Eastern Looks for Revenge at NIU Wednesday Night

Women's Basketball at Northern Illinois
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 27 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	DeKalb, Ill. \| Convocation Center (10,000)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics

DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team treks to the Land of Lincoln Wednesday, Feb. 27, for a Mid-American Conference West Division tilt against Northern Illinois University. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT inside NIU's Convocation Center.
   Eastern (12-13, 5-9 MAC) snapped a two-game win streak with a 71-68 setback at Western Michigan University, Feb. 23, while NIU (16-10, 8-6 MAC) fell short of its third straight victory with a 76-52 loss at MAC West-leading Central Michigan University, Feb. 23.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Bill Baker calling the action on the court alongside Patricia Babcock-McGraw. Additionally, coverage can be found on the team's Twitter account, @EMUWBB, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

20/20 VISION: Redshirt sophomore Corrione Cardwell and sophomore Courtnie Lewis each dropped 20 points at Western Michigan, Feb. 23. It was the first time two Eagles have scored 20-or-more points since Lewis and Danielle Minott accomplished the feat in EMU's first-round MAC Tournament upset win at Northern Illinois, March 5, 2018.

GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Eastern Michigan's success this season can be tied to how the Eagles have fared in the first quarter. With 25 games complete, EMU is 9-4 when eclipsing the 14-point mark in the first quarter. On the flip side, Eastern is 6-2 when holding the opposition to 14-or-fewer points in the quarter, in stark contrast to the Eagles' 6-11 record when giving up 14+ in the stanza.

HOT SHOT: Eastern Michigan's offense was clicking in its loss at Western Michigan, as the Eagles posted its second-highest field goal percentage of the season. The Green and White knocked down 26-of-49 shots for a 53.1 clip. It was EMU's best field goal percentage since shooting a whopping 55.6 percent from the floor in its 87-72 win at Purdue Fort Wayne, Dec. 8.

FINDING HER STRIDE: Sophomore Courtnie Lewis has found her stride as of late, as the Belton, Mo. product is averaging 14.2 points per contest over EMU's last four games, a nearly four-point improvement above her season mark prior to that point (10.4 ppg). She has also been significantly more efficient, boasting a 51.3 field goal percentage on 20-for-39 shooting and has knocked down 8-of-18 triples, good for a 44.4 percent clip. Prior to Eastern's game against Kent State, Feb. 13, Lewis had been converting just 32.5 percent of her shots and just 29.3 of her three-point attempts.

HITTING THE HARDWOOD WITH THE HUSKIES: Saturday's MAC West tilt between Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois will be the 53rd meeting between the two squads all-time. EMU holds the edge, leading the series 36-16, but the teams have split the last four meetings.
   NIU escaped with a 68-65 overtime win when the two squads met in Ypsilanti, Feb. 2. Danielle Minott led the Eagles with 22 points on 10-of-23 shooting, but the Huskies scored 16 second chance points off 13 offensive rebounds to stun the Eagles.

EMU IN DEKALB: Eastern Michigan is 18-7 all-time against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, and has won two consecutive games in NIU's Convocation Center.
   Most recently, the No. 9-seeded Eagles ended the No. 8-seeded Huskies' season with an 84-77 upset win in the opening round of last season's MAC Tournament, March 5, 2018. Eastern saw four players score in double figures, led by a pair of 22-point efforts from Danielle Minott and Courtnie Lewis, as the Eagles shot a blistering 50.8 percent from the field.

SOMETHING ABOUT PLAYING THE HUSKIES: Danielle Minott has turned in solid games against the Huskies in her EMU career. In fact, in four games against Northern Illinois Minott is averaging 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game, while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor.

THEFT REPORTED IN YPSILANTI: Eastern Michigan has made a living behind its defensive play this season, forcing the fourth-most turnovers per game (17.52) in the conference, while ranking 90th nationally. Additionally, Eastern is one of three schools (Buffalo and Central Michigan) in the league to have three players ranked inside the MAC's top-15 in steals per game. Corrione Cardwell and Danielle Minott lead the way, ranking tied fifth with 2.3 thefts per contest, while Jenna Annecchiarico (1.6) is tied for 13th.

SEEDING SCOOP: With five games left in the regular season, 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 Akron. Miami, Ohio, Central Michigan, and Buffalo would hold byes to Cleveland as the top four seeds.

MAKING THEM PAY: Eastern Michigan has turned conference opponents over an average of 16.0 times per game this season and has made a habit of cashing in on the other end. EMU is turning opponents' mistakes into more than 15 points a game, including 22 points off 18 Northern Illinois turnovers, Feb. 2.

WHEN WE BENCH MORE, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN: The Eagles have been most successful when their bench players have been at their best, which probably is not all that shocking. In fact, nine of Eastern's 12 wins have come when EMU has held the advantage in bench points. Overall, the Eagles are 9-4 when leading in bench scoring.

SHARING IS CARING: Eastern Michigan dished out 10 assists in its loss at Western Michigan, Feb. 23. It was the 15th time this season the Eagles have totaled 10-or-more dimes. EMU is 9-5 this year when recording at least 10 assists, with two of its four losses taking place in overtime (at Illinois and vs. Buffalo).

SO MUCH FOR CHARITY: Free throws have been anything but free for the Eagles this season. The Green and White connect on just 56.7 percent of its shots from the charity stripe and boast the worst FT percentage in the league. In eight of its 13 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); L, at Kent State, 64-71 - 8-of-19 - (-11); LOT, vs. Buffalo, 84-91 - 17-of-27 (-10); LOT vs. Northern Illinois, 65-68 - 2-of-5 (-3); L at Miami, 58-63 - 6-of-16 - (-10), L at Western Michigan, 68-71 - 9-of-14 (-5)).

RAISING THEIR GAME: Freshman Kiara Johnson and sophomore Autumn Hudson have taken their games to another level since conference play began. After combining for just 4.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in EMU's 11 non-conference games, the duo have more than doubled their outputs in MAC games. Johnson is averaging 5.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, alongside Hudson's 6.9 points and 6.6 boards to lead the Eagles in the post.

NOT MUCH LOVE FOR FEBRUARY: Eastern Michigan has not fared particularly well in the second month of the calendar year in recent years, as EMU is just 3-19 in February since 2017. Eastern broke an eight-game losing streak in the month with a nail-biting 56-53 win over Ball State, Feb. 16. It was the Eagles' first win since Valentine's Day of last year when Eastern knocked off Ohio, 73-58, in Ypsilanti.

YONNIE OR LAUREL? WE SAY YONNIE!: Corrione Cardwell's work this offseason is paying dividends for the Eagles this season as the redshirt sophomore finds herself amid a career-year.
   For the season, Cardwell is averaging a career-best 13. 2 points per game, nearly a 10-point improvement over last season's mark of 3.7. Cardwell has seen her field goal percentage improve from 36.7 percent to 44.2, while she has made 16 triples after going 0-for-8 from the long line in 2017-18. Her rebounding average is also up from 1.7 per game to 4.4. Moreover, Cardwell scored 108 points all of last year, a mark she surpassed nine games into this season.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan returns to action Saturday, March 2, when the Eagles open up a two-game homestand against in-state foe Central Michigan University. Tipoff of the Alumnae Day clash is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Autumn Hudson

Kiara Johnson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics