Eagles Suffer Overtime Loss to NIU in MAC Opener

DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) — Eastern Michigan University's women's basketball team opened up the Mid-American Conference season with a heartbreaker, dropping an overtime decision to Northern Illinois University, 54-48, Saturday afternoon, Jan.3, at the Convocation Center. With the Eagles tailing by two, Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) raced past her defenders for a pull-up jumper to equalize the score at 43-43 with six seconds to play. Jamaica Bucknor (Brooklyn, N.Y.-Weaver-ASA College) came away with a steal and fed to Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) for a last-second shot, but her shot came off just a bit too strong, sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the home team was unstoppable in the extra frame as the Huskies were perfect from the free throw line to run away with the six-point victory over the Eagles.

With the loss, EMU drops to 7-5 (0-1 MAC), while NIU improves to 5-6 (1-0 MAC).

The Eagles were plagued by shooting inefficiency, going 17-of-68 from the field for just 25.0 percent while also turning over the ball 18 times, which resulted in 15 points for the Huskies. Sweeney led all players in scoring with 21 points, while Webb had the second-most points for the team with nine points, all of which were by way of free throws. On the boards, Bucknor pulled down 10 rebounds. While she struggled offensively and did not put up any points for the team, Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) paced the team on defense with four steals and two blocks.

NIU was led by Amanda Corral with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Renee Sladek also posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Corral had a solid stat line, also leading the team with three assists and two blocks while grabbing one steal for the Huskies. Northern Illinois did not shoot much better as a team, making 16-of-61 shots for a 26.2 clip and only hitting one three-pointer on 17 attempts. However, NIU thrived from the free throw line, missing just three shots on 25 attempts.

Eastern surrendered the first basket of the contest to a high post jumper by Sladek, while the Green and White missed all its opening shots in the first two minutes of competition until Sweeney drained an outside shot to give the Eagles their first lead at 3-2. Strong defensive pressure paired with a fair share of shooting woes by the Huskies kept NIU scoreless for over four minutes, and EMU was able to find another bucket from Bucknor with an offensive putback for a 6-2 advantage with 14:05 to play.

Both teams found slightly more rhythm in the ensuing minutes, as the Green and White held on to 9-6 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. The Huskies came within one point after a fastbreak layup from Corral, but the lead was soon built back up to six points thanks in large part to the Eagles crashing the boards hard and picking up their own shots for easy buckets. Meanwhile, NIU was subject to another scoring drought not finding a basket until the 6:02 mark when Corral sank a pair of shots from behind the charity stripe to get NIU in double-digit figures.

Northern Illinois continued to chip away at the score, but the Eagles held on to their advantage as Webb and Bucknor combined for eight points to create a 24-17 edge going into the final minute of play. With the clock expiring on the last play of the game, Sweeney rose up to hit a mid-range jumper and keep the Eagles in control of the game, 26-19, heading into the locker room.

At the half, Eastern was led by Sweeney, who racked up 10 points on nine attempts, and Bucknor and Webb chipped in seven points apiece. Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest (Seton Hall)) led the team with six boards, while Morton paced the defensive effort with two blocks and a steal. The team shot just 26.7 percent, going 8-of-30 from the field, but held the Huskies to an even lower percentage at 6-of-28 shooting for a 21.4 percent clip. EMU also held the edge on rebounding by a margin of 28-17 but committed eight turnovers compared to NIU's five miscues.

EMU opened up scoring in the second half with a fadeaway jumper in the paint by Brianna Puni (St. Charles, Mo.-Incarnate Word (Illinois State)), but NIU answered back with nine straight points to knot the score at 28-28 at the 16:36 mark. The Huskies took their first lead since the start of the game with a deep jumper by Danny Pulliam, but Heady quickly answered back with a layup to deadlock the score at 30-30.

NIU secured a 35-30 lead thanks to a quintet of points from Kelly Smith in the low post and on the free throw line, while Pulliam broke in for a layup to cap off a 7-0 run before Sweeney would sink a triple and a jumper to get the Eagles back in scoring form and within two points of the Huskies, trailing 37-35 with 10:18 to play.

A putback by Rachel Kehoe (St. Clair, Mich.-St. Clair (St. Clair CC)) cut the Huskies' lead to just one point, trailing 40-39 with 6:07 to play while not allowing an NIU basket in a four-minute span. Northern Illinois built back a slight three-point lead before Sweeney snatched the ball away from the Huskies and made a dash downcourt for a layup, missing out on the and-one opportunity that would have knotted the score.

Neither team could muster a basket throughout the next two minutes before Sladek hit a free throw with 13 seconds remaining in the second half to bring the Huskie lead to 43-41. Head Coach Tory Verdi used a timeout to collect his team for the final play of the game. Sweeney raced past her defenders for a pull-up jumper to equalize the score at 43-43 with four seconds to play. Bucknor came away with a steal and fed to Webb for a last-second shot, but her shot came off just a bit too strong, sending the game into overtime.

Puni once again sored the first points for the Eagles, spinning around her Huskie counterpart and drawing the foul to put the Eagles up three points over NIU just 10 seconds into the extra period. Corral hit the first NIU triple of the contest and later drained a pair of free throws to swing the lead in favor of the Huskies, holding a 48-46 edge.

From there, NIU went on a 6-2 run to secure the contest. The Huskies were perfect on free throw shooting in overtime, hitting all eight attempts to run away with the 54-48 victory over the Eagles.

Eastern will remain on the road for its next contest, taking a week off before heading to Akron, Ohio to square off with the Zips of the University of Akron. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at James A. Rhodes Arena.

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Team Stats

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Jamaica Bucknor

Brianna Puni

Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Shannise Heady

Rachel Kehoe

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Shannise Heady

Rachel Kehoe

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics