Eagles Break Five-Game Losing Skid with Win over Kent State

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team picked up its third Mid-American Conference victory as it took down Kent State University, 65-57, and broke through a five-game losing streak, Feb. 6 inside the Convocation Center. With the win, the Eagles improve to 13-8 overall and 3-7 in the MAC. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes fall to 4-17 overall and 1-9 in conference play.

Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) led the EMU offense as she notched 13 points on the night, seven of which came from the free throw line as the senior shot 7-for-10 the charity stripe. The South Euclid, Ohio native's seven free throws was one shy of her career-high as she also grabbed her third double-double of the 2013-14 season with a team-high 11 rebounds. Sara Stone (Plymouth, Mich.-Salem) and Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) contributed 12 points apiece and Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) pulled down five rebounds.

Eastern used a 33.8 shooting percentage en route to its third conference victory, as it forced 24 KSU miscues and grabbed 14 steals, while Kent State shot 50 percent from the floor, putting up just 44 shots the entire contest.

Montia Johnson was the high scorer for the Golden Flashes as she had 14 points on the night, while Ashley Evans added 11 and CiCi Shannon pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Eastern found the first points of the contest as Jamaica Bucknor (New Haven, Conn.-Weaver (ASA College)) made two shots from the charity stripe before Sweeney drained a three from the baseline to put the Eagles up by five. After four minutes of play, Kent State was able to light up the scoreboard for the first time as Rachel Mendelsohn made an easy jumper, but the Green and White responded immediately as Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) sank a three on the Eagles' next trip down the court.

The Golden Flashes were able to get a run going out of the first media timeout as they notched nine unanswered points to take their first lead of the contest, but a second Morton three-pointer quickly knotted the score at 11-11 with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The game continued to go back-and-forth between the two teams as neither could seem to grab an edge over the other. A Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott) steal allowed Sweeney to score a fastbreak layup to break the sixth tie of the half, but Kent State answered back on the opposite end of the court with a jumper of its own.

Eastern started to find its offensive groove as it started to capitalize on its patented quick tempo basketball after Sweeney sank two free throws with 3:20 left in the contest. Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest (Seton Hall)) notched her first points of the game off an easy layup in the paint before the Golden Flashes ended their two-minute scoring drought on a Johnson layup.

The Eagles continued to build on their lead as Morton netted her third trey of the contest and Sweeney sank her second set of free throws in a matter of minutes, extending the Green and White lead to 30-23. Kent State chipped away at the EMU lead as Evans capitalized on an Eastern foul before Janae Peterson scored a pair of buckets in the paint, closing the half on a 6-2 KSU run.

Eastern headed into the locker room after the first 20 minutes of play clinging to a 32-29 lead as the freshman duo of Sweeney and Morton led the offensive strike with nine points apiece, while Watkins notched a team-high four rebounds. The Eagles shot 35.5 percent from the floor, while Kent State went 12-for-20 from the floor.

Despite shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first half, Kent State was unable to do anything substantial on offense as Eastern forced 14 miscues and picked the Golden Flashes' pockets five times.

Less than 30 seconds into the second half, KSU knotted the score for the seventh time in the contest as the game continued to be a two-point contest until Sweeney and Fouty each notched fastbreak layups a minute apart from one another to give Eastern the 45-41 advantage with 9:48 left to play.

Eastern continued to pick up the tempo as Stone grabbed a rebound under the basket and made an easy layup before Watkins single handedly delivered the Eagles their biggest lead of the night, draining five-straight free throws after a foul and a technical foul following the play was called against Kent State.

Watkins was fouled for the third-straight time in a matter of two minutes as she made her sixth shot from the charity stripe, extending the Green and White lead to 53-41 with six minutes left in the second half.

After being held scoreless for six minutes, KSU found its first basket heading into the final media timeout and came within seven of Eastern when Johnson made a jumper in the paint following the break in action. Eastern shut down the Golden Flashes attack as Watkins notched her seventh free throw and Thomas scored the Eagles tenth fastbreak point of the contest, giving Eastern a 10-point lead with 3:34 left to play.

A three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining brought Kent State within six, but two makes from the free throw line from Fouty secured the 65-57 victory for Eastern.

The Eagles will back in action, Sunday, Feb. 9, when the team travels to Athens, Ohio, to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University in Mid-American Conference contest. Tip off from the Ohio Convocation Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Natachia Watkins

Sara Stone

Cha Sweeney

Janay Morton

Eastern Michigan Athletics