Eagles' Run Toward Destiny Continues With MAC Semifinal Win over BSU

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The No. 6-seeded Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team made Mid-American Conference Tournament history, becoming the first-ever six seed to make it to the finals with its 75-65 victory over No. 2-seeded Ball State University Friday, March 14, at Quicken Loans Arena.

The last time a six-seed made a semifinal appearance was in 2004 when Marshall made it to the semis before being downed by EMU, 75-70, which went on to become the MAC Tournament Champions. Furthermore, the win makes the Green and White just the fourth team ever to win four games in a single MAC Tournament as it never trailed in the game.

The Eagles will ride an eight-game winning streak that began with a 56-41 win at Ball State, Feb. 25, into the finals. The winning streak is tied for the third-longest streak in Eastern Michigan women's basketball history. Moreover, EMU's tournament shooting percentage of 43.2 is the second best clip from the floor, behind only Ball State which shot 48 percent in last year's tournament.

Sophomore Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) became the all-time MAC Tournament scoring leader, notching 25 points against the Cardinals to surpass former EMU standout Tavelyn James, who notched 83 points in the 2011 tournament. Coming into the contest, Sweeney needed just nine points to take the record and earned her place in MAC Tournament laurels with 5:14 remaining in the first half on a jumper just inside the arc. With one game to play, Sweeney currently has 99 points in the conference tournament, including a seven-game stretch in which she has scored 20-or-more points for the Eagles.

As a team, the Eagles (22-11) shot 33.3 percent from the floor, making 23 shots, while knocking down 10 three-pointers in the win. Sweeney made a team-best four triples and Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) dropped three for the Green and White. Morton had 19 points for EMU, including going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final five minutes of action, while Jamaica Bucknor (Brooklyn, N.Y.-Weaver (ASA College)) was the final Eagle to notch double-digit scoring with 12 points. Bucknor also nabbed just the third double-double of her career, pulling down a team-best 14 rebounds, while Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) had 10 boards for the Green and White.

The Eagles overpowered the Cardinals on the boards, grabbing 52 rebounds compared to Ball State's 34, including 22 offensive rebounds which converted to 19 second chance points. The Eastern bench outscored the Ball State bench 21-9, but it was BSU who led in the paint scoring 30 points compared to EMU's 26.

Despite a 42.4 shooting percentage, the Cardinals were unable to come away with a victory. Ball State was led by Nathalie Fontaine who notched 22 points, while Jill Morrison and Renee Bennett had 14 and 10 points, respectively. Defensively, Moriah Monaco led the charge for BSU with three blocks and Fontaine had a team-best eight rebounds.

The Eastern offense picked up right where they left off Thursday afternoon, dropping three-straight triples, including two from Sweeney, to take a 9-0 lead over Ball State in the first three minutes of the game.

The Green and White continued its high energy offensive pace, using a three from Ozelci and a drive from Sweeney to go up 19-7 over the Cardinals with 12:15 remaining in the first half. Ball State worked its way back to a seven-point deficit, but quickly EMU responded with points from Morton and Webb on back-to-back possessions to extend its lead to 28-17 heading into the third media timeout of the opening half.

Following the break in action, the Cardinals came out to score two-straight threes to cut the Eastern lead to five with just over five minutes to play in the first half. On the Eagles next possession Sweeney became the all-time tournament scorer, securing her 84th MAC Tournament point on a jumper just inside the arc to put EMU up by seven, 30-23.

After an Eagle turnover, Webb came up big on the opposite side of the court with a block before Sweeney drained a three at the buzzer, which would allow EMU to take a 15-point advantage, 42-27, into the locker room.

The Green and White shot 38.1 percent from the floor, making 16 of their 42 shots, while it remained red-hot from three-point range, dropping eight in the first half. Sweeney led all scorers with 18 points in the opening half, including four treys, while Bucknor had seven points and Ozelci had six. The Eagles notched 14 second chance points in the first half compared to Ball State's three, while EMU also out-rebounded the Cardinals, 29-16, with Sweeney and Puni pulling in six boards apiece.

Eastern kept Ball State to 35.5 percent shooting in the first half, while Fontaine led the Cardinal offensive output with 10 points. Both Bennett and Morrison scored six points for BSU and Merder added five.

Ball State opened the half on a 14-6 run to again cut the EMU lead to just 10 points, but a Puni and-one play off the dish from Sweeney allowed the Green and White to take a 54-41 lead with 13:50 left in the game.

The Cardinals came within single digits for the first time since the 2:50 mark in the first half before a steal at mid-court followed by a Morton make from downtown extended the EMU lead back to 12, 57-45, with 10:14 remaining. The three was followed by almost a four-minute scoring drought for both teams before Bucknor notched a free throw for the Green and White with less than seven minutes to play.

With EMU in the bonus and the Eagles struggling to find a basket from the floor, EMU used six free throws and from three different players to maintain its advantage over the Cardinals, leading by 13 with 4:25 left in the contest.

After five minutes of just free throws from both teams, Justice dropped a three-pointer from the top of the arc, forcing Head Coach Tory Verdi to call a timeout to settle his team down. The timeout was not in vain as Morton made one of her free throws off a Bucknor rebound with less than two minutes remaining.

Trailing by eight, Ball State called a timeout after a second three-pointer from Justice with 1:12 to play and the ball in EMU's hands. With full court pressure on, Morton was fouled in the backcourt before she made both of her shots from the charity stripe to put the Green and White up by 10 with 43 seconds.

In the closing minutes, it was Morton who put the game away for Eastern Michigan, making eight of her 10 free throws in the final minutes to secure EMU its first trip to the finals since the 2012 season with a 75-65 victory over Ball State.

The Eagles advance to the championship game Saturday, March 14, where they will take on No. 1-seeded Ohio University at 1 p.m. Alumni, fans and students are all invited to come to the Marriott at Key Center in downtown Cleveland to send off the team before their championship game. There are still tickets available for the championship contest by going to EMUTix.com or calling 734.487.2282. In addition, fans that cannot make the drive to Cleveland, have the chance to ride the EMU fan bus. To secure a spot on the fan bus, Eagle fans must purchase tickets through the EMU Ticket Office. Admittance onto the fan bus is free with purchase of a ticket, but space is limited to the first 35 fans.

If you cannot make the trip, the contest will be aired on WEMU 89.1 FM as well as Comcast 900 in Michigan and ESPN3.

Eagles' Run Toward Destiny Continues With MAC Semifinal Win over BSU

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Team Stats

Cha Sweeney

Janay Morton

Jamaica Bucknor

Brianna Puni

Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics