Women's Hoops Heads to Glass City to Take on Toledo

Women's Basketball at Toledo
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 21 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Toledo, Ohio \| Savage Arena (7,014)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| UT Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	E SPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 FM)
Twitter	@EMUW BB \| @EMUAthletics

TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team aims to keep pace in a battle for postseason seeding when it travels to the Glass City for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt against the University of Toledo Wednesday, Feb. 21. Tipoff inside of Savage Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
   Eastern Michigan clawed its way back from a 17-point deficit, but could not complete the comeback at Central Michigan, Feb. 17. EMU fell 95-82 to CMU, dropping to 10-15 on the season and 6-8 in MAC play. On the flip side, Toledo overcame an early hole to top Western Michigan in overtime, 69-68, Feb. 17. With the win, UT improved to 16-10 on the year and 7-7 in league play.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, while veteran broadcasters Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will have the call on WEMU 89.1 FM. Fans can also follow via Twitter, @EMUWBB.

WELL, THAT WAS PLEASANT: Courtnie Lewis put together another outstanding performance for the Eagles in Mount Pleasant, Feb. 17. The freshman phenom finished one point off her career-high, scoring 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Lewis went 6-of-9 shy from three-point range, tying for the ninth-best three-point field goal percentage in a game in EMU history. It was the best outing from beyond the arc by an Eagle since Janay Morton went 5-for-7 from three at Toledo, Jan. 23, 2016.

PLENTY TO GO AROUND: Since conference play has rolled around, Eastern Michigan has seen the best of its three-headed monster. In league games only, EMU is one of two teams to have three players inside the top-15 in scoring, with Central Michigan being the only other team to do so. Danielle Minott's 18.6 points per contest rank fifth-most, while Courtnie Lewis comes in at seventh at 17.5 ppg. Sasha Dailey rounds out the trio at 15th with 15.5 points per contest.
DIALING IN FROM LONG DISTANCE: EMU's offensive performance against Central Michigan was highlighted by an 11-of-21 showing from three-point range, the most triples by the Eagles since Feb. 14, 2015, when EMU knocked down 13 three's against the Chippewas.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE: Freshman Courtnie Lewis is 25 games into her Eastern Michigan career, but has already put people on notice. The Belton, Mo. native is averaging 15.1 points per game, the second-best mark on the team, as well as the fifth-highest scoring average among "true" freshmen nationally. In the MAC, Lewis ranks eighth in three-point field goal percentage (39.6) and 11th in scoring, 13th in three-pointers made (42), and 14th in free throw percentage (76.9), all of which are the best of any freshman in the league.

SEEDING SCOOP: With more than half of the Mid-American Conference season in the books, Eastern Michigan finds itself in the thick of things when it comes to tournament seeding. If the MAC Tournament began today, the Eagles would hold the No. 8 seed and host No. 9 seeded Northern Illinois. Central Michigan, Buffalo, Ball State, and Miami would hold byes to Cleveland as the top four seeds.

BIG GAMES AGAINST THE BIG THREE: EMU's setback at Central Michigan Saturday, Feb. 17, marked Eastern's fourth game against the "Big Three" of the MAC. Buffalo, CMU, and Ball State, all of whom rank inside the top-40 RPI, hold the top three seeds in the MAC currently, but don't tell Courtnie Lewis that.
   The Belton, Mo. product is averaging 24.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in four games against the trio of MAC foes. Not only is she putting up guady numbers, she is also doing it efficiently. Lewis is shooting a whopping 55.1 percent from the floor against the trio, including a blistering 52.4 percent from three-point range.

MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD: Seniors Sasha Dailey and Tori Easley will suit up against their hometown team Wednesday, when the Eagles clash with the Rockets. It will mark the eighth time the duo will take on their hometown team, as the tandem attended Rogers High School in Toledo, Ohio.
Dailey has fared well against the Rockets, averaging 12.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per contest. Additionally, she has hit 44.7 percent (34-of-76) of her shots against UT in seven previous meetings.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ROCKETS: Wednesday's contest marks the 81st meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 48-32, but the Eagles have taken five of the last eight meetings.
   EMU came out on top, 70-57, when the Rockets and Eagles clashed in Ypsilanti, Jan. 6. Sasha Dailey led the Eagles with 20 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for her career, while Danielle Minott and Courtnie Lewis added 15 and 12 points, respectively. EMU's grounded the Rockets, holding them to a 38.2 field goal percentage and forcing them into 17 turnovers, and led by as many as 17 before coming away with a 13-point win.

CONTINUING TO CLIMB: It comes as no surprise to those familiar with Eastern Michigan that Courtnie Lewis has reached yet another milestone in what has already been a fantastic freshman season. A MAC Freshman of the Year candidate, Lewis eclipsed the 300-point mark with her 29-point output versus Ball State, Feb. 7, becoming the first freshman Eagle to do so since Janay Morton and Cha Sweey both acomplished the feat in 2013-14.
   In addition, Lewis sits in sixth-place on EMU's freshman scoring list and trails Holly Mitchell's fifth-ranked mark of 393 points by 29. With her current average of 15.1 points per game, she is on pace to finish the year with 438 points, which would be good for second-most in EMU laurels.

MAKIN' MOVES: Senior Sasha Dailey eclipsed the 1, 000-point mark against Toledo, Jan. 6. Since then, the Toledo, Ohio native has continued her ascent up the EMU all-time scoring list. Currently, she ranks 17th in EMU laurels with 1,166 points, just 62 points behind Kristy Maska (1,228).

ABOVE 40: EMU's offense is much improved from a season ago, having shot 40.0 percent or better 13 times this season. The Green and White have been much more consistent since MAC play began, shooting above 40.0 percent in 9-of-14 conference contests. Last year, EMU only shot above the 40.0 percent mark eight times, and never topped 44.0 percent.

SWEET CHARITY: A key to Eastern Michigan's ability to win close games this season has been how the Green and White perform at the free throw line. In its nine victories EMU is shooting 67.4 percent (124-of-184), while Eastern is converting just 61.3 percent (162-of-264) of its attempts from the stripe in losses.

CREATING SECOND CHANCES: The Green and White have owned the offensive glass, racking up 382 offensive rebounds. EMU's 15.3 offensive rebounds per game ranks top in the MAC and 24th nationally, while leading to 325 points or 18.8 percent of Eastern's scoring this season.

OFF TO THE RACES: Eastern Michigan has been dominant in transition, outscoring the opposition, 270-135, in fast break points. Offensively, the Green and White average 10.8 transition points per game, while giving up just an average of 5.4 points per contest. For the season, EMU is 6-4 when scoring 10+ fast break points.

SHARING IS CARING: EMU's ability to distribute the ball has been a true-tale sign of its success offensively this season. Eastern has racked up 10-or-more assists in 16 games this year and has averaged 73.4 points in those contests. On the flip side, the Eagles score more than 10 points less (61.8 ppg) when finishing with a single digit assist total.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan is back at the Convocation Center to host Northern Illiniois, Feb. 24, in an EMU-NIU doubleheader with the EMU men's basketball team. Tipoff of the men's game is slated for noon, while the women's game will tipoff at approximately 2:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Tori Easley

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics