Women's Hoops Suffers Overtime Loss to Hot-Shooting Huskies

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Eastern Michigan University's women's basketball team could not overcome a hot-shooting Northern Illinois University team, suffering an 81-76 overtime setback to the Huskies in a Mid-American Conference Tournament Presented by Barbasol first round contest at the Convocation Center.

In the history of the MAC Tournament, there have been just 11 overtime matchups with the most recent taking place in 2008. EMU has been involved in three of those extra time games, both times previously against Kent State University, and dropped all three contests.

The breakout performance from NIU's Alexis Lindstrom, who hit a Mid-American Conference Tournament record nine three-point field goals, to lead the team with 31 points. The Huskies advance to Cleveland, Ohio for the second round of the conference tournament and will play No. 5 Ball State University.

The Green and White was led by Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers), who was one point off her career-high with 26 points. The freshman tied her career-best in three-pointers, hitting four shots from the outside. Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest (Seton Hall)) recorded a career-high scoring night, putting up 17 points. Ending her EMU career with one final double-double, Natachia Watkins (South Euclid, Ohio-Brush) chipped in 15 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with four steals.

The Eagles shot 45.9 percent from the field on 28-of-61 shots and exhibited stealthy hands as the Green and White stole the ball 15 times from the Huskies. However, NIU used hot shooting backed by a 30-of-56 (53.6 percent) field effort, including 11-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Huskies also showed aggression on the defensive end with five blocks, paced by Natecia Augusta.

NIU sank its first shot of the evening when Amanda Corral nailed a three-pointer to give the Huskies a quick 3-0 lead. A pair of turnovers allowed NIU to put up four more points, but the Eagles relied on a handful of mid-range jumpers to stay in the game with help from Sweeney and Sara Stone (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth), trailing 7-4 just three minutes into the contest.

The Green and White chipped away at the score when a put-back from Olivia Fouty (Toledo, Ohio-Sylvania Northview) got the squad within one point, and a pair of free throws by Heady later tied up the game at 10 points apiece. From there, the two squads traded blows with the Huskies taking most of their shots from the perimeter and the Eagles turning to Stone, Heady, and Watkins for an inside-driven series of plays.

The Eagles took a one-point lead as Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park,Minn.-Osseo) found Watkins in one of her favorite spots just inside the arc on the right sideline, as the senior swished one through to bring the Eagles to a 22-21 edge with 10:23 remaining. A steal from Stone passed off to Desyree Thomas (Waterford, Mich.-Mott) ended up entrusted to Sweeney, who proved to be effective from three-point range to put the Green and White up by four points. Though NIU's Lindstrom answered back with her own triple from the top of the arc, Sweeney returned the favor with a second consecutive triple to put the squad up 28-24 with eight minutes to play.

Northern Illinois rallied back to tie up the game at 30-30 following another Lindstrom three and a bunny from Ally Lehman. The Eagles got back on track with a steal that led to a fastbreak layup by Watkins. It seemed that the Huskies had broken their groove in three-point shooting, as they had made four triples on as many attempts before Lindstrom missed the mark on her third attempt by a considerable distance, but the sophomore knotted up the score once more with a trey that just beat the shot clock.

Tied up at 33-33 with 3:26 remaining, both teams took the floor following a timeout. The pause for deliberation proved to be effective as Heady weaved her way through the defense for a shot in the low post, once again giving the lead to the Green and White. The lead was extended to five points when Sweeney stepped back to hit her third trey of the matchup. Not wanting to lose her title as the sharpshooter of the game, Lindstrom reciprocated with her fourth three-pointer to bring the Huskies within two points, sending the Eagles off the floor at the half with a 38-36 lead.

In the first 20 minutes of play, the Eagles were led by Sweeney, who put up 13 points and snatched two steals. Also notching a pair of swipes were Stone and Morton. Heady and Watkins were close to eclipsing the double digit mark with nine and eight points, respectively, while Watkins led the team in rebounding with three caroms. The team was privy to some hot shooting, going 14-of-24 from the field for 58.3 percent and 60 percent from three-point range (3-of-5). However, the Huskies shot 14-of-23 for a 60.9 percent clip and a scorching 6-of-7 on triples (85.7 percent), led by Lindstrom's 14-point effort.

Heady notched the first four points of the second half with a pair of free throws and a sideline jumper dished out off a steal from Thomas. The Eagles extended their run to six points with a quick handoff to Watkins from mid-range before NIU recorded its first second half points from a layup by Augusta, trailing 44-38 behind the Green and White in the first three minutes of second period action.

After remaining silent to start the half, Sweeney knocked down two jumpers to put the team up 48-40. The eight-point advantage was short-lived, as Lindstrom drained back-to-back three-pointers to cut the NIU deficit to just two points, and a shot under the rim from Augusta equalized the score at 51-51.

Neither team was able to convert on an attempt to take the lead for over two minutes, but Thomas rose to the occasion, driving the baseline to throw up a shot that gingerly made its way through the hoop. The lead would flop once more; however, as Augusta utilized her size to draw the foul and convert on the extra shot after a layup, giving the Huskies a 54-53 advantage. NIU continued to string together its largest run of the night, putting up eight straight to hold a 59-53 edge. Heady hit a turnaround hook-shot and made a drive through the paint, after which Sweeney zipped past defenders on a fastbreak layup.

Sent to the line for a one-and-one opportunity, Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) hit her first shot from the charity stripe to bring the Green and White within two points, still down 62-60. After Augusta put in a shot off the glass to allow the Huskies to pull away from the Eagles once more, Sweeney took her first three-point attempt of the half, which sailed through the net to get the team within one point.

After tying up the contest off a Morton free throw, the two teams traded blows until the score reached 68-68. With four seconds on the clock, Watkins came away with a steal to prevent the Huskies from taking the game, sending the Eagles into their second overtime in a three-day period.

Lindstrom put on a one-woman show in the overtime period, hitting back-to-back threes and stepping inside the arc to hit a jumper, scoring the entirety of the Huskies' points in the first three minutes. With efforts from Watkins, Morton, and Thomas, the Green and White was able to keep within three points, trailing 77-74 with 1:17 remaining.

Forced into fouling to extend the time of play, the Green and White ended up on the wrong end of the score as the clock wound down, dropping the contest 81-76. With the loss, the 2013-14 campaign has come to an end with a 17-13 (6-12 MAC) record, while also marking the end of four stellar careers in Fouty, Stone, Thomas, and Watkins.

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Team Stats

Cha Sweeney

Shannise Heady

Natachia Watkins

Janay Morton

Eastern Michigan Athletics