Eastern Treks to Mt. Pleasant for Final Road Trip of the Year

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- With 17 Mid-American Conference games played, it all boils down to Saturday, March 7, in the regular-season finale for the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team. In-state rival Central Michigan University is the final test at McGuirk Arena in a 1 p.m. contest.
   Coming off a 74-65 victory over Western Michigan, March 4, the Eagles enter the game with a mark of 17-11 (10-7 MAC) and are still looking to lock up their seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament, March 9-14. Meanwhile, CMU is 12-16 (7-10 MAC) having secured the No. 9 seed in the tournament and a trip to DeKalb, Ill. to open the postseason against Northern Illinois.
   Fans can catch the game on WEMU (89.1 FM) or ESPN3 (emueagles.com/watch) beginning at 12:50 p.m. with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the radio call.

A LOOK AT THE MAC TOURNAMENT POSSIBILITIES: EMU could still finish anywhere between the fourth and seventh seeds, but has at worse locked up a home game in the first round of the MAC Tournament. Plenty of scenarios still need to play out before the exact opponent will be decided though.

With a win (11-7 MAC)
   •   EMU claims No. 4 seed with Akron loss, UB loss, Toledo loss, WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 5 seed with Toledo win, UB loss, WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 5 seed with WMU win, UB loss, Toledo loss
   •   EMU claims No. 5 seed with UB win, Toledo loss, WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 6 seed with UB win, Toledo win, WMU win
   •   EMU claims No. 6 seed with UB win, Toledo win WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 7 seed with Akron loss, UB win, Toledo win, WMU win

With a loss (10-8 MAC)
   •   EMU claims No. 5 seed with UB win, Toledo loss, WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 6 seed with UB loss, Toledo loss, WMU loss
   •   EMU claims No. 6 seed with UB win, Toledo win, WMU win
   •   EMU claims No. 7 seed with UB win, WMU win, Toledo loss

A LOOK AT THE MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDS: With one game remaining in the regular season plenty of things are still undecided for the upcoming MAC Tournament. Per the final regular-season conference standings, the top four seeds will receive multiple byes in 2015. The third and fourth seeds will earn berths in the quarterfinals, with seeds one and two being placed directly into the semifinal round.
   Ohio (15-2) and Ball State (12-5) have already penciled themselves into the top spots by virtue of their league records. Northern Illinois has locked up the No. 8 spot and will host No. 9 Central Michigan, while Bowling Green will be the No. 12 seed regardless of a win in the season finale.

DOUBLE THE #MACtion MONDAY: For the second consecutive year the first round of both the men's and women's tournament will take place on the same day, as campus site contests are scheduled for Monday, March 9. The EMU women's team has already secured a first round game at home and the men's team is still in search of making it a doubleheader.
   If both teams play at home, the women's game would tip off at 5 p.m. followed by the men's contest at 7:30 p.m. The winners of both games will advance to the second round action Wednesday, March 11, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
   If EMU hosts just one game Monday, the women would play inside the Convocation Center at 7 p.m. against a yet to be determined opponent.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1,000: Sophomore Cha Sweeney has scored 991 points in her 60 game career and is 19th all-time in EMU history. There are currently 18 players in the 1,000-point club for EMU women's basketball.
   Sweeney is on pace to become the second fastest player in school history to reach the grand total. EMU's all-time leading scorer Tavelyn James (2008-12) was also a sophomore when she joined the elusive club, needing just 57 career games to eclipse 1,000. James ended with 2,470 points in her distinguished career.

MICHIGAN MAC TROPHY ON THE LINE: Saturday, March 7, concludes the Eagles' chase for the Michigan MAC Trophy, which is given to the Michigan MAC university that defeats the other two schools in the same sport in the same regular season. This season in the rivalry games, EMU is 2-1, WMU is 2-2 and CMU is 1-2.
   Created in 2005 by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, CMU currently holds the women's basketball trophy.    The EMU women's basketball team won the trophy title during the 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons.
   In the event of a tie the Michigan MAC Trophy remains with the previous holder until one of the other rivals claims the title.

CLOSING IT ON THE ROAD: For the sixth time since 2003-04, Eastern Michigan wraps up the regular season on the road. EMU is 2-3 in those contests with all but one of the occurrences having taken place in Mount Pleasant, Mich. against Central Michigan.
   Date   Opponent       Final Score
   March 2, 2004   at Central Michigan       W, 89-68
   March 1, 2005   at Toledo       L, 61-72
   Feb. 28, 2007   at Central Michigan       W, 57-50
   March 7, 2009   at Central Michigan       L, 62-95
   Feb. 28, 2012   at Central Michigan       L, 46-61

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT: Each season under Head Coach Tory Verdi the Eagles have taken steps to return to the programs's previous championship form. The 2014-15 squad is no different as the Green and White surpassed 10 Mid-American Conference wins for the first time in three seasons under Verdi. His 2012-13 team went 6-10 in the league while last year the club was 7-11 in MAC play.
   EMU has posted at least 10 victories in Mid-American Conference play on nine different occasions. Prior to the 2001-02 season, the Eagles had never won more than nine games in league action.

FREE THROWS KEY AGAINST THE BRONCOS: The Eagles shot just 33.9 percent from the field in the 74-65 victory over Western Michigan, March 4, but knocked down an impressive 29 free throws in 32 trips to the line for a 90.6 shooting percentage. The 29 free throws made are tied for sixth all-time in Convocation Center history, while the 90.6 free throw percentage ranked seventh all-time in Convo laurels. Sophomore Cha Sweeney led all scorers with her 30 points, going 10-for-11 from the charity stripe, eight of which came in the final two minutes of the contest. Along with Sweeney, senior Brianna Puni and Janay Morton scored 13 points apiece for the Green and White, 11 of which came from the line for Puni.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE CHIPPEWAS: The contest marks the 76th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 41-34, but EMU has won 21 of the last 30 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign. In the earlier meeting this year EMU posted a decisive 85-64 win over Central Michigan, Feb. 14, at the Convocation Center. 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.
    The Eagles topped their season-best by knocking down 13 three-pointers for a 52.0 shooting percentage. Meanwhile, CMU was playing without MAC Player of the Year candidate Crystal Bradford, who missed the game due to an injury.
   Eastern got the best of Central Michigan last year in overtime on Senior Day, March 8, 2014. CMU held the lead until the final three seconds of regulation time, when a layup from Desyree Thomas sent the contest into overtime at 77-77. The Eagles took the lead right out of the gates in the overtime period and never looked back, as the team went on to outscore the Chippewas 22-7 in OT.

TOP OF THE MAC: The Eagles rank in the top-five in eight different statistical categories, including being second in steals with 10.2 per game and offensive rebounds with 15.2 per games. EMU leads in rebounding offense at 41.9 and is third in scoring offense at 67.3 ppg.
   Individually, Janay Morton is second in steals at 2.1 swipes a contest, while Cha Sweeney is third with 2.1 takeaways. Sweeney is also eighth in scoring with Morton following closely in 16th and Jamaica Bucknor in 22nd.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 17 victories this season, EMU is averaging 72.7 points while the opposition is posting just 56.3 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 34.6 percent from the field compared to 40.9 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 58.9 points, while giving up 73.3. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 43.6 rebounds to just 38.9 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks the rebounding edge tracks in the opponents favor (EMU 39.2, OPP 45.9).

DEFENSE LEADING TO EASY OFFENSE: Over the previous 14 games, the ultra-athletic Eagles have forced 19.0 turnovers a game while snagging 10.9 steals. The 266 turnovers by the opposition led to 258 points-off-turnovers or 28.4 percent of the EMU's offense.

MAGIC NUMBER: The Eagles are 11-2 this season when scoring 70-or-more points in a contest. In three years under Head Coach Tory Verdi, EMU is 24-11 when reaching the 70-point plateau.

AGAINST IN-STATE SCHOOLS: Eastern Michigan has had great success against other collegiate programs in the state of Michigan over the past 12 seasons. Since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, the Eagles are 56-26 (68.3 winning percentage) against in-state rivals.

BUCKNOR AND PUNI MAKE FINAL CONVO APPEARANCE: EMU honored a pair of seniors March 4 in the home finale that made significant contributions to the Eagles success these past two seasons.
   A transfer from ASA College, Jamaica Bucknor has played in 55 games, starting 20 of those in her two years in Ypsilanti. She has reached double digits in points 17 times in her career, and her best showing occurred on the court earlier this season when she notched a career-best 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting against Madonna, Dec. 9. In total she has poured in 415 career points while grabbing 277 rebounds.
   After becoming eligible at the end of the fall semester following her transfer from Illinois State University, Brianna Puni has been a force in the lane for EMU. She has led the Eagles in rebounding in 11 of the 19 games she has played, including a career-best 16 rebound game against Detroit, Dec. 30. Her scoring presence has also been felt more as of late, with back-to-back 14 point efforts against Ball State, Feb. 25, and Northern Illinois, Feb. 28.

STANDING TALL AGAINST THE LEADERS: After weathering an extremely emotional month, the Eagles have come closer together as a group and its paid massive dividends on the hardwood.    The Eagles are the only team in the Mid-American Conference to have defeated both East Division champion Ohio University and West Division frontrunner Ball State this year on the road. Both of EMU's triumphs over the two leaders occurred on their hostile home courts, as the Eagles downed the Bobcats, 73-61, in Athens, Ohio, Feb. 18, and exactly one week later shutdown the Cardinals, 56-41, in Muncie, Ind., Feb. 25.
   Western Michigan is the only other team able to boast it has defeated both BSU and Ohio, but the Broncos lost to the Cardinals in their only trip into Muncie.

Eastern Treks to Mt. Pleasant for Final Road Trip of the Year

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Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Cha Sweeney

Desyree Thomas

Eastern Michigan Athletics