Women's Basketball Remains Home Wednesday Against Miami

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YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team will close out its three-game homestand Wednesday, Jan. 21, when it takes on Miami University in a cross-divisional conference contest.
   Eastern enters the game with an 8-7 (1-3 MAC) record after snapping a 13-game losing streak dating back to the 2004-05 campaign against Bowling Green State University Saturday, Jan. 17. Meanwhile, the RedHawks are 3-13 (0-5 MAC) following a 65-47 setback to the University of Akron, Jan. 17.
   With the EMU men's basketball team also in action that day, the game will not be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Instead, fans can catch the game for free on Eagle All-Access (emueagles.com/watch) beginning at 6:50 p.m. with Greg Steiner on the call.

ALL-TIME VERSUS MIAMI: Wednesday's contest marks the 54th meeting between the Miami RedHawks and the Eastern Michigan Eagles, who first met during the 1979-80 season. Miami has dominated the all-time series, 37-15, but the Eagles have won three of the last five meetings.
   Last season, Miami rolled to a 71-65 victory over the Green and White as Eastern was unable to hold off the RedHawks at the Convocation Center, Feb. 2, 2014.

THREE-GAME HOMESTAND: EMU is in the midst of its longest homestand of the year with three-straight at the Convocation Center. Surprisingly, Wednesday's game marks the first time the Eagles have played three-straight regular season games at home.

EMU GOES FOR 150TH ALL-TIME WIN AT THE CONVO: Eastern Michigan will be in search of its 150th all-time win inside the Convocation Center Wednesday, Jan. 21, when Miami comes to town. EMU has posted a 149-71 record inside the facility since it opened in 1998.
   The improvement of the team since moving to the Hewitt Road facility is dramatic, as the Eagles posted just 122 home victories in their 21 seasons prior playing at Bowen Field House. "The Old Barn" saw EMU record just a .344 winning percentage at home from 1976-98, while inside the Convo the Eagles have been winning at a .677 clip.

EAGLES SCORE 40 OFF THE BENCH: The Eagles tried something a little different against Bowling Green, having some of its key scorers come off the bench Saturday, Jan. 17. The move by Head Coach Tory Verdi proved to be successful as the EMU bench outscored the Falcons, 40-5, with Cha Sweeney and Brianna Puni each notching double-digit figures in the Eastern victory. Sweeney tallied 15 points for the Green and White, while Puni added 10 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double, and Shannise Heady nabbed a career-best five steals.

STOPPING THE FALCONS: Eastern snapped a 13-game losing skid to Bowling Green with a 64-52 victory at the Convocation Center, Jan. 17. Prior to the win, EMU's last victory in the series occurred Feb. 19, 2005, when the Eagles notched a 57-52 win in Ypsilanti.
   A total of 3,620 days passed in between victories with the four different EMU head coaches (Suzy Merchant, Shane Clipfell, AnnMarie Gilbert and Tory Verdi) combining for 169 other wins during the streak.

STOP THIEF!: Eastern Michigan racked up 17 steals as a team in the victory over Bowling Green, Jan. 17. The total was a season-best against a Division I opponent and the second-most this season as EMU swiped 23 balls against Kent State-Tuscarawas, Nov. 14.
   Junior Shannise Heady grabbed a career-high five steals on the afternoon while sophomore Janay Morton added four.

STRONG WEEK FOR PUNI: Senior Brianna Puni picked up her first double-double at EMU with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the team's victory over Bowling Green, Jan. 17. The 10 points equaled Puni's season-best since joining the program in December. This was on the heels of a six-point, eight-rebound and two-block effort versus Ohio, Jan. 14.
   For the week, she finished 6-of-12 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe while averaging 24.0 minutes per game.

ROAD WARRIORS: Neither Eastern Michigan or Miami has tasted victory on the road in 2014-15. EMU is 0-6 in true road contests, while MU is 0-5 this year. The RedHawks did post a neutral site win versus Davidson in Charlottesville, Va., while the Eagles went 2-0 in a pair of neutral site games at New Mexico State University.
   The two schools are part of 43 schools nationwide that have yet to win a road game, as EMU has lost eight straight and Miami has lost 10 in-a-row dating back to last season. Overall, Arkansas-Pine Bluff holds the nation's longest road skid, having dropped its last 26 road dates

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE: A total of 15 players have seen court time in EMU's games this season. Ten of those 15 players are averaging 10 minutes or more. Sophomore Cha Sweeney leads the way with 29.9 minutes per outing.

REBOUND THAT BASKETBALL!: EMU leads the Mid-American Conference in rebounding offense at 45.6 caroms per contest while also topping the charts in rebounding margin at +4.2. Eastern is tops in the league with an average of 16.6 offensive rebounds a cgamet to go along with ranking second in defensive boards at 29.4.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its eight victories this season, EMU is averaging 79.1 points while the opposition is posting just 58.9 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 33.3 percent from the field compared to 42.9 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 57.9 points, while giving up 70.7. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 47.1 rebounds to just 37.9 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks the rebounding tracks in the opponents favor (EMU 43.9, OPP 45.4).

STARTER STABILITY: EMU is still looking for some continuity in its starting five, as the Eagles have rolled out nine different starting lineups. EMU has not had a player start every game this season.

TRIFECTA, YOU BET YA: The three-point shot has been a key to the Eagles' offense this season. As a team, EMU is ranked fifth in the MAC with a shooting percentage of 27.6 (64-for-232) from beyond the arc. On the other side, the Eagles' defense has done a good job defending the long ball as Eastern Michigan has limited its opposition to just 31.3 percent (110-for-352) shooting from three-point land. EMU's perimeter defense was at its best versus Weber State, Nov. 29, when it limited the Wildcats to no three-pointers.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Eagles have won 56 of the last 73 home games dating back to the 2008-09 season. 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 67.7 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 149-71 all-time mark.

TOLEDO ON THE HORIZON: Following the Miami contest, EMU returns to the road with a short trip to the University of Toledo Saturday, Jan. 24. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.
   Saturday's contest marks the 73rd meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 45-27, including posting a pair of wins last year. UT notched an 80-73 decision at the Convocation Center, Feb. 19, 2014, and followed it up with an 88-52 thrashing in the Glass City, March 5, 2014.
   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.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE: The Eastern Michigan defense has held three opponents to less than a 30.0 percent field goal percentage this season. The most recent occurrence came Jan. 3 in the MAC opener at Northern Illinois, when the Eagles limited the Huskies to a 26.2 percent clip in the overtime setback. EMU held Kent State-Tuscarawas to a season-low 22.8 percent in the season-opener while Weber State managed a 23.0 percent clip.
   Furthermore, seven of EMU's opponents have made less than four three-point field goals in a game this season.

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Players Mentioned

Shannise Heady

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Cha Sweeney

Eastern Michigan Athletics