The Road to a Championship Begins Monday

Watch the Game on All-Access. (Subscription-based).

Live Stats - Fan-Based. Media.

THE ROAD TO A CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS MONDAY: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team begins its post-season run Monday, March 10, by hosting Northern Illinois University in the opening round of the 2014 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The game is the first leg of a doubleheader with the EMU men's basketball team, which tangles with Central Michigan University at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles, seeded eighth in the tournament, split the season series with the No. 9-seed Huskies. NIU won 77-54 in DeKalb, Ill., Jan. 12, and EMU followed it up with a 54-45 victory in Ypsilanti, March 2.
Coming off a 99-84 overtime victory against Central Michigan University, March 8, the Eagles enter the game with a mark of 17-12 (7-11 MAC) and a 9-5 record this season inside the confines of the Convocation Center. Meanwhile, NIU is 10-18 (6-12 MAC) after knocking off Western Michigan University, 59-51, at home on the final day of the regular season.
The winner advances to play the winner of No. 5 Ball State University/No. 12 Kent State University Wednesday, March 12, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.

#MACTION AT THE CONVO: Eastern is 6-2 all-time in MAC Tournament games played at the Convo. EMU's only home postseason setbacks were in 2001 to 10th-seeded Ohio, 80-75, and last season to No. 9 Western Michigan, 80-72.

SECOND-BEST RECORD IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: During the past 10 MAC Tournaments dating back to the 2004 championship, Eastern Michigan has posted a 13-8 mark, the second-best record over that span. EMU was 3-0 in 2004; 2-1 in 2005; 1-1 in 2006, 2007 and 2010; 0-1 on 2008, 2009 and 2013; 3-1 in 2011 and 2-0 in 2012. Conversely, Bowling Green is 22-5 during that time.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 28-24 record during the month of March over the last 15 years, including a 2-1 mark last season. Eastern is 18-18 all-time in 20 trips to the MAC Tournament. The 1999-2000 campaign marked the first season that all teams qualified for the tournament.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport an 18-18 mark in 20 trips to the conference postseason and are making their second under Head Coach Tory Verdi. The Eagles have faced Bowling Green (2-5) the most times of any squad in the tournament. Eastern is 4-1 against Toledo, 2-2 versus Ohio, 2-2 against Miami and 1-3 versus Kent State. EMU is 1-1 in postseason play versus Ball State and Northern Illinois. The Green and White are 2-0 against Buffalo, 1-0 versus Central Michigan and winless against Akron and Western Michigan. EMU was 2-0 versus Marshall in tournament play before the Thundering Herd departed for Conference USA.

SEEKING MAC TITLE NUMBER THREE: The Eagles advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament in 2004, 2011 and 2012. EMU is 2-1 all-time in the contest that decides the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Green and White defeated BGSU, 65-56, in the 2004 finale, March 13, and then fell to the Falcons, 51-46, in the 2011 title game, March 12. One year later, EMU defeated CMU 72-71 thanks to a Paige Redditt layup with 1.8 seconds left in the contest.

ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Monday's contest marks the 42nd meeting between the Northern Illinois Huskies and Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first played during the 1981-82 season. Eastern leads the overall series, 31-10, and has won 26 of the last 30 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.
Eastern avenged its previous setback in DeKalb when the Huskies came to Ypsilanti, March 2 and the Green and White ran to a 54-45 victory in the Convocation Center. The Eagles went out and grabbed their 18th victory of the season when senior Natachia Watkins became just the 18th player in program history to notch 1,000 career points. EMU used a 40.0 shooting percentage, forcing 20 NIU turnovers and grabbing nine steals while Olivia Fouty and Cha Sweeney each drained 13 points in the contest.
EMU has been dominant in Ypsilanti, as Northern Illinois' last win at the Convocation Center came 3,346 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.
The matchup marks only the third time Eastern and Northern Illinois have met up in the postseason with the teams splitting the contest. The Eagles first took on the Huskies, Feb. 20, 1982, when they fell, 70-69. In the latest postseason tilt, the Green and White defeated NIU, 67-65, in the first round of the MAC Tournament before going on to defeat Miami, 88-51 at Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles fell in the next round in double overtime to Kent State, 96-94, to end its 1999-2000 season.

THE ROAD TO CLEVELAND: Tickets for the first round of the MAC Tournament are currently on sale. Student tickets with a valid ID are $5, while the first 200 students will enter for free thanks to the Eagle Nation Fan Section (ENFS). Adult tickets will cost $10 and will get individuals into both games of the doubleheader event, while the first 400 fans receive an Eastern Michigan Eagles cap. A limited amount of floor seats are also available for $30. To secure tickets to round one of the MAC Tournament visit EMUTix.com or call 734.487.2282.

STAT YOU VERY MUCH: For the fifth consecutive season the EMU Athletic Media Relations Office will be called upon to serve as the official statistics crew of the 2014 MAC Tournament. Under the direction of Greg Steiner, the office worked the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 tournament logging more than 60 hours over a four day span at Quicken Loans Arena. The office has also worked as the stat crew for the past six Marathon MAC Football Championship games and the previous seven MAC Baseball Tournaments. The this year's MAC basketball crew consists of Greg Steiner, Sean Hostetter, Chris Puzzuoli, Adam Kuffner, Megan Samassa, Chloe Smith and Ken Dewey.

CARDIAC KIDS: Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, EMU has posted 11 victories after trailing by 10-or-more points.
Date Opponent Deficit Time Left Final Score
Nov. 11, 2012 vs. Northeastern -17 (29-43) 12:37-2nd 50-47
March 5, 2011 vs. Miami -15 (30-45) 1:38-1st 82-74
Feb. 16, 2011 at Ball State -15 (23-38) 5:15-1st 81-73
March 8, 2014 vs. Central Michigan -14 (16-30) 6:27 - 1st 99-84 - OT
Jan. 16, 2010 vs. Northern Illinois -13 (16-29) 7:51-1st 72-63
March 21, 2011 at UNC Wilmington -13 (34-47) 14:26-2nd 63-54
Jan. 4, 2010 vs. North Dakota -12 (8-20) 12:12-1st 76-65
Jan. 6, 2010 vs. Central Michigan -11 (7-18) 12:46-1st 73-55
Jan. 27, 2010 at Ohio -10 (21-31) 16:44-2nd 56-53
Jan. 9, 2010 at Western Michigan -10 (3-13) 14:38-1st 61-52
March, 3, 2012 vs. Toledo -10 (39-49) 9:48-2nd 59-57

DETHRONING THE CHIPPEWAS: With the 99-84 overtime victory over Central Michigan, March 8, the Eagles prevented the Chippewas from claiming a share of the 2013-14 regular season championship crown. The Green and White trailed nearly the entire regulation time until Desyree Thomas tied up the contest with three seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime at 77-77. The Eagles went off on a 22-7 run in the extra five minutes to clinch the senior day victory.

TAKING DOWN THE NATION'S BEST: The 99-84 overtime victory was the first time since the 2011-2012 season that an EMU squad has beaten an opponent with an RPI in the top-30. The last time the Eagles accomplished the feat was when they downed then-No. 18 Michigan in a 77-64 decision, Dec. 11, 2011 inside the Convocation Center.

DOUBLE VISION: In just 29 games during her brief career, freshman Cha Sweeney has reached double figures in points on 26 occasions. The Toledo, Ohio, native has scored 20 or more in 10 of those contests. Sweeney has notched at least 10 points in each of the last 19 games, as Monmouth was the last team to hold her in check with just four points, Dec. 11, 2013.

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 fourth in the MAC, averaging a team-best 16.8 points a game while ranking 11th in steals (1.7), 11th in three-pointers made (1.7) and 13th in assists (2.8). Meanwhile, Morton cracks the rankings in three-pointers made (5th - 2.0), free-throw percentage (14th - 76.3) and scoring (15th - 12.8 ppg). No EMU student-athlete has won the award since Alyssa Pittman claimed the honor following the 2006-07 campaign.

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 seventh among first-year players in Mid-American Conference history with 489 points. At her current pace of 16.8 points a game, she could still surpass BGSU's Lauren Prochaska for sixth place.

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.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK: Eastern has forced opponents to turn the ball over 225 more times (595 to 370) for a turnover margin of +7.8. 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 six turnovers in the contest against Toledo, March 5. EMU has produced seven games this season that it has turned the ball over less than 10 times.

DOUBLING LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL: After posting just eight wins a season ago, the Eagles have more than doubled their output in 2013-14 with 17 victories.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 17 victories this season, EMU has scored 82.0 points while the opposition has posted 63.4 points. In those games, opponents shot 37.4 percent from the field compared to 41.4 percent for the Eagles. In the defeats, the Eagles have only posted 66.6 points, while giving up 79.6. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU has grabbed 45.8 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 (39.2 to 52.2).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos