Eagles Look to Sweep Season Series Versus Golden Flashes

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EAGLES LOOK TO SWEEP SEASON SERIES VERSUS GOLDEN FLASHES: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team hosts Kent State University Thursday, Feb. 6, in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional tilt. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:06 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 12-8 (2-7 MAC) record, after a 71-65 setback to Miami University, Feb. 2. The Golden Flashes are 4-16 (1-8 MAC) on the season coming off their first conference victory, 60-57, over Ball State University, Feb. 2.
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. The game will also be televised on Time Warner Cable. Mike Cairns will provided the play-by play while Jackie Windon will serve as the game's analyst.

ALL-TIME AGAINST KENT STATE: The Feb. 6 contest marks the 57th meeting between the Kent State Golden Flashes and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first met during the 1980-81 season. Kent State leads the series, 34-22, including winning 24 of the last 36 meetings between the two schools.
However, EMU is currently riding a program-best six-game winning streak in the series. The Green and White downed the Golden Flashes, 88-70, earlier this season, Jan. 4, in the conference opener for both teams.

CHA CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Leading the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game, freshman Cha Sweeney is making her mark in her first season as an Eagle. With 320 points thus far in 2013-14, the EMU guard is ranked eighth in the EMU record books for most points scored by a freshman. She is just 15 points away from surpassing Nikki Knapp for seventh on the all-time list, while only 17 from Sarah Van Metre's mark of 337 points. The two Eagles recorded their totals in back-to-back seasons as Knapp tallied 334 points in the 2002-03 season and Van Metre notched her freshman points during the 2003-04 campaign.
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 16.0 points per game for the rest of the season, the Toledo, Ohio native will have at least 480 points by season's end, flying past the record-setting mark set by James.

ROLLING THROUGH THE EAST: The Green and White are currently on a four-game trek through the Mid-American Conference's East Division. Eastern hosted Miami on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2, and will remain at home for the matchup against the Golden Flashes, Feb. 6. Three days later, the Eagles hit the road to battle the Bobcats of Ohio University, Feb. 9, for a Sunday matinee beginning at 2 p.m. Head Coach Tory Verdi and his team will close out MAC East slate, entertaining the Bowling Green State University Falcons, Feb. 15, at 4:30 p.m. as part of an EMU basketball doubleheader.

MAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: With the 2014 MAC Basketball Tournament just over 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. 11 seed for the tournament, traveling to No. 6-seeded Toledo for a first round contest set to take place March 10. For a complete MAC Tournament outlook, please check page 14 of these notes.

TOP OF THE MAC: Although the Eagles have seen their struggles on finding wins in league play this season, the team remains at the top of the MAC in four statistical categories, while Kent State has been unable to climb the charts in league standings. The Green and White sit atop the list in rebounding offense (45.6 per game), steals (12.1 per game), turnover margin (+8.3) and offensive rebounds per game (17.6).
Although KSU has had a hard time putting big numbers on the board, the team can certainly block shots. The Golden Flashes rank second in the league as they post 3.7 blocks per game, trailing only the University at Buffalo, who averages 4.7 each game.

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 20 games, the newcomers have combined for 56.9 percent (906 points) of the squad's offense.
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 seventh in the MAC averaging a team-best 16.0 points a game and 2.0 steals per game while ranking ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). Meanwhile, Morton cracks the rankings in three-pointers made (3rd - 2.3), scoring (8th - 14.9 ppg), free-throw percentage (14th - 75.9) and steals (14th - 1.6 spg).
No EMU student-athlete has won the award since Alyssa Pittman claimed the honor following the 2006-07 campaign.

TOP FRESHMEN SCORERS: Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton are two of just 18 freshmen ranked nationally in the NCAA's top 250 scorers. The first-year players include: Chrishae Rowe, Oregon (22.3), Kelsey Plum, Washington (19.8), Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton (19.4), Raven Bankston, Delaware St. (18.9), Sara Dickey, Evansville (18.3), Kaela Davis, Georgia Tech (18.2), Kaylah Keys, High Point (17.2), Larryn Brooks, Indiana (16.8), Jessica Jackson, Arkansas (16.8), Diamond DeShields, North Carolina (16.6), Sweeney (16.0), Jasmine Nwajei, Wagner (15.7), Fanni Szabo, Dartmouth (15.5), Nia Coffey, Northwestern (15.4), Erica Williams, Winthrop (15.4), Morton (14.9), Natalie Butler, Georgetown (14.8) and Amanda Zahui B., Minnesota (14.7).

TOO SHORT?: Standing at just 5-foot-2, Cha Sweeney might have been labeled coming out of high school as someone too short to play Division I basketball. The Toledo, Ohio product has so far proved those critics wrong, as she ranks 158th nationally in scoring and is the shortest player ranked nationally inside the top 250 scorers.
Sweeney joins Longwood's Daeisha Brown (16.4 ppg), Ole Miss' Valencia McFarland (16.3 ppg) and Nicholls State's Emani White (18.7 ppg) as the only four players nationwide to average 15-or-more points a contest and be 5-foot-4 or shorter.

LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK: After a stellar non-conference start to the season, the Eagles have found the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule to be much more frustrating. EMU has dropped seven of its first nine league affairs and has seen its offensive numbers change dramatically. The Green and White's point production has slowed by more than 15 points per contests (86.4 to 71.3), while giving up nearly 13 more a game (65.4 to 78.1). Rebounding has also been a concern, as opponents are grabbing nearly 10 rebounds more a contest than the Eagles in MAC play.

REBOUNDING WOES: Heading into the season the Eagles knew they might be at a disadvantage on the glass with just one Eagle tipping the 6-foot mark. Despite the size differential, Eastern continues to lead the Mid-American Conference in rebounding offense with 45.5 caroms per contest. However, the Green and White have been out-rebounded by more than 13 boards a game during the current five-game losing skid. In the setback to Akron, Jan. 24, the Zips dominated the glass with 65 rebounds including 22 by reigning MAC Player of the Year Rachel Tecca.

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 28.4 percent of the team's rebounds and 34.7 percent of its offense.

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 four occasions, including taking a season-best 33 more shots than Marygrove, Nov. 30. The Eagles have been close to the goal in three other games, most recently taking 18 more field goal attempts than Buffalo, Jan. 18.

WATKINS BECOMES PART OF THE 900 CLUB: Senior Natachia Watkins notched her 903rd career point Thursday, Jan. 23 at Bowling Green State University. Watkins currently ranks 20th all-time in EMU laurels.

STOP, THIEF!: With her three steals at Buffalo, Jan. 18, senior Desyree Thomas became the EMU all-time leader in steals in a career with 267. Thomas passed Ryan Coleman's previous standard of 265 swipes which has stood since the 2006 campaign. The Mid-American Conference's active leader in steals, Thomas, ranks eighth nationally among current players in steals. Overall, Thomas' total ranks 15th in league history. Toledo's Kim Knuth (1995-99) holds the MAC standard with 368 steals.

'GET A T-O BABY!': Unlike Dick Vitale's famous catchphrase where he lets coaches know they need a timeout during ESPN broadcasts, EMU Head Coach Tory Verdi and his team need to force more turnovers than they give away; so far this season, the Eagles have done a great job buying into this system. EMU has had fewer turnovers than its opposition in 19 of its 20 games this season. The only time Eastern coughed up the basketball more than its competition was in a setback to Northern Illinois, Jan. 12. Moreover, the Green and White has forced 30 or more turnovers three times throughout the 2013-14 campaign in wins versus Marygrove (Nov. 30), Wagner (Dec. 21) and Monmouth (Dec. 22).

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Eagles have won 45 of the last 67 home games dating back to the 2008-09 campaign. Eastern Michigan has racked up a solid home court advantage inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center since the doors opened during the 1998-99 campaign. The Green and White has won 67.8 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 139-66 all-time mark.

LAST TIME WE MET, ONE MONTH AGO: Four Eagles scored in double figures as the EMU women's basketball team defeated Kent State University, 88-70, Jan. 4, in the Mid-American Conference opener at the M.A.C. Center.
The Green and White were led by freshman Janay Morton, who scored 21 points for the Eagles and grabbed three steals in the win. Classmate Cha Sweeney followed closely behind with 19 points, five assists, and three steals. Two other Eagles landed in double-digit figures as senior Desyree Thomas contributed 15 while dishing out a game-high five assists and grabbing four steals, while senior Natachia Watkins added 10 points. Redshirt-junior Olivia Fouty 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.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 12 victories this season, EMU has scored 87.2 points while the opposition has posted 64.8 points. In those games, opponents shot 36.8 percent from the field compared to 41.8 percent for the Eagles. In the defeats, the Eagles have only posted 68.7 points, while giving up 82.0 Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 48.8 rebounds in the wins while forcing opponents to turn the ball over 23.8 times. In the losses, the Green and White are -11.3 on the glass (41.1 to 52.4).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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