Sunday Battle at the Convo Between NIU and EMU

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SUNDAY BATTLE AT THE CONVO BETWEEN NIU AND EMU: With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team returns home Sunday, March 2, for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt against Northern Illinois University. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 15-11 (5-10 MAC) after a nine-point setback at Western Michigan University, Feb. 26. Meanwhile, the Huskies are 9-16 (5-10 MAC) following a 68-59 overtime victory against the University of Toledo, Feb. 27.
Veteran broadcasters Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM) beginning at 1:50 p.m. Live video and statistics of the game can also be found on EMUEagles.com.

ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Sunday's contest marks the 41st meeting between the Northern Illinois Huskies and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first played during the 1981-82 season. Eastern leads the overall series, 30-10, and has won 25 of the last 29 games over the Cardinal and Black.
However, NIU cruised to a 77-54 victory in the first meeting earlier this year in DeKalb, Ill. Jan. 12. The loss marked the first time the Eagles had fallen to the Huskies since Jan. 17, 2009, when EMU was defeated, 69-62, also at the NIU Convocation Center.
EMU has been dominant in Ypsilanti, as Northern Illinois' last win at the Convocation Center came 3,340 days ago, Jan. 8, 2005. In that contest, Mary Basic hit a game-winning three-pointer from the corner with 7.6 seconds left in the game to seal the 55-53 upset victory for the Huskies.

FRESHMAN SCORING QUEEN: On Feb. 26 at Western Michigan University, Cha Sweeney made a free throw with just 34 seconds left in the game to become the all-time freshman scoring leader in Eastern Michigan University women's basketball history. The Toledo, Ohio native passed the program's all-time points leader, Tavelyn James, who recorded 426 points during her 2008-09 freshman season. Sweeney finished with a career-best 33 points against the Broncos, and she now tops the freshman scoring list with 432 points and counting. She is now just the third EMU freshman to surpass the 400-point scoring margin as she joins James and Ryan Coleman on the coveted list. Furthermore, Sweeney now ranks 13th among first-year players in Mid-American Conference history. She is tied on the list with Miami's Kim Lancaster, Ball State's Tamara Bowie and Ohio's Rachel Frederick and needs just 19 points to crack the top 10.

THE COUNTDOWN IS NEARLY COMPLETE: Needing just four more points, senior Natachia Watkins is on the brink of becoming the newest member of the 1,000-point club at Eastern Michigan. She will become just the 18th Eagle in program history to reach the milestone scoring number. Watkins already became the 13th member of the 600 rebound club when she collected 12 boards at Ball State, Feb. 23.

MAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: With the 2014 MAC Basketball Tournament quickly approaching, 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. 9 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.

SHOOT IT!: Freshman Cha Sweeney dropped a career-best 33 points in the setback at Western Michigan, Feb. 26. Sweeney was 12-of-31 from the floor to go along with making 5-of-7 attempts from the free throw line in 35 minutes of work. Her 31 field goal attempts rank third-most in EMU single-game history, with only Tavelyn James having taken more shots. James was 14-for-32 in a 40-point performance during a win over Kent State, Feb. 11, 2012, and she went 10-for-32 during a 30-point effort against Toledo, Jan. 13, 2010.
Central Michigan's Crystal Bradfrord is the only other player in the MAC to also attempt 31 shots in a game this year. Bradford was 13-for-31 in a win over Ball State, Feb. 27.

LAST TIME VERSUS THE HUSKIES: Freshman Janay Morton led the entire EMU offense as she netted 13 points on the afternoon, while Cha Sweeney and Natachia Watkins each added 11 to the Eagle effort. Redshirt-junior Oliva Fouty was a force on the boards, grabbing nine defensive rebounds and one offensive rebound, while Watkins pulled down six 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 their second conference victory.

PASSING 2,000: Given their current place, the Eagles on Sunday versus Northern Illinois should pass the 2,000-point plateau for the eighth time in program history. EMU needs just 12 points to reach 2,000.

WATKINS APPROACHING SOME RAREFIED COMPANY: Senior Natachia Waktins continues to accumulate statistics that will place her among some elite company when her playing days are complete. The South Euclid, Ohio native has racked up 996 points, 615 rebounds, 174 steals and 144 assists in 109 career games. Watkins needs four points to become the fifth player in Eastern Michigan history to record more than 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 150 assists and 125 steals. The others to reach the rarefied total include: Ryan Coleman (1,793/747/376/265), Cassie Schrock (1,506/761/537/224), Stephanie Smiley (1401/784/577/243) and Sarah VanMetre (1,361/770/166/145).

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 fifth in the MAC, averaging a team-best 16.6 points a game while ranking 10th in steals (1.8), 11th in three-pointers made (1.7), 13th in assists (2.9) and 14th in free throw percentage (74.0). Meanwhile, Morton cracks the rankings in three-pointers made (3rd - 2.2), free-throw percentage (10th - 77.6) and scoring (15th - 13.6 ppg). No EMU student-athlete has won the award since Alyssa Pittman claimed the honor following the 2006-07 campaign.

DOUBLE VISION: In just 26 games during her brief career, freshman Cha Sweeney has reached double figures in points on 23 occasions. The Toledo, Ohio, native has scored 20 or more in eight of those contests. Sweeney has notched at least 10 points in each of the last 16 games, as Monmouth was the last team to hold her in check with just four points, Dec. 11, 2013.

MORTON LOOKS TO GET BACK ON TRACK: Freshman Janay Morton is looking to regain her shooter's touch; over the past three games she is a combined 3-for-26 from the field. Against Toledo, the Brooklyn Park, Minn. native was 1-of-12 and has followed it up with back-to-back 1-for-7 performances at Ball State, Feb. 23, and Western Michigan, Feb. 26.

IN THE CLUTCH: The Eagles have been solid this season as the clock has headed under five minutes to play in games. Eastern Michigan is 13-0 when leading as the clock gets below five minutes, while picking up a victory at Ball State, Feb. 23, when the teams were tied.
In the last five minutes of action, the Eagles have made 74.8 percent (98-of-131) of its free throw attempts. Freshman Cha Sweeney has been called upon the most in clutch situations, going 28-of-34 from the charity stripe during this span. Most recently, Sweeney rolled in 14 points in the final five minutes at Western Michigan, Feb. 26. Freshman Janay Morton has also made just as much of an impact, making 9-of-16 three-point attempts, including a triple to force overtime against Butler, Nov. 13.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE: In the first meeting of the year against Ball State, Jan. 9, the Cardinals escaped with a 70-66 victory after out-rebounding the Eagles by 11 (40 to 51). The second meeting featured the Eagles holding a slim one carom edge on the glass (41 to 40) and a two-point margin in the scorebook with the 62-60 victory. Additionally, BSU combined to go to the free throw line 32 more times (54 to 22) than EMU.

THREE-BALLS, TRIPLES OR TRI-LIGHTERS: No matter what you call it, the three-point shot has proven to be either a hindrance or a help to the Eagles in 2013-14. Eastern Michigan has notched a 7-3 record when it connects on eight-or-more threes in a contest, and conversely just 8-8 when it does not. When the three pointers are falling, the offense is clicking to the tune of 85.8 points per game and a 32.3 percent (92-of-285) clip. However, when struggling from long range, Eastern is only averaging 71.7 points per contest and a dismal 26.2 percent (89-of-340) from the long line.

FOR THREE!: The Eagles are on a torrid pace from the outside this season. EMU has already posted 625 three-point attempts in 2013-14, making 181 of them. The Green and White tossed out a season-high 37 three-point tries against UMKC, Dec. 7, the second-most in program history. EMU is on pace for 721 attempts, which would shatter the single-season record of 630 set during the 1999-2000 campaign. Last season, EMU made 98 of its 358 three-point attempts.

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 26 games, the newcomers have combined for 54.5 percent (1,084 points) of the squad's offense.

TOP FRESHMEN SCORERS: Cha Sweeney is one of just 16 freshmen ranked nationally in the NCAA's top 250 scorers. The first-year players include: Chrishae Rowe, Oregon (21.8), Kelsey Plum, Washington (20.8), Raven Bankston, Delaware St. (20.4), Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton (18.9), Sara Dickey, Evansville (18.3), Kaela Davis, Georgia Tech (18.3), Diamond DeShields, North Carolina (17.7), Jasmine Nwajei, Wagner (17.7), Kaylah Keys, High Point (17.6), Larryn Brooks, Indiana (16.6), Sweeney (16.6), Nia Coffey, Northwestern (15.5), Erica Williams, Winthrop (15.4), Amanda Zahui B., Minnesota (15.0), Lizzy Wendell, Drake (14.9) and Allisha Gray, North Carolina (14.7)

HANGING TIGHT IN THE TOP 40: The Eagles continue to rank inside the top-40 nationally in five different categories. Eastern Michigan is ranked fifth in turnover margin, seventh in steals, 32nd in fewest turnovers, 37th in assist-to-turnover and 37th in scoring offense.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 15 victories this season, EMU has scored 82.7 points while the opposition has posted 63.3 points. In those games, opponents shot 37.4 percent from the field compared to 41.5 percent for the Eagles. In the defeats, the Eagles have only posted 67.9 points, while giving up 78.8. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 46.5 rebounds in the wins while forcing opponents to turn the ball over 23 times. In the losses, the Green and White are -13.0 on the glass (39.1 to 52.1).

SEEKING 20/20 VISION: One of Head Coach Tory Verdi's goals with the team's uptempo offense is to create more possessions and to put up 20-or-more shots than the opposition. The Eagles have accomplished that feat on five occasions, including taking a season-best 33 more shots than Marygrove, Nov. 30. The Eagles have been close to the goal in four other games, most recently taking 19 more field goal attempts than Western Michigan, Feb. 26.

JUST ONE HOME GAME REMAINS: The Eagles will hit the Convocation Center floor just once more in the 2013-14 regular season. The Green and White take on Central Michigan, March 8, in a Senior Day affair.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK: Eastern has forced opponents to turn the ball over 196 more times (542 to 346) for a turnover margin of +7.5. If this stands, EMU will shatter its previous best of +6.00 during the 2011-12 campaign.

ROCKETS ON THE HORIZON: The Wednesday, March 5, contest marks the 72nd meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 44-27, including posting an 80-73 win in the earlier meeting this year at the Convocation Center, Feb. 19. Last season, UT notched a 56-40 victory in Ypsilanti, Jan. 16, 2013, before closing with a 48-38 win back in the Glass City, March 3, 2013.
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.

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