Women's Hoops Hits Road for MAC West Showdown with Broncos

Women's Basketball at Western Michigan
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 24 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Kalamazoo, Mich. \| University Arena (5,421)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Watch	E SPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 FM)
Twitter	@EMUW BB \| @EMUAthletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Plenty of postseason implications are on the line as the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team travels to University Arena for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt against Western Michigan University Wednesday, Feb. 28. Tipoff between EMU and WMU is scheduled for 7 p.m.
   Eastern Michigan travels to Kalamazoo with a 10-17 overall record, including a 6-10 mark in MAC play, after an 84-75 loss to Northern Illinois Saturday, Feb. 24. Western Michigan is looking to bounce back after a, 78-62, home loss to Central Michigan, Feb. 24. The setback was the fourth straight for the Broncos, who are 14-14 overall and 7-9 in league play.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, while veteran broadcasters Chad Bush and Greg Steiner will also have the call on WEMU 89.1 FM. Fans can also follow via Twitter, @EMUWBB.

WELCOME TO THE 400-CLUB!: Redshirt junior Danielle Minott's 18-point output versus Northern Illinois, Feb. 24, pushed her season point total to 409. She is the first Eagle to score 400+ points this season. Sasha Dailey and Phillis Webb registered 475 and 454 points, respectively, last season. Dailey's total ranks as the fifth-most by a junior in EMU history. The Miami, Fla. native's 409 points rank as the 10th-most by a junior in EMU history. At her current average of 16.4 points per game, Minott is on pace for 458 points, which would be good for seventh on the all-time list.

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. 9 seed and travel to No. 8 seeded Northern Illinois. Central Michigan, Buffalo, Ball State, and Miami would hold byes to Cleveland as the top four seeds.

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER...OR IS IT?: A serious candidate for Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, Courtnie Lewis has been one of EMU's most consistent players this season. Lewis is the only freshman in the country to boast shooting percentages of 45+ percent - 39+ percent - 75+ percent from the field, three-point range, and free throw line, respectively. The Belton, Mo. native is shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.5 percent from the charity stripe in her first collegiate season.

SASHA CRACKS THE TOP-FIVE: In her return home, Sasha Dailey cracked Eastern Michigan's top-five for games played in a career. Dailey's appearance against Toledo marked the 126th game she has played in for the Eagles, tying for the fifth-most in EMU laurels. Currently, Dailey ranks fifth with 127 games played. Former teammate Phillis Webb holds the record, having played in 134 games from 2013-17.

FINALLY GOT IT: Danielle Minott got a monkey off her back in EMU's game against Northern Illinois, Feb. 24, registering the first double-double of her career. After flirting with double-double numbers a few times throughout the season, Minott scored 18 points and grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds versus the Huskies. She is the third Eagle to record a double-double this season, joining Emoni Jackson and Courtnie Lewis who are tied for the active team lead with two apiece.

SECOND TIME AROUND: The Green and White have not found success when squaring off against opponents for the second time. So far this season, EMU has played two games against Kent State, Miami, Central Michigan, Toledo, and NIU. Eastern is 3-2 when taking on those opponents for the first time, but are winless (0-5) in the secondary meetings.
   A large part of the Eagles' struggles have been on the defensive side of the ball, where Eastern Michigan is allowing nearly 11 points more per game (81.6-70.8). Opponents are also shooting the ball more efficiently, knocking down buckets at a 48.3 clip compared to a 44.8 mark. EMU's shooting percentage in the first meeting sits at 45.2, but fails to 42.3 in rematches.

ALL-TIME VERSUS WESTERN MICHIGAN: The midweek contest against Western Michigan marks the 84th meeting between the Broncos and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. Eastern leads the all-time series by a count of 48-35, including winning 20 of the last 27 meetings.
EMU outlasted WMU in overtime, 69-67, in Ypsilanti, Jan. 17. The Green and White rode a 21-point first half by Danielle Minott and a double-double from Emoni Jackson to best the Broncos.

WINNING IN THE ZOO: Eastern Michigan is 17-21 against Western Michigan in Kalamazoo all-time, but has lost three of the last four meeting's at University Arena. EMU is looking for its first road win over WMU since knocking off the Broncos, 63-52, March 2, 2016. Chanise Baldwin fueled the Eagles to victory in a defensive battle, scoring a team-high 19 points and adding a team-best nine boards.

OLD FACES IN NEW PLACES: 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.

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 19.3 points per contest rank fourth-most, while Courtnie Lewis comes in at eighth at 16.7 ppg. Sasha Dailey rounds out the trio at 15th with 15.5 points per contest.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE: Freshman Courtnie Lewis is 26 games into her Eastern Michigan career, but has already put people on notice. The Belton, Mo. native is averaging 14.8 points per game, the second-best mark on the team, as well as the sixth-highest scoring average among "true" freshmen nationally. In the MAC, Lewis ranks ninth in three-point field goal percentage (39.8) and 11th in scoring, 15th in free throw percentage (77.5), and 13th in three-pointers made (43), all of which are the best of any freshman in the league.

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 accomplished 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 22. With her current average of 14.8 points per game, she is on pace to finish the year with 428 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 1,197 points, just 31 points behind Kristy Maska (1,228).

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 17 games this year and has averaged 73.1 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.

ABOVE 40: EMU's offense is much improved from a season ago, having shot 40.0 percent or better 15 times this season. The Green and White have been much more consistent since MAC play began, shooting above 40.0 percent in 11-of-16 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 60.5 percent (176-of-291) of its attempts from the stripe in losses.

CREATING SECOND CHANCES: The Green and White have owned the offensive glass, racking up 411 offensive rebounds. EMU's 15.2 offensive rebounds per game ranks second in the MAC and 29th nationally, while leading to 345 points or 18.4 percent of Eastern's scoring this season.

OFF TO THE RACES: Eastern Michigan has been dominant in transition, outscoring the opposition, 280-147, in fast break points. Offensively, the Green and White average 10.4 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.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan closes out the regular season at home against Ball State Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. The Senior Day showdown between the Eagles and Cardinals will kickoff with a special ceremony at 1:45 p.m., where EMU will recognize Tiffany Suarez, Sasha Dailey, Tori Easley, and Micah Robinson.

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Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Tori Easley

Emoni Jackson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Micah Robinson

Tiffany Suarez

Eastern Michigan Athletics