Women's Hoops Opens MAC Play at Kent State

Women's Basketball at Kent State
Date	Saturday, Jan. 5 \| 5 p.m.
Venue	Kent, Ohio \| Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (6,327)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Listen	WEMU 89.1 FM
Watch	ESPN 3
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics

KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team heads to the Buckeye State to lift the lid on 2019 and the Mid-American Conference slate Saturday, Jan. 5. The Eagles make the trek to the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center to take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the first leg of doubleheader.
   Eastern Michigan wrapped up the non-conference season with a 53-39 win over Northwood University, Dec. 30, to move to 7-4 on the year. Meanwhile, Kent State also enters MAC play with a 7-4 record and owns a four-game win streak after pummeling Clarion, 92-38, Dec. 31.
   Fans unable to attend the game can catch the action on ESPN3. Chad Bush will also have the call on WEMU 89.1FM. Additional coverage can be found by following @EMUWBB on Twitter, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

ANOTHER YEAR OF #MACtion: The Green and White's 2018-19 campaign marks the 38th season Eastern Michigan will compete as a member of the Mid-American Conference. Having been a member of the Cleveland, Ohio-based league since the 1981-82 campaign, EMU has compiled a 273-348 record against conference opponents all-time.

EMU IN MAC OPENERS: Eastern Michigan opens its 38th Mid-American Conference slate Saturday, Jan. 5, versus Kent State. The game marks the fifth time that the two program's have squared off in a conference lid-lifter as well as the second straight season in which the teams have kicked off conference play against one another. KSU has won three of the five previous occurrences, most recently a 76-69 defeat, Dec. 30, 2017.
The Green and White are 17-20 all-time in league openers dating back to 1981-82. EMU has won 11 of the last 16 MAC-opening tilts going back to the 2002-03 season, the most recent of which was a 67-56 triumph over eventual MAC Tournament champion Buffalo, Jan. 2, 2016.

PUTTING A LID ON 2018: With its win over Northwood, Dec. 30, Eastern closed out the 2018 calendar year with a 14-16 record, a significant improvement over its 5-24 mark in 2017. Furthermore, EMU posted a 4-3 mark in the month of December, its best under third-year head coach Fred Castro.

RESPECT THE GAME: The Mid-American Conference proved how strong of a league it was a year ago as both Central Michigan and Buffalo advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. This year has not been any different as CMU and UB have each received votes in the top-25, while four teams are currently ranked in the Mid-Major Top-25 - No. 5 Central Michigan, No. 6 Buffalo, No. 8 Ohio, and No. 24 Toledo.

BLOCK PARTY: Eastern Michigan racked up the rejections against Northwood, Dec. 30, as the Eagles totaled nine blocks in the contest. Natalia Pineda and Kiara Johnson tallied two apiece, while Autumn Hudson, Courtnie Lewis, Jenna Annecchiarico, Lorraine Enabulele, and Emoni Jackson each added one. EMU's nine blocks were the most by the Eagles since recording nine in a 89-34 win over Niagara, Dec. 28, 2010.

NO YOU MAY NOT!: After a slow start, EMU's defense came alive late in the second quarter to hold Northwood without a field goal for nearly 12 minutes in its non-conference finale, Dec. 30. It marked the longest EMU had held an opponent without a field goal since Nov. 21, 2015, against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. In that contest, the Eagles kept the Vaqueros off the board for a total of 14:20.

NON-CONFERENCE FORTUNE: Eastern Michigan recorded its seventh win of the season versus Northwood, Dec. 30. EMU's seven victories are its most non-conference wins under Fred Castro, besting the 2016-17 team's total of five, as well as the most since 2015-16 when Eastern went 9-2 en route to a Postseason WNIT appearance.

UNDER 50, AGAIN!: In Eastern Michigan's game against Northwood, Dec. 30, EMU held its opponent to 50-or-fewer points for the 114th time in program history. The Eagles are 112-2 all-time when holding the opposition below the 50-point mark. Additionally, EMU has accomplished the feat five times this season, the most by an EMU squad since the 2011-12 campaign when it did so six times.

YONNIE OR LAUREL? WE SAY YONNIE!: Corrione Cardwell's work this offseason is paying dividends for the Eagles this season. After dropping a career-high 25 points against Iowa State, Nov. 21, Cardwell followed it up with a game-high 17 points versus Illinois-Chicago, Nov. 27. Most recently, she paced EMU with a game-high 22 points against Northwood, Dec. 30.
   For the season, Cardwell is averaging a career-best 14.0 points per game, more than a 10-point improvement over last season's mark of 3.7 mark. Cardwell has seen her field goal percentage improve from 36.7 percent to 44.8, while she has already made five triples after going 0-for-8 from the long line in 2017-18. Her rebounding average is up from 1.7 per game to 3.7. Moreover, Cardwell scored 108 points all of last season and has already surpassed that mark this season as she has scored a team-best 154 points.

GOING UP AGAINST THE GOLDEN FLASHES: Saturday's showdown between the Eagles and Golden Flashes marks the 66th time the two teams will battle on the hardwood since the series began during the 1980-81 campaign. Kent State holds the edge in the all-time series, 38-27, but prior to its current four-game losing skid against KSU, Eastern Michigan had won 11 straight meetings.
   In the second of two meetings last season, Kent State sent Eastern Michigan home with a 76-69 setback behind a career day from Naddiyah Cross. Cross led KSU with 24 points, while Jordan Korinek added a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double. Eastern was led by Courtnie Lewis' 19 points, while Emoni Jackson and Danielle Minott added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

M.A.C. CENTER NIGHTMARES: The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center has not been kind to the Eagles historically, as EMU is just 7-21 in Kent State's home arena all-time.
   Eastern's last win inside the M.A.C. Center came back during the 2014-15 season when the Eagles soared past the Golden Flashes, 70-53, Feb. 4, 2015. Cha Sweeney led all players with 17 points and three steals, while three other Eagles reached double figures. Janay Morton tallied 13 points, Jamaica Bucknor added 12 points, and Brianna Puni chipped in 10 points.

LAST WIN OVER KSU: None of the current Eagles were on EMU's roster the last time Eastern bested Kent State. In fact, just one of the 17 players who logged minutes in the Eagles' last win over the Golden Flashes returns - in KSU's Alexa Golden.
   EMU's last win over KSU came in the opening round of the 2016 tournament. Eastern dispatched of Kent State, 73-60, inside the Convocation Center to advance to Cleveland. Four Eagles reached double figures, paced by Janay Morton's 17-point effort. Phillis Webb added 14 points and Cha Sweeney pitched in a 14-point, 10-assist double-double.

TOP TWO DEFENSES: Saturday's MAC opener will pit two of the of conference's top defenses against one another. Kent State boasts the league's best field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 34.9 percent from the floor, while Eastern Michigan is slotted second at 35.4 percent. Additionally, the two squads rank third and fourth in points allowed per game. EMU checks in a third in the conference rankings, giving up 57.3 a contest, while KSU follows closely in fourth at 57.9 ppg.

HELPING HAND: Freshman Jenna Annecchiarico has embraced the role of floor general to the tune of 4.2 assists per game, the ninth-best mark in the MAC. Moreover, the Baldwin, N.Y. native has turned the ball over just 12 times, making her one of the top point guards in the conference. Annecchiarico leads the conference, while ranking third nationally, with a 3.83 assist to turnover ratio. She is the only freshman to boast an assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5-or-better, and is the only freshman in the top-35 of the NCAA.

GETTING AFTER IT ON DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan's high intensity defense has caused opponents fits this season as the Eagles have forced the opposition into 20+ turnovers six times, while picking their pockets 10+ times in six of their 11 games. EMU's 9.5 steals per game are the third-most in the MAC, as well as the 85th-best nationally. Meanwhile, Eastern is turning opponents over 19.27 times per game, the fourth-highest mark in the conference and the 74th-best in the country.

SO MUCH FOR CHARITY: Free throws have been anything but free for the Eagles this season. The Green and White connect on just 59.4 percent of its shots from the charity stripe and boast the worst FT percentage in the league. In three of its four losses, missed free throws have been the difference, as EMU's margin of defeat could have been made up at the charity stripe (,L at Illinois, 66-72 - 11-of-20 - (-9); L, vs. UNCG, 44-49 - 12-of-18 (-6); L, vs. Butler, 63-73 - 16-of-29 (-13)).

ALWAYS HELPING: Freshman point guard Jenna Annecchiarico has not just been one of the best distributors in the conference, but she is also putting together one of the top seasons by a freshman point guard in EMU history. Annecchiarico has already cracked Eastern's top-10 in assists by a freshman in the modern statistical era (since 1999-00 season) just 11 games into the year. She currently ranks tied for seventh with Corrione Cardwell's mark from a season ago, while she trails Tavelyn James' sixth-ranked total of 48 by two.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern returns to action Wednesday, Jan. 9, inside the Convocation Center when the Eagles host the Bulls of the University at Buffalo. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Lorraine Enabulele

Autumn Hudson

Emoni Jackson

Kiara Johnson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Natalia Pineda

Eastern Michigan Athletics