EMU Squares Off Wednesday Against No. 12/13 Kentucky

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Following convincing back-to-back victories to open the 2015-16 season, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team hits the road for the first time with a Wednesday, Nov. 25, matinee against the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky. Tipoff is set for noon at Memorial Coliseum.
    Eastern Michigan is 2-0 on the year following a 78-56 defeat of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Nov. 21. UK, ranked 12th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 13th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is also perfect at 4-0 following an 86-61 shellacking of the University of Colorado.
    The contest will be shown on SEC Network+. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Chad Bush calling the action on the court.

ALL-TIME AGAINST KENTUCKY: Eastern Michigan travels to Lexington, Ky. for just the second time in program history to square off against Kentucky. The Wildcats won the previous match up, 79-68, in opening round the 2005 Postseason WNIT.
   Ryan Coleman led the Eagles in the loss, scoring a game-high 30 points on 12-of-24 shooting. Coleman made five three-pointers in the loss, while adding seven rebounds and two steals.

OFFENSE A PLENTY: Wednesday's contest will feature a pair of team's that have been proficient scoring the basketball in 2015-16. EMU is 26th nationally in scoring at 86.0 points a game, while UK is pouring in 84.5 a game for 33rd-best. The Eagles feature three players that average double figures in points, while the Wildcats boast five.
   The two squads can also play some defense, as both sides hold the opposition to less than 34 percent shooting from the floor.

TIES BETWEEN EMU AND UK: Despite only one game in the all-time series there is a tie between the EMU and UK women's basketball teams – Chloe Smith. Now the UK Media Relations Assistant, Smith had spent the past two years in Ypsilanti as a graduate assistant for Eastern Michigan's Media Relations Office. A former volleyball standout at the University of Central Arkansas, Smith directly promoted EMU's cross country, track & field and swimming & diving teams while assisting with women's basketball. In her new position at Kentucky, Smith helps oversee women's basketball, swimming & diving and women's tennis.

MITCHELL VERSUS EMU: Head Coach Matthew Mitchell, the all-time winningest coach in Kentucky women's basketball history, will be taking on EMU for the second time in his coaching career. Before arriving at UK, Mitchell was the bench boss at Morehead State University for two seasons. He brought his 2006-07 club to Ypsilanti for the Eagle Classic and left with a 90-66 setback to then-Head Coach Suzy Merchant, Nov. 18, 2006.
   Merchant, who is now at Michigan State University, picked up her 200th career victory as senior Sarah VanMetre and junior Patrice McKinney both turned in double-doubles. McKinney, who was named the MVP of the tournament, posted a career-best 25 points to go along with her game-high 13 rebounds. VanMetre turned in a solid 12 point , 10 board and six assist performance while junior Kivilcim Yamanoglu racked up a personal-best 18 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, as the duo were selected to the All-Tournament team.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SEC: Eastern Michigan stands at 3-4 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents. EMU's last meeting with an SEC institution came during the 2012-13 season when the Eagles took on Mississippi in game two of the Tulane Holiday Tournament, Dec. 30. The Green and White fell 61-58, despite a 34-18 point advantage in the paint.
   The Eagles last win against an SEC opponent came during the 2007-08 season when EMU knocked off Alabama, 52-43, in their first game in the Junkanoo Jam Opener, Nov. 23.

TOP-25 OPPOSITION AND THE EAGLES: For the first time this season, Eastern Michigan will square off against a ranked team when it tangles with No. 13/13 Kentucky, Nov. 25. In the program's 40 years, EMU has never knocked off a ranked opponent, posting an 0-15 record. For complete EMU results versus ranked teams, turn to page four of these notes.

GRAB THAT FREQUENT TRAVELER REWARDS INFO: The Eagles will play just once more at home over the next month span with games in six different states. In total, the Eagles will log 4,934 miles over the next 27 days. EMU's lone home contest is a Tuesday, Dec. 1, affair against Oral Roberts, while also playing just 22 miles away from campus at Madonna University, Dec. 18.
   Last year, the Eagles posted an 8-8 mark in road contests.

A STELLAR DEFENSIVE EFFORT: To say the defense stood up to the challenge would be an understatement, as Eastern Michigan held UT Rio Grande Valley without a field goal in the entire third quarter, Nov. 21. The Vaqueros were held without a field goal for a total of 14:20 during the contest. UTRGV connected on a three with second seconds left in the second quarter before getting another shot to go down at the 5:47 mark of the fourth quarter. During the run, UTRGV was a combined 0-for-19 with six turnovers.
   Additionally, UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff was held scoreless for just the second time in her career. Last year, the sharp-shooting guard ranked amongst the top 200 scorers nationally.

IN THE ZONE: The 2-3 zone has became an Eastern Michigan staple under the direction of Head Coach Tory Verdi and for good reason. Through two games this season the Eagles' stout defensive effort has caused opponents fits, forcing them into 18.5 turnovers per game. Additionally, the Green and White swipe 10.5 steals per contest while holding opponents to a 0.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Junior Janay Morton has scored 917 points in her career and is 23rd all-time for EMU. There are currently 19 players in the 1,000-point club for EMU women's basketball, including junior Cha Sweney, who joined the elite group last season.
   When Morton reaches 1,000 she and Sweeney will become just the fourth EMU combo of millennium scorers to play together. Laurie Byrd and Denise Allen first accomplished the feat during the 1981-82 campaign, Ryan Coleman and Nikki Knapp followed it up in 2005-06, and most recently Tavelyn James and Paige Reddit did so in 2011-12.

TURKEY CONNECTION AND IT WASN'T EVEN THANKSGIVING: The Nov. 21 contest pitted a pair of standouts from the country of Turkey as EMU's Sera Ozelci (Ankara, Turkey-TED Ankara College-Odessa College) and UTRGV's Idil Türk (Istanbul, Turkey-Bodwell) squared off. The contest was believed by some media reports to be the first NCAA Division I women's basketball game to pit two players from that country against each other.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Eagles have won 64 of the last 84 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 68.1 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 158-74 all-time mark.

ON THE HORIZON: After a midweek clash with Kentucky, Eastern Michigan will play host to Oral Roberts, Dec. 1, in the Convocation Center before hitting the road for five straight. The match up with ORU marks the second time the two teams have met.
   The first meeting between the two came last season, when Oral Roberts topped the Eagles, 63-62, in Tulsa, Okla. Cha Sweeney registered a game-high 20 points while Phillis Webb added 11 for the Green and White as the Golden Eagles escaped with a win.

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Players Mentioned

Janay Morton

Sera Ozelci

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics