE: In wins over Kent State, Feb. 6, and Ohio, Feb. 9, the Eagles got back to their defensive roots limiting opponents to an average of just 56.0 points per game. EMU also was able to create 43 turnovers while staying close to even on the glass (35.0 to 36.0).
The 55-point output by Ohio, Feb. 9, was the fewest points the Eagles had allowed since Dec. 22, 2013, against Monmouth. Meanwhile, the Kent State game marked the first time in Mid-American Conference play that the Eagles had gone to the free throw line more than the opposition.

MAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: With the 2014 MAC Basketball Tournament less than a month away, it is time to gaze into the crystal ball to see where the Eagles could possibly end up to begin conference tournament play. If the regular season ended today, Eastern would be the No. 9 seed for the tournament, traveling to No. 8-seeded Northern Illinois for a first round contest set to take place March 10. For a complete MAC Tournament outlook, please check page 14 of these notes.

LAST TIME WE MET: EMU dropped a 48-38 road decision to the University of Toledo, March 3, 2013, inside Savage Arena. The Eagles limited the Rockets to just 26.2 percent (16-of-61) shooting, their second-lowest effort in 2012-13, but Toledo held EMU to just 17 field goals and three free throws in the low-scoring affair .
Both teams entered the game on winning streaks -- EMU had won two in a row, UT 13 in a row -- but it was the Rockets who kept theirs alive as they picked up their second straight win over EMU. Additionally, the Rockets secured the outright MAC West Division title and locked up the league's regular-season crown with the 10-point victory.
The Rockets entered the game averaging 67.2 points per game and shooting 42.2 percent from the field. Against an EMU defense that entered the game allowing 62.7 points per game and a 40.9 percent opponent field goal percentage, Toledo's offense managed to operate below its average game to become just the fourth team all season to score in the 40s versus EMU.
The Rockets did most of their damage at the free throw line, making 11-of-20 attempts. While UT struggled to hold the ball with 15 turnovers, Toledo had a 57 to 41 edge on the glass. Overall, Eastern Michigan turnovers led to a 9-7 advantage in points off turnovers by Toledo.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 14 victories this season, EMU has scored 84.2 points while the opposition has posted 63.5 points. In those games, opponents shot 37.6 percent from the field compared to 41.4 percent for the Eagles. In the defeats, the Eagles have only posted 66.9 points, while giving up 74.8. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 46.9 rebounds in the wins while forcing opponents to turn the ball over 23 times. In the losses, the Green and White are -12.3 on the glass (39.8 to 52.1).

BALL STATE ON THE HORIZON: The Sunday, Feb. 23 contest marks the 67th meeting between the Ball State Cardinals and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first played during the 1979-80 season. Eastern Michigan leads the series, 36-31, but BSU has gotten the better of the Eagles the last three times.
The last time the teams met in Muncie, the Cardinals walked way with a with a 56-34 win at Worthen Arena, Feb. 20, 2013. The Eagles' 34 point output is the lowest in the program's 38-year history.

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