Eagles Hit the Road for the Final Time in the Regular Season

EAGLES HIT THE ROAD FOR FINAL TIME IN THE REGULAR SEASON: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team makes the short trek down US-23 Wednesday evening, March 5, for a Mid-American Conference tilt versus the University of Toledo. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Savage Arena.
The Eagles enter the game with a mark of 16-11 (6-10 MAC) after a stifling defensive performance in a nine-point victory over Northern Illinois University, March 2. Meanwhile, the Rockets are 13-14 (8-8 MAC) following an 80-77 overtime loss at home to Central Michigan University, March 2.
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 UTRockets.com.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TOLEDO: Wednesday's 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.

WATKINS' COUNTDOWN COMPLETE: During the opening moments of the March 2 contest against Northern Illinois, senior Natachia Watkins became the newest member of the 1,000-point club at Eastern Michigan. She is 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. 8 seed for the tournament, hosting 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.
EMU can lock up the first round home game with a win at Toledo along with an NIU loss at Ball State.

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. She is just the third EMU freshman to surpass the 400-point scoring margin as she joins James and Ryan Coleman on the coveted list.
Sweeney now ranks 11th among first-year players in Mid-American Conference history with 445 points. At her current pace of 16.5 points a game, she could still surpass Casey Rost, WMU (450), Crystal Bradford, CMU (455), Jackie Motycka, BGSU (472) and Caroline Mast, Ohio (488) for seventh place.

EMU OUT TO COMPLETE THE MICHIGAN SWEEP: Having lost back-to-back home games to Central Michigan (Feb. 23) and Western Michigan (March 2), the Rockets will try to avoid the Michigan trifecta Wednesday night against EMU. The Midnight Blue and Gold have not lost three consecutive games inside Savage Arena since the 2007-08 campaign when Toledo fell to Bowling Green (Feb. 2 - L, 41-71), Miami (Feb. 16 - L, 60-76) and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 27 - L, 57-58).

ALLOWING 50 OR LESS: Eastern Michigan is 99-1 all-time when allowing 50 points-or-less. Since 2003-04, the Green and White has accomplished the feat 55 times with 29 of those coming against Mid-American Conference foes. The only loss came against Toledo last season in a 48-38 defeat, March 3, 2013.

PASSING 2,000: Against Northern Illinois, March 2, the Eagles passed the 2,000-point plateau for the eighth time in program history.

WATKINS PART OF 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 1,004 points, 616 rebounds, 174 steals and 144 assists in 110 career games. Against Northern Illinois, March 2, she became 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 seventh in the MAC, averaging a team-best 16.5 points a game while ranking 10th in steals (1.7), 11th in three-pointers made (1.7), 13th in assists (2.9) and 14th in free throw percentage (72.7). 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 27 games during her brief career, freshman Cha Sweeney has reached double figures in points on 24 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 17 games, as Monmouth was the last team to hold her in check with just four points, Dec. 11, 2013.

LAST TIME VERSUS THE ROCKETS: EMU could not overcome an early deficit, falling to the University of Toledo, 80-73, in a Mid-American Conference contest at the Convocation Center, Feb. 19. Eastern was led in scoring by Natachia Watkins and Cha Sweeney, who netted 18 points apiece. Desyree Thomas also led the team with seven assists.
As a team, the Eagles went 27-of-74 (36.5 percent) from the field and went 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) on threes. Toledo got the best of the Eagles on the boards (50-36), but EMU made up for it topping the Rockets in steals (6-2), blocks (4-1), and assists (15-13). Toledo also committed more turnovers with 13 to the Green and White's seven.

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 28.8 percent of the team's rebounds and 36.9 percent of its offense.

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.

THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF TELEVISION: Wednesday's contest will be shown regionally on the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) with Mason Lowry providing the play-by-play and Rhett Boyd serving as the analyst. EMU has posted a record of 3-1 this season on the small screen.

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 (21.7), Raven Bankston, Delaware St. (21.0), Kelsey Plum, Washington (20.9), Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton (19.1), Kaela Davis, Georgia Tech (18.4), Sara Dickey, Evansville (18.2), Jasmine Nwajei, Wagner (18.0), Kaylah Keys, High Point (17.9), Diamond DeShields, North Carolina (17.7), Sweeney (16.5), Jessica Jackson, Arkansas (16.0), Larryn Brooks, Indiana (15.9), Lizzy Wendell, Drake (15.7), Erica Williams, Winthrop (15.4), Nia Coffey, Northwestern (15.2) and Amanda Zahui B., Minnesota (15.1).

HANGING TIGHT IN THE TOP 40: The Eagles continue to rank inside the top-40 nationally in four different categories. Eastern Michigan is ranked fifth in turnover margin, seventh in steals, 32nd in fewest turnovers and 39th in assist-to-turnover.

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).

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 14-0 when leading 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 74.3 percent (104-of-140) 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. 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.

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 9-8 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 25.8 percent (90-of-349) from the long line.

FOR THREE!: The Eagles are on a torrid pace from the outside this season. EMU has already posted 634 three-point attempts in 2013-14, making 182 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 and has already shattered the single-season record of 630 set during the 1999-2000 campaign.

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 27 games, the newcomers have combined for 54.4 percent (1,112 points) of the squad's 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 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. Prior to the game, seniors Olivia Fouty, Sara Stone, Desyree Thomas, Natachia Watkins and student manager BJ Jackson will be honored.

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.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK: Eastern has forced opponents to turn the ball over 207 more times (562 to 355) for a turnover margin of +7.7. If this stands, EMU will shatter its previous best of +6.00 during the 2011-12 campaign.

LIMITING CHANCES: The Eagles committed a season-low seven turnovers in the contest against Toledo, Feb. 19. EMU has produced six games this season that it has turned the ball over less than 10 times.

CHIPPEWAS ON THE HORIZON: The Saturday, March 8, contest marks the 74th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 41-32, but EMU has won 19 of the last 28 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign.
Central Michigan got the better of EMU with a 82-67 victory in Mount Pleasant, Jan. 30. Freshmen Janay Morton and Cha Sweeney led all scorers with 26 points apiece. The freshmen duo combined for 77.6 percent of the Green and White's total points, while Natachia Watkins contributed seven points to the Eagle effort and Olivia Fouty dropped in five. Watkins pulled down a team-high and matched a career-high 15 rebounds on the night, while Morton grabbed six for EMU.
Eastern went 26-for-82 from the floor for a 31.7 shooting percentage, while Central used just a 37.2 shooting percentage to propel them to victory. Two Central players notched double-doubles on the night as Jas'Mine Bracey scored a team-high 25 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, while Crystal Bradford had 16 points and 17 boards for the Chippewas.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Hit the Road for the Final Time in the Regular Season

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