Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, March 9
Cleveland, Ohio
7:30 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
21-10
67
vs
53
Ball State
21-9
1
2
3
4
F
Eastern Michigan
17
15
13
22
67
Ball State
18
6
13
16
53
Photo by: Jonathan Knight Photography
Women's Hoops Advances to MAC Semifinals with 67-53 Win Over BSU
3/9/2016 9:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Eagles will take on Central Michigan Friday, March 11, at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Photo Gallery.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team avenged a pair of regular season losses to Ball State University Tuesday, March 9, bouncing the Cardinals from the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Eagles (21-10) held off a third quarter push by the Cardinals (21-9) to punch their ticket to the semifinals with a 67-53 victory.
Junior Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Eagles, 19 of which came in the first half. Fellow junior Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) added 12 points. Graduate transfer Chanise Baldwin (Pontiac, Mich.-Martin Luther King-Providence College) nearly recorded a double-double, falling one point shy while corralling a game-high 13 rebounds. Baldwin's control of the glass led the Eagles to a 48-43 rebounding advantage.
As a team, the Eagles shot 32.8 percent from the floor, connecting on 21-of-64 shot attempts. Meanwhile, the stifling defense of the Green and White held the Cardinals to a 30.6 field goal percentage on 19-of-62 shooting. Eastern made 25 trips to the charity stripe, knocking down 18 free throws to finish 72.0 from the line. BSU attempted just 12 free throws in the contest, converting nine.
"Our players competed for 40 minutes tonight," said Head Coach Tory Verdi. "I'm extremely proud of their effort and focus. We did an excellent job of executing our defensive game plan. Our pressure in the backcourt bottled them up, made them tired and affected their execution in the half court."
Behind hot shooting, Ball State ran out to a 10-2 lead just three minutes into the contest before the Eagles clawed their way back. Sweeney led the charge, scoring 10 points in the opening frame while the EMU defense held the Cardinals to 3-of-13 shooting from the floor.
Despite trailing in the early goings, the Green and White overcame a sluggish start, turning an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead at halftime. Sophomore Sasha Dailey (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) knocked down a pair of free throws from the charity stripe, giving EMU a 19-18 edge, its first of the contest moments into the second period. Eastern Michigan held the Cardinals to just six points in the quarter in addition to forcing four BSU miscues to take a 32-24 lead at the midway point.
In the third, Ball State pulled within one, 36-35, before Sweeney knocked down a baseline trey. The triple by Sweeney started a 9-2 run that ultimately gave Eastern a 45-37 lead heading into the final stanza.
Morton fueled the Eagles over the course of the final 10 minutes, consistently responding to Ball State buckets and overwhelming the Cardinals guards. The Brooklyn Park, Minn. native poured in nine points in the frame to pace the Green and White to a 67-53 victory.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the MAC Semifinals for the second-straight year and will tangle with second-seeded Central Michigan University. Eastern will look to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Chippewas at approximately 2:30 p.m. inside "The Q" with a chance to make their way to the MAC Tournament Championship game for the second consecutive season.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team avenged a pair of regular season losses to Ball State University Tuesday, March 9, bouncing the Cardinals from the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Eagles (21-10) held off a third quarter push by the Cardinals (21-9) to punch their ticket to the semifinals with a 67-53 victory.
Junior Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Eagles, 19 of which came in the first half. Fellow junior Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) added 12 points. Graduate transfer Chanise Baldwin (Pontiac, Mich.-Martin Luther King-Providence College) nearly recorded a double-double, falling one point shy while corralling a game-high 13 rebounds. Baldwin's control of the glass led the Eagles to a 48-43 rebounding advantage.
As a team, the Eagles shot 32.8 percent from the floor, connecting on 21-of-64 shot attempts. Meanwhile, the stifling defense of the Green and White held the Cardinals to a 30.6 field goal percentage on 19-of-62 shooting. Eastern made 25 trips to the charity stripe, knocking down 18 free throws to finish 72.0 from the line. BSU attempted just 12 free throws in the contest, converting nine.
"Our players competed for 40 minutes tonight," said Head Coach Tory Verdi. "I'm extremely proud of their effort and focus. We did an excellent job of executing our defensive game plan. Our pressure in the backcourt bottled them up, made them tired and affected their execution in the half court."
Behind hot shooting, Ball State ran out to a 10-2 lead just three minutes into the contest before the Eagles clawed their way back. Sweeney led the charge, scoring 10 points in the opening frame while the EMU defense held the Cardinals to 3-of-13 shooting from the floor.
Despite trailing in the early goings, the Green and White overcame a sluggish start, turning an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead at halftime. Sophomore Sasha Dailey (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) knocked down a pair of free throws from the charity stripe, giving EMU a 19-18 edge, its first of the contest moments into the second period. Eastern Michigan held the Cardinals to just six points in the quarter in addition to forcing four BSU miscues to take a 32-24 lead at the midway point.
In the third, Ball State pulled within one, 36-35, before Sweeney knocked down a baseline trey. The triple by Sweeney started a 9-2 run that ultimately gave Eastern a 45-37 lead heading into the final stanza.
Morton fueled the Eagles over the course of the final 10 minutes, consistently responding to Ball State buckets and overwhelming the Cardinals guards. The Brooklyn Park, Minn. native poured in nine points in the frame to pace the Green and White to a 67-53 victory.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the MAC Semifinals for the second-straight year and will tangle with second-seeded Central Michigan University. Eastern will look to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Chippewas at approximately 2:30 p.m. inside "The Q" with a chance to make their way to the MAC Tournament Championship game for the second consecutive season.
Team Stats
EMU
BALLST
FG%
.328
.306
3FG%
.269
.240
FT%
.720
.750
RB
48
43
TO
6
11
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballG
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