Women's Hoops Battles CMU in Friday's MAC Tournament Semifinals

Women's Basketball vs. Central Michigan
Date	Friday, March 11 \| 2:15 p.m.
Venue	Cleveland, Ohio \| Quicken Loans Arena (20,562)
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 FM)
Twitter	@EMUWBB \| @EMUAthletics
Tickets	Order Tickets Online or call 734.487.2282

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team returns to the court Friday afternoon, March 11, squaring off with the Chippewas of Central Michigan University in the semifinals of the 2016 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena. The Eagles, who advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year, sport a 21-10 mark while the Chippewas boast a 21-9 record as the West Division Champions. The contest will be shown locally on Time Warner Cable Sportschannel, as well as ESPN3. WEMU (89.1 FM) will air the game with Chad Bush and Greg Steiner on the call at approximately 2:15 p.m.

NINTH SEMIFINAL APPEARANCE: For the fourth time in six years and the ninth time overall, the Eagles have advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. All of EMU's semifinal appearances have occurred since the 2000 tournament, with the Green and White holding a 4-4 record in those contests.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport a 24-20 mark in 23 trips to the conference postseason and are making their fourth under Head Coach Tory Verdi. The Eagles have faced Bowling Green (2-5) the most times of any squad in the tournament. Eastern is 5-1 against Toledo, 2-3 versus Ohio, 3-3 against Kent State and 2-2 versus Miami. EMU is 3-1 in postseason play versus Ball State and 1-2 against Northern Illinois. The Green and White are 2-0 against Buffalo, 1-0 versus Central Michigan, 1-1 against Akron and winless against Western Michigan. EMU was 2-0 versus Marshall in tournament play before the Thundering Herd departed for Conference USA.

EMU AT THE 'Q': Eastern Michigan is very familiar with the Quicken Loans Arena floor, as the school has posted a 14-9 record, including capturing the 2004 and 2012 championships.

EXPECT PLENTY OF OFFENSE: Two of the top three scoring teams in the Mid-American Conference tangle in Cleveland, Ohio, March 11, when rivals Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan collide. The Chippewas lead the MAC in scoring offense at 74.4 points per game while the Eagles are third with a 71.6 ppg average. Both sides are nearly identical in scoring defense, as CMU gives up 66.9 ppg while EMU allows 64.3 to the opposition.
   The Green and White has posted 75-or-more points 10 times and the Maroon and Gold has accomplished the feat 14 times.

ALL-TIME WITH CMU: Friday's contest marks the 79th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 43-35, but EMU has won 22 of the last 33 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign. The Chippewas eked out a 66-65 victory in Ypsilanti, Feb. 3, earlier this season and then recorded a 78-70 decision in Mount Pleasant, March 5, in the regular season finale.
   Last year, EMU posted a decisive 85-64 win over Central Michigan at the Convocation Center, Feb. 14, 2015, and followed it up with a 93-86 victory in the regular season finale in Mount Pleasant, March 7, 2015.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE CHIPS: EMU dropped its final regular season game of the 2015-16 campaign, 78-70, to Central Michigan, March 5, at McGuirk Arena. Eastern Michigan was led by Cha Sweeney's team-high 19 points and six assists while graduate transfer Chanise Baldwin and junior Phillis Webb also reached double-digits. Baldwin added 14 points and eight rebounds while Webb posted her fifth career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. As a team, Eastern shot 43.3 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, going 9-for-26 in its loss to the Chippewas.
   The Chippewas' offensive output was spread out evenly as they had five players notch double-digit scoring in the game. Jewel Cotton led all CMU players with 20 points, while Presley Hudson had 11 point and pulled down 11 rebounds. Reyna Frost added 14 points to the Chippewa tally and Da'Jourie Turner and Cassie Breen scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Central Michigan.

LAST POSTSEASON MEETING VERSUS CMU: The No. 2 seeded Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team needed just one field goal in the final 8:14 of play to dispatch fifth-seeded Central Michigan University, 72-71, March 10, 2012, in the championship game of the 2012 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. Paige Redditt stuffed home the game-winning layup with 1.8 seconds left to earn the Eagles their first MAC title since 2004 and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF: Cha Sweeney has found Quicken Loans Arena to be her home away from home these last two seasons, as the Toledo, Ohio, product has averaged 26.2 points per game in five career contests at The Q. She as tallied 131 points in that span and has not scored less than 21 points in any of those contests.
   Last year, Sweeney set the Mid-American Conference Tournament record with 123 points in the team's five-game run to the championship game. In 2015, she scored 29 in 38 minutes against Toledo; 24 in 29 minutes against Akron; and 25 in 36 minutes of a semifinal against Ball State. In the championship game against Ohio, Sweeney scored 24 but went 7-of-25 from the field in 35 minutes.

LOOKING TO SPOIL THE THREE-PEAT: Eastern Michigan is looking to end the 2016 spell against Central Michigan, as the Eagles have lost both regular season meetings to the Chippewas. Eastern Michigan has never in its history fell to an opponent three-times in the same season, and mostly recently downed Ball State on Wednesday to keep that streak intact.

NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!: EMU has won eight of its last 10 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 68.8 points per game while shooting 39.9 percent (252-of-631) from the floor. Despite being out-rebounded by more than five boards a contest, EMU has limited the opposition to 37.5 percent shooting (218-for-582) and 58.3 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 192 turnovers and blocking 24 shots, Cha Sweeney has been able to chip in 19.5 points while Chanise Baldwin is averaging 12.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game as well.

THIRD TIMES A CHARM: The Eagles entered Wednesday night's MAC quarterfinals clash with Ball State University looking to knock off the Cardinals for the first time this season after dropping the two regular season meetings. The Green and White did just that, March 9, overcoming an early deficit to head advance to the semifinals. Trailing by as many as eight in the first half, the Eagles shutdown the Cardinals in the second half, ultimately cruising to a 67-53 victory. With the win, EMU ended the Cardinals MAC Championship hopes for the second consecutive season.

WINNING THE BOARDS: For the first time in over a month, and just the second time since Jan. 30, the Eagles won the rebounding battle. The Green and White pulled down 48 boards to Ball State's 43 to finish +5 on the glass, March 9. Capitalizing on its advantage, Eastern held a 12-4 edge in second chance points. Chanise Baldwin led the rebounding effort, pulling down a game-high 13 caroms while Phillis Webb corralled nine.

SEEDING IS OUT THE WINDOW: After seeding played out in round one of the Mid-American Conference Championship, higher seeds fell by the wayside in the quarterfinals. In addition to the sixth-seeded Eagles knocking off No. 2 seed Ball State, No. 8 Buffalo shocked No. 1 Ohio and No. 5 Akron topped No. 4 Toledo. No. 2 Central Michigan narrowly escaped No. 7 Western Michigan's upset bid to round out the quarterfinals contests.

EMU POSTS EIGHTH 20-WIN SEASON: With the first-round win over Kent State University, March 7, EMU picked up its eighth 20-win season in the past 13 campaigns. Prior to the 2003-04 year, Eastern Michigan had never won more than 18 games in a single season.

20-WIN SEASONS, MAC SCHOOLS SINCE 2003-04
Bowling Green   11   2004-05-06-07-08-09-10-11-12-13-14
Eastern Michigan   8   2004-05-06-10-11-12-15-16
Central Michigan   5    2011-12-13-14-16
Kent State   4    2005-06-10-11
Toledo   4    2010-11-12-13
Akron   3   2013-14-15
Miami   3   2004-08-12
Ball State   3   2007-09-16
Ohio   3   2008-15-16
Western Michigan   1   2015

SWEENEY AND MORTON COLLECT ALL-MAC HONORS: Juniors Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton were named to the 2016 All-Mid-American Conference teams, March 7. Sweeney earned second team honors for the third consecutive season. Meanwhile, Morton reeled in her first postseason honors since being named to the MAC All-Freshmen Team at the end of the 2013-14 campaign, earning a spot on both the All-MAC Third Team as well as the first-ever All-MAC Defensive Team.
   The 5-foot-2 guard led the Eagles in scoring (17.9 ppg) which ranked as the fifth most in the MAC, highlighted by 11 occasions in which she scored 20 points or more. In addition to her stellar scoring effort, the Toledo, Ohio native also led the Green and White in assists (4.0 apg), which was sixth-best in the league, while also placing third with 1.9 steals per contest. Sweeney ranked fifth in free throw percentage, knocking down 82.7 percent of her shots from the charity stripe this season while she is 10th in the league with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th in three-point field goals made (59).
   In the midst of the best season of her career, Morton is second on the team in scoring. Averaging 13.2 points per contest, the Brooklyn Park, Minn. product led the Green and White in steals (2.8 spg). One of five players to earn a slot on the first-ever All-MAC Defensive Team, Morton recorded at least one steal in every game this season.

DROPPING DIMES: The Eagles shared the wealth, dishing out 18 assists on 24 baskets on their way to a 73-60 win over Kent State, March 7. EMU's 18 assists ranks as the second-most this season and most against a NCAA Division I opponent. The Green and White totaled 24 dimes in a 104-45 win over Madonna, Dec. 18, 2015.

STAT STUFFER: Junior Cha Sweeney may not have had her best scoring performance in the Eagles' 73-60 win over Kent State, March 7, but the 5-foot-2 guard filled up the stat sheet to keep EMU's MAC Championship hopes alive. Flirting with a triple-double, Sweeney recorded the third double-double of her career. Scoring 14 points, Sweeney tied a career-high with 10 assists, while also tying a career-high with six steals in 38 minutes of action.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 40-29 record during the month of March over the last 18 years, including an 8-2 mark last season.

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT: Each season under Head Coach Tory Verdi the Eagles have taken steps to return to the programs's previous championship form. The 2015-16 squad is no different as the Green and White surpassed 10 Mid-American Conference wins for the second time in four seasons under Verdi. EMU has posted at least 10 victories in MAC play on 10 different occasions. Prior to the 2001-02 season, the Eagles had never won more than nine games in league action.
   Eastern Michigan also has a chance to capture 20 victories for the eighth time in program history with another win in 2015-16. The team had consecutive 20-win seasons from 2003-2006 and again from 2009-11.

THE NEW LAW OF AVERAGES: During Eastern Michigan's sensational run to the 2015 MAC title game a season ago, the Eagle used a relentless offensive attack to take opponents out of games early in the MAC Tournament. By game's end EMU outscored the opposition by a +11.6 margin (EMU 71.6, OPP 60.0). Tory Verdi's 2014-15 Eagles were the fourth team in MAC Tournament history to win four games.

SEEKING MAC TITLE NUMBER THREE: The Eagles advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament in 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2015. EMU is 2-2 all-time in the contest that decides the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Green and White defeated BGSU, 65-56, in the 2004 finale, March 13, and then fell to the Falcons, 51-46, in the 2011 title game, March 12. One year later, EMU defeated CMU 72-71 thanks to a Paige Redditt layup with 1.8 seconds left in the contest. Last season, the Eagles saw its eight-game winning streak come to a close in the finals as No. 1-seeded Ohio claimed a 60-44 victory at Quicken Loans Arena.

MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDING FACTS: In the 34 years of the tournament, the top seed has won the title 22 times. In 2015, the No. 6 Eastern Michigan Eagles became the highest seed to ever advance to the tournament championship game. Western Michigan, a No. 4 seed in 2003, is the highest seed to ever win the title. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have met 15 times in the championship game, with the top seed winning 13 times.

Women's Hoops Battles CMU in Friday's MAC Tournament Semifinals

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Players Mentioned

Chanise Baldwin

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics