Eagles Hit the Road for a Rare Pair of Midweek Contests

OXFORD, Ohio -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team hits the road for a rare pair of midweek contests Tuesday, Feb. 17, and Wednesday, Feb. 18. Eastern will square off with Miami University Tuesday at 6 p.m. after postponing the original Feb. 7 contest to allow the Eagles to attend fallen teammate Shannise Heady's funeral. Following the contest, EMU will make the 170 mile trip east to play the next night against the Mid-American Conference East Division leading Bobcats of Ohio University.
   EMU enters the games with a 12-10 (5-6 MAC) record after a 85-64 home victory over in-state rival Central Michigan University, Feb. 14. The RedHawks are 4-19 (1-11 MAC) on the season including a 2-8 record on their home court; meanwhile, the Bobcats are a MAC-best 20-3 (11-1 MAC) having rolled off 10 consecutive wins including a 67-45 victory at Miami, Feb. 14.
   Both games will not be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Instead fans can catch Greg Steiner's call for free on Eagle All-Access.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK: For just the second time since the 1987-88 season, EMU will play on back-to-back days outside of a tournament. The last time it happened was just two seasons ago when the Green and White hosted Boston University, Nov. 23, and followed it up against Harvard, Nov. 24.
   Prior to that the last time it occurred was when the then-Hurons squared off with Indiana State, Dec. 18, 1987, and the very next day faced Wright State, Dec. 19.
   Outside of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, EMU has never played a league game on consecutive days.

ALL-TIME VERSUS MIAMI: EMU's Tuesday contest with Miami marks the 55th meeting between the RedHawks and Eagles, who first met during the 1979-80 season. Miami has dominated the all-time series, 38-16, but the Eagles have won four of the last six meetings. Earlier this season, the Green and White knocked off MU, 56-38, at the Convocation Center. In the contest with Miami, the Eagles were led by Cha Sweeney with 12 points and two steals, while Janay Morton and Phillis Webb each added nine points to their effort.
   The 38 points scored by Miami were not only a season-low allowed, but it also marked the lowest number of points allowed by the Green and White against a Division I opponent since the Eagles defeated Toledo, 54-33, Feb. 21, 2012.
   Miami was held without a field goal for a total of 21:04 in a pair of scoring droughts during the contest. MU experienced a 10:06 swoon in the first half and the Eagles' defense locked down the RedHawks for another 10:58 in the second half. During the two runs, Miami was a combined 0-for-24 with 11 turnovers.

MILLETT NOT KIND TO EMU: Miami University's Millett Hall has been a building that has caused EMU coaches to have nightmares. The Eagles have posted an all-time record of 7-16 in the venerable building. However, things of late have started to change as the Eagles have posted 74-56 (Feb. 7, 2007), 56-45 (Feb. 14, 2009) and 72-62 (Jan. 29, 2011) victories in three of their last four trips to Oxford, Ohio.

HISTORY LESSON WITH OHIO: The Wednesday contest with Ohio marks the 56th meeting between the Bobcats and Eagles, who first met during the 1980-81 season. Ohio leads the series, 31-24, with EMU dropping an 82-59 setback in the team's meeting earlier this year at the Convocation Center, Jan. 14. In the loss to Ohio, Jamaica Bucknor paced the Eagles with 13 points, while Janay Morton chipped in with 12.

EMU AT THE CONVO: Historically, Ohio University's Convocation Center has been a building that Eastern Michigan teams have struggled in over the years. Eastern has an all-time record of 9-16 in the 47-year old building. However, EMU is riding a six-game winning streak in Athens dating back to a 62-56 victory over Ohio, Feb. 8, 2006.
   The 'Cats' last home triumph over the Eagles came 4,011 days ago back on Feb. 25, 2004, when Ohio held off Eastern Michigan 89-81.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: On Valentine's Day against Central Michigan, the Eagles topped their season-best from long-range, knocking down 13 three-pointers for a 52.0 shooting percentage.
   The 13 treys, combined with the 11 triples earlier in the week against Ball State marked the first time since the 2010-11 season that the Green and White has made 10-or-more three-pointers in consecutive games. The last time the feat was accomplished, EMU sank 10 triples in an 89-34 win over Niagara, Dec. 28, before ringing in 2011 with a 79-63 victory over Ball State that featured 12 three-pointers, Jan. 5.

DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR SWEENEY: Sophomore Cha Sweeney collected her second career double-double in the 21-point victory over Central Michigan, Feb. 14. The Toledo, Ohio product had 17 points for the Green and White and a career-high 10 assists as well as five rebounds and three steals.
   The 10 helpers by Sweeney surpassed her previous high of nine she has reached on two other occasions. It is also the first time an EMU player had reach double digits in assists since Desyree Thomas had 11 at Loyola-Chicago, Dec. 4, 2013.

OZELCI COMING ON STRONG: Since being inserted into the starting lineup three games ago, junior Sera Ozelci has proven to be a much different player for Head Coach Tory Verdi. She has averaged 9.3 points per game while grabbing 4.3 rebounds in 28.3 minutes of work. Her shooting percentages have also improved to 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three-point range.
   Against Central Michigan, Feb. 14, the transfer from Odessa College drilled a career-best four threes while hauling down a team-best eight rounds in the decision.

BUCKNOR HELPS BAG THE CHIPS: Senior Jamaica Bucknor led the Eagle offense with 24 points while three other EMU players notched double digit-scoring in the 85-64 home win over Central Michigan, Feb. 14. The 21-point victory over the rival Chippewas was the largest since the 2003-04 campaign when the Eagles cruised to an 89-68 decision in Mount Pleasant, March 2, 2004.
   Bucknor was 7-for-12 from the floor to go along with a career-best 7-of-9 at the charity stripe. Her final point total was just one off her career-high 25 against Madonna, Dec. 9, 2014.

MAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: With the 2015 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. 9 seed for the tournament, traveling to No. 8-seeded Northern Illinois for a first round contest set to take place March 9. For a complete MAC Tournament outlook, please check page 11 of these notes.

MAGIC NUMBER: The Eagles are 9-1 this season when scoring 70-or-more points in a contest. In three years under Head Coach Tory Verdi, EMU is 22-10 when reaching the 70-point plateau.

DEFENSE LEADING TO EASY OFFENSE: Over the previous eight games, the ultra-athletic Eagles have forced 19.8 turnovers a game while snagging 11.8 steals. The 158 turnovers by the opposition led to 155 points-off-turnovers or 29.8 percent of the EMU's offense.

TOP OF THE MAC: Despite not leading any conference statistics, the Eagles rank in the top-five in eight different statistical categories, including being second in steals with 10.3 per game and offensive rebounds with 15.5 per games. EMU also ranks third in rebounding offense with 42.5 per game and turnover margin at +4.0.
   Individually, Cha Sweeney is second in steals at 2.1 swipes a contest while Janay Morton is third with 2.0 takeaways. Sweeney is also 10th in scoring with Morton following closely in 15th and Jamaica Bucknor in 19th.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 12 victories this season, EMU is averaging 76.6 points while the opposition is posting just 57.2 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 34.8 percent from the field compared to 42.8 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 57.1 points, while giving up 72.6. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 43.8 rebounds to just 39.0 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks the rebounding edge tracks in the opponents favor (EMU 41.8, OPP 45.6).

ON THE HORIZON: Following the Miami and Ohio contests, EMU returns home to host the University of Toledo Saturday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. the Convocation Center.
   Saturday's contest marks the 74th meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 45-28, but the Eagles pulled off a 75-61 victory on the first meeting earlier this season in Toledo, Jan. 24.
   In that game the Eagles shot 45.9 percent from the floor, going 21-for-61, while knocking down 10 three-pointers. In a homecoming affair for Cha Sweeney and Sasha Dailey, the two were the only Eagles to reach double-figures, combining for 37 EMU points. Sweeney led the EMU offense with a season-high 23 points, while Dailey added 14 for the Green and White. Eastern forced Toledo into 19 turnovers which turned into 27 points for EMU, while turning the ball over just 14 times.

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Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Sasha Dailey

Shannise Heady

Janay Morton

Sera Ozelci

Cha Sweeney

Desyree Thomas

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics