Women's Hoops Opens MAC Tournament at No. 8 Northern Illinois Monday

Women's Basketball at No. 8 Northern Illinois
Date	Monday, March 5 \| 6 p.m. CT
Venue	DeKalb, Ill. \| Convocation Center (10,000)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| NIU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	E SPN3
Tournament Central	MAC Tournament Central
Twitter	@EMUW BB \| @EMUAthletics

DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team's postseason begins on the road Monday, March 5, as No. 9 EMU treks to DeKalb, Ill. for a first-round tilt against No. 8-seeded Northern Illinois University. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT inside NIU's Convocation Center.
   Eastern Michigan (10-19, 6-12 MAC) enters the tournament following an, 88-63, loss to Ball State on Senior Day, March 3. NIU (15-14, 7-11 MAC) closed out the regular season with an, 85-66, loss at home to Western Michigan, March 3.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Fans can also follow via the team's Twitter account, @EMUWBB.

EMU's MAC TOURNAMENT ADVENTURE TO BEGIN ON THE ROAD: Eastern Michigan will open the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament on the road Monday, March 5. It marks the third time since 1998-99 that the Eagles will not have either a bye to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, or a first round home game at the Convocation Center.
   Since the MAC switched to the 12-team format in 1998-99, Eastern Michigan has hosted 11 first round contests, while accumulating three free-passes to the second round at "The Q". In addition, the Green and White played a trio of first round contests in Cleveland during a stretch when all the teams were brought directly to the neutral site.

HITTING THE HARDWOOD WITH THE HUSKIES: Monday's first-round meeting between Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois will be the 51st meeting all-time. EMU holds the edge, leading the series 35-15, but is just 1-2 in three all-time MAC Tournament tilts vs. NIU.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 41-35 record during the month of March over the last 20 years, including an 8-2 mark during the 2014-15 season.

UNDERDOGS: In EMU's postseason history, Eastern Michigan has posted six wins over better ranked opponents. The Green and White's last upset was in the quarterfinals of the 2016 MAC Tournament, when No. 6 EMU ousted No. 3-seeded Ball State, 67-53, inside Quicken Loans Arena, March 9, 2016.

EMU IN DEKALB: Eastern Michigan is 17-7 against Northern Illinois in DeKalb all-time. Most recently, EMU and NIU met in DeKalb, Jan. 20, with Eastern coming away with an, 83-76, triumph. Four players reached double figures for the Eagles, with Sasha Dailey leading the way with 19 points. Emoni Jackson also had a breakout game, corralling 14 rebounds and dropping 13 points for the first double-double of her career.

ON THE ROAD IN THE TOURNEY: Eastern Michigan will begin the postseason on the road for the second straight year and just the third time since the 1999 season. Last season, EMU's upset bid fell short at Ohio. The 12th-seeded Eagles had the No. 5 Bobcats within five late, but OU pulled away to end EMU's season with a 63-49 setback.
   All-time, Eastern Michigan is 0-6 in road tournament games, going 0-2 at Bowling Green, 0-1 at Toledo, 0-1 at Kent State, 0-1 at WMU, and 0-1 at Ohio.

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN: Underdogs have been hard-pressed to string together wins in the MAC Tournament in recent years, as no team seeded No. 9-or-below has won more than two games since 2009.

UPSET SPECIAL: The last time a No. 9 seed came out victorious in the opening round of the MAC Tournament was back in 2015, when No. 9 Central Michigan topped No. 8 Northern Illinois, 49-44.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport a 24-21 mark in 23 trips to the conference postseason and are making their second under Head Coach Fred Castro. The Eagles have faced Bowling Green (2-5) the most times of any squad in the tournament. Eastern is 5-1 against Toledo, 2-4 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, 1-1 versus Central Michigan, 1-1 against Akron, and winless against Western Michigan in two tries. EMU was 2-0 versus Marshall in tournament play before the Thundering Herd departed for Conference USA.

LAST POSTSEASON MEETING VERSUS NIU: The No. 8-seeded Eagles were upset in the opening round of the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament by the No.9-seeded Huskies of Northern Illinois, 81-76, in overtime, March 10, 2014. EMU went on to finish the season with a trip to the Women's Basketball Invitational, where Eastern went 1-1, posting a win over Evansville and falling to Illinois-Chicago.
   The Green and White was led by Cha Sweeney, who was one point off her career-high with 26 points. The freshman tied her career-best in three-pointers, hitting four shots from the outside. Shannise Heady recorded a career-high scoring night, putting up 17 points. Ending her EMU career with one final double-double, Natachia Watkins chipped in 15 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with four steals.

MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDING FACTS: In the 35 years of the tournament, the top seed has won the title 22 times. In 2015, the No. 6 Eastern Michigan Eagles became the then-highest seed to ever advance to the tournament championship game. Buffalo, a No. 8 seed in 2016, 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.

APPROACHING RARE AIR: Sasha Dailey enters Saturday's Senior Day tilt just nine rebounds shy of 400 for her career. If Dailey grabs 12 boards prior to the end of the season, she will be just the third player in program history to score 1,200+ points, grab 400+ rebounds, and register 200-or-more steals. Additionally, she would be the first Eagle to accomplish the feat since Ryan Coleman did so in 2006. Dailey would join Coleman, who ranks second in steals (265), fourth in points (1,793), and eighth in rebounds (747), and Stephanie Smiley (1,401 points/785 rebounds/243 steals) in the elusive 1,200-400-200 club.

CHECKING ANOTHER ITEM OFF THE LIST: Courtnie Lewis is on the verge of checking another accomplishment off the list in what has been an incredible season for the freshman guard. Lewis, who averages 14.9 points per game, is set to become the first EMU freshman to average double figures since Cha Sweeney did so in 2013. Sweeney, who was good for 17.4 points per game, went on to be named the 2013 MAC Freshman of the Year.

HEY! I CAN DO THAT TOO!: Just one week after Danielle Minott surpassed 400 points on the season, freshman Courtnie Lewis followed suit. With 18 points against Ball State Saturday, March 3, Lewis became just the fifth Eagle to score 400-or-more points as a freshman. Currently, the Belton, Mo. native ranks 16 points behind Janay Morton and Ryan Coleman for third-most on the all-time list.

.500 AT HOME: The Eagles finished 6-6 inside the Convocation Center this year following their defeat to the Cardinals, marking the 18th time in 20 seasons EMU has finished at least .500 at home.

400 POINTS... AND THEN SOME: Redshirt junior Danielle Minott's 18-point output versus Northern Illinois, Feb. 24, pushed her season point total to 409, making her the first Eagle to score 400+ points this year. 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 currently has 434 points rank as the seventh-most by a junior in EMU history. She is currently 25 points behind Janay Morton's sixth-ranked total of 459.

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 44+ percent - 40+ percent - 75+ percent from the field, three-point range, and free throw line, respectively. The Belton, Mo. native is shooting 44.2 percent from the floor, 40.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe in her first collegiate season.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE: Freshman Courtnie Lewis is 27 games into her Eastern Michigan career, but has already put people on notice. The Belton, Mo. native is averaging 14.9 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 seventh in three-point field goal percentage (39.3) and 11th in scoring, 13th in free throw percentage (77.8), and 12th in three-pointers made (50), all of which are the best of any freshman in the league.

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 1,226 points, just two points behind Kristy Maska (1,228).

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, NIU, and Western Michigan. Eastern is 4-3 when taking on those opponents for the first time, but are winless (0-7) 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 just under 10 points more per game (81.4-73.1). Opponents are also shooting the ball more efficiently, knocking down buckets at a 48.8 clip compared to a 44.5 mark overall, and improve from a 29.5 three-point field goal percentage to a 43.5 clip from deep. To make matters worse, EMU holds a 38.7-37.3 edge on the glass the first time around, but is -4.7 on the glass in rematches.

BIG GAMES AGAINST THE BIG THREE: EMU's setback versus Ball State Saturday, March 3, marked Eastern's fifth game against the "Big Three" of the MAC. Buffalo, CMU, and Ball State, all of whom rank inside the top-50 RPI, hold the top seeds in the MAC Tournament, but don't tell Courtnie Lewis that.
   The Belton, Mo. product is averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 rebounds in five games against the trio of MAC foes. Not only is she putting up gaudy numbers, she is also doing it efficiently. Lewis is shooting a whopping 51.1 percent from the floor against the trio, including a blistering 53.6 percent from three-point range.

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 tied for second with 129 games played. Former teammate Phillis Webb holds the record, having played in 134 games from 2013-17.

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 18.5 points per contest rank tied for fifth-most, while Courtnie Lewis comes in at 10th at 16.6 ppg. Sasha Dailey rounds out the trio at 15th with 15.4 points per contest.

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 fifth-place on EMU's freshman scoring list and trails Ryan Coleman and Janay Morton's third-ranked mark of 417 points by 16.

SASHA MAKES IT FIVE STRAIGHT: When Sasha Dailey joined the 1,000-point club Saturday, Jan. 6, it marked the fifth consecutive season in which the Eagles have had a player break into four-digit scoring for their career. The streak began with Natachia Watkins back in 2013-14, while Cha Sweeney (2014-15), Janay Morton (2015-16), and Phillis Webb (2017-18) accomplished the feat leading up to Dailey.

TEAM IMPACT: Eastern Michigan added Alyssa Suisham to the roster before the start of the 2017-18 season through Team Impact, a non-profit organization which aims to improve the quality of life of children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses through sport. Suisham, a native of Royal Oak, Mich., was diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy at nine months old, and began to experience seizures at the age of two.

STANDING TALL: Measuring in at 6-foot-5, freshman Autumn Hudson joins Colleen Russell (2004-08) as the tallest Eagle in program history. A four-year letterwinner, Hudson eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in high school. She was also named first team all-league, second team all-district, and All-Ohio Honorable Mention.

O'CANADA: Lorraine Enabulele is the first Canadian to sport the Green and Whites since the 2007-08 season when Colleen Russell played for the Eagles. A transfer from Kansas, Enabulele has two seasons of eligibility remaining after transfering from Kansas prior to the 2016-17 campaign.

BELTON CONNECTION: Courtnie Lewis is not the first Kansas City area native to land in Ypsilanti. In fact, Lewis and former EMU standout Paige Redditt both graduated from Belton High School. Redditt, a 6-foot-1 forward for the Eagles from 2008-12, averaged 6.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during her time donning the Green and White. Currently, she ranks tied for ninth all-time with 13 double-doubles.

ON THE HORIZON: With a win, the Eagles will advance to the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament and face top-seeded Central Michigan. The game between EMU and CMU would take place at "The Q" in Cleveland, Wednesday, March 7, at noon.

Women's Hoops Opens MAC Tournament at No. 8 Northern Illinois Monday

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Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Lorraine Enabulele

Autumn Hudson

Emoni Jackson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics