Women's Hoops Heads West Wednesday to Kalamazoo

Women's Basketball at Western Michigan
Date	Wednesday, March 2 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Kalamazoo, Mich. \| University Arena (5,421)
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU 89.1 FM
Twitter	@EMUWBB \| @EMUAthletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team embarks on a two-game road trip throughout the state of Michigan to wrap up the 2015-16 regular season. EMU first tangles with Western Michigan University Wednesday, March 2, in Kalamazoo, Mich. Tip-off for the Mid-American Conference game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at University Arena.
    The Eagles' (18-9, 9-7 MAC) hopes of a first round bye in the MAC Tournament still exist, but it will take some major help to catch the University of Toledo with only two games remaining. EMU would need to win out, plus the Rockets would have to lose both home contests against Central Michigan and Ball State. EMU could still tie BSU, however, the Cardinals would prevail in a seeding scenario after sweeping the season series against EMU. Western Michigan (5-13, 7-9 MAC) enters the matchup having lost three straight following a 73-61 setback to the Chippewas.
    Veteran broadcasters Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM). The game will be televised on ESPN3 as a part of the campus connection initiative.

ROAD ODDITY: For the first time in nearly a decade the Eagles will close out the regular season with a pair of road contests. The 2006-07 Eagles had to travel to Ball State and Central Michigan before hosting a first round MAC Tournament game. In those road affairs EMU went 1-1 with a last-second 74-73 loss at Ball State before rebounding for a 57-50 win at CMU. Coincidentally, EMU will be opposing the very same coach whom guided the Green and White in those games in WMU bench boss Shane Clipfell, who was EMU's acting head coach at the time.

NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!: EMU has won five of its last six games and now looks more like the team that was the league's West Division preseason favorite. During the current stretch, the Eagles have poured in an average of 69.2 points per game while shooting 40.7 percent (158-of-388) from the floor. Despite being out-rebounded by more than six boards a contest, EMU has limited the opposition to 36.1 percent shooting (126-for-349) and 56.7 ppg.
   Even more impressive has been the team's ability to cause havoc on defense, as the team managed a streak of four consecutive games that it did not trail for even a second of game action. With the team forcing 133 turnovers and blocking 16 shots, Cha Sweeney has been able to chip in 20.5 points while Chanise Baldwin is averaging 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game as well.

STEAL IT!: Janay Morton's six steal effort against BSU, Feb. 27, marked the 16th time an Eagle had notched four-or-more steals in a game this season. The MAC's leader in steals and a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, Morton has produced five of those multiple steal contests.

ALL-TIME WITH WMU: Wednesday's tilt with in-state rival Western Michigan marks the 80th meeting between the Eagles and Broncos, who first played during the 1976-77 campaign. Eastern leads the all-time series by a count of 46-33, and has won 18 of the last 23 meetings.
   Earlier this season, the two sides needed double overtime to decide a winner, as Eastern Michigan outlasted rival Western Michigan, 70-66, at the Convocation Center, Feb. 6. The contest featured a pair of buzzer-beaters, as the Broncos hit a desperation three as time expired to knot the game at 49-all to force overtime. In overtime, a missed shot by Cha Sweeney fell short of the rim, allowing Phillis Webb to collect the offensive rebound and convert another layup to send the game to a second overtime.

LAST TIME IN KALAMAZOO: Emotions were high before the Jan. 28, 2015 game at Western Michigan as the Eagles took to the court for the first time following the loss of their teammate, Shannise Heady, who along with fellow EMU student Jordan Hopkins passed away in an automobile accident. A moment of silence was held in Heady's honor before the game and the teams joined together for the national anthem. Both schools and members of the crowd also wore No. 32 patches in her memory.
   WMU beat EMU, 83-56, but Eagles coach Tory Verdi said he believed his team won by just playing the game. The Eagles forced Western Michigan into 20 turnovers, stealing 11 balls and committing just 10 miscues in the 40-minute contest. Despite losing the turnover battle, WMU outrebounded Eastern Michigan, 40-32. However, EMU grabbed 17 offensive rebounds compared to the Bronco's six.

A FAMILIAR FACE: Western Michigan Head Coach Shane Clipfell spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, and was the acting head coach for most of the 2006-07 season when then-Head Coach Suzy Merchant was on maternity leave.
    While serving as the acting head coach at EMU for a majority of the 2006-07 season, he guided the Eagles to a 16-13 overall record and a 10-6 finish in the MAC, good for second place in the West Division. Individually, Sarah VanMetre became the first women's basketball player in program history to be named Academic All-American, Patrice McKinney was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year and Alyssa Pittman was named the MAC Freshman of the Year.

FINDING SOME CONSISTENCY: #MACtion has not been kind to Eastern Michigan, as the Eagles dropped seven of its 16 conference games. In those tightly-contested battles, the Eagles have dropped five of them by a combined total of 15 points. EMU had a pair of 12 point leads against Akron, but on each occasion lost by three points. The Green and White also mounted a late rally from 16 points down at Bowling Green before suffering a four-point setback. Eastern fell to Central Michigan, 66-65, despite a final frantic nail-biting two minutes that featured several missed shots, turnovers and blocks - the last of which was delivered as time expired. Most recently, EMU was tied with under a minute to play against Ball State before the Cardinals eked out a 67-63 decision.
   In the seven MAC losses, EMU is averaging 63.7 points while shooting just 34.8 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the opposition has averaged 9.6 three-pointers while shooting 42.0 percent overall.

LOCKED IN ON DEFENSE: Eastern's defense has always been a point of emphasis with Head Coach Tory Verdi at the helm. Whether it's in the half court or the stifling full-court press, Verdi's squads have made a living overwhelming opponents. In fact, the Eagles have forced eight of their past 12 opponents to commit 21-or-more turnovers. In the past six games alone, EMU has forced opponents into a combined 133 miscues while only committing 74 itself. The Eagles have cashed in on opponents mishaps to the tune of a 137-53 edge in points off of turnovers.

SWEENEY MOVING UP THE JUNIOR SCORING CHARTS: With her name already cemented as the best freshman scorer in program history and the second-leading sophomore, Cha Sweeney has now turned her attention to shattering the junior annals. The Toledo, Ohio native already ranks fourth-best among EMU juniors and given her current pace would most likely remain in that spot with 543. The MAC's all-time leading scorer for a junior is Toledo's Kim Knuth, who rolled in 681 points in 1997-98.

       Name   Points    Year
   1.   Tavelyn James   642   2010-11
   2.   Laurie Byrd   557   1980-81
   3.   Ryan Coleman   544   2004-05
   4.   Cha Sweeney   489   2015-16
   5.   Nikki Knapp   433   2004-05

MAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: With the 2016 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. 6 seed for the tournament, hosting No. 11-seeded Miami for a first round contest set to take place March 7. For a complete MAC Tournament outlook, please check page 12 of these notes.

DEFENSE LEADING TO EASY OFFENSE: Over the team's 27 games, the ultra-athletic Eagles have forced 19.7 turnovers a game while snagging 11.6 steals. The 533 turnovers by the opposition has led to 541 points-off-turnovers, or 27.8 percent of EMU's offense.

FIELD GOAL WOES: EMU's aggressive defense has forced 13 of its last 19 opponents to shoot less than 40 percent from the floor during the contest. Even more impressive, three of those teams (Madonna, Akron and Buffalo) have been limited to less than 30 percent for the contest.

BLOCK YOU VERY MUCH: Graduate transfer Chanise Baldwin has averaged 2.2 blocks per game over the past six games, including a pair of four block performances against Central Michigan and Buffalo as well as a five rejection effort at Toledo.

LIVING ON THE ROAD: The Eagles will continue to see plenty of time on the road with the final two contests away from the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. Thankfully though, Eastern Michigan is 9-4 in true road games this season.

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 62-27 (69.7 winning percentage) against in-state rivals.

A LOOK AT THE CONFERENCE LEADERS: Eastern Michigan has positioned itself near the top of multiple statistical categories in the Mid-American Conference as of Feb. 29. Let's take a look...
   Player   Category   Rank   Number
   EMU   Turnovers Margin   1st   +6.56 (6th nationally)
   EMU   Steals Per Game   1st   11.6 (9th nationally)
   EMU   Fewest Turnovers   1st   356 (15th nationally)
   EMU   Turnovers Per Game   1st   13.2 (26th nationally)
   EMU   Turnovers Forced   2nd   19.74 (26th nationally)
   EMU   Scoring Offense   3rd   72.1 (49th nationally)
   Janay Morton   Steals Per Game   1st   2.78 (20th nationally)
   Janay Morton   Steals   1st   75 (23rd nationally)
   Cha Sweeney   Field Goal Attempts   1st   497 (22nd nationally)
   Chanise Baldwin   Blocks Per Game   2nd   1.52 (103rd nationally)
   Cha Sweeney   Points Per Game   5th   18.1 (62nd nationally)

ON THE HORIZON: For the seventh time since 2003-04, Eastern Michigan wraps up the regular season on the road as EMU tangles with MAC West Division leader Central Michigan University Saturday, March 5, at 1 p.m. EMU is 3-3 in those contests with all but one of the occurrences having taken place in Mount Pleasant, Mich. against the Chippewas.

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Players Mentioned

Chanise Baldwin

Shannise Heady

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics