Women's Hoops to Take on Toledo in the Glass City Saturday

Women's Basketball at Toledo
Date	Saturday, Feb. 9 \| 2 p.m.
Venue	Toledo, Ohio \| Savage Arena (7,014)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics

TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team travels south on US-23 for a Mid-American West Division tilt Saturday, Feb. 9, against the University of Toledo in the Glass City. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Savage Arena.
   Eastern (10-10, 3-6 MAC) looks to get off the schneid, having dropped three in-a-row in heartbreaking fashion. Most recently, EMU dropped a 63-58 contest at Miami University, Feb. 6. Meanwhile, Toledo (13-7, 5-4 MAC) has won four of its last six games, but is looking to bounce back from a 73-63 defeat at the University at Buffalo, Feb. 6.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Additional coverage can be found on the team's account, @EMUWBB, on Twitter, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

HALFWAY THERE: With just about 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 Akron. Ohio, Miami, Central Michigan, and Buffalo would hold byes to Cleveland as the top four seeds.

SECOND HALF SLATE: Eastern Michigan's conference opposition through the first half of league play own a combined 117-64 record this season, good for a .646 winning percentage. Meanwhile, EMU's remaining conference opponents own a 101-82 record (.552 winning percentage) on the year.

A SPECIAL SIGHT: Danielle Minott put together a special performance the last time the Eagles and Rockets squared off, despite UT winning, 80-69. Minott scored 30 points while going 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range at Savage Arena, Feb. 21, 2018. Her seven triples tied for fifth-most in EMU single-game history, while her 70 percent effort from beyond the arc tied for eighth-best in EMU laurels.

BREAKING THROUGH IN THE GLASS CITY: Eastern Michigan has not fared particularly well in the Glass City, holding an 11-27 all-time record at Toledo. EMU has dropped its last two trips to Savage Arena, and is looking for its first win at UT since Feb. 24, 2016. That year, EMU swept the season series versus Toledo, winning, 59-41, at the Convocation Center, Jan. 23, 2016, before walking out of Savage 58-46 winners just over a month later.
   Cha Sweeney led the Eagles with a team-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, as EMU picked up its fifth straight win. Janay Morton added 14 points, while Chanise Baldwin anchored the defensive effort with five rebounds and five blocks.

RETIRING MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD: For the first time since the 2012-13 campaign, Eastern Michigan's roster does not include a player out of Toledo Rogers High School as both Sasha Dailey and Tori Easley graduated following last season. Moreover, this is the first time since 2009-10 that the Eagles' have not had a Toledo, Ohio native on the roster. Prior to Dailey and Easley, Cha Sweeney, KaBria Walker, and Olivia Fouty suited up for the Green and White.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ROCKETS: Saturday's contest marks the 82nd meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 49-32, but the Eagles have taken five of the last nine meetings.
   The two squads split last season's meetings, with the home team coming out victorious each time. Eastern Michigan cruised past Toledo, 70-57, in Ypsilanti, Jan. 6, 2018, while UT held off EMU, 80-69, in the Glass City, Feb. 21, 2018.

HOW ABOUT HUDSON!: Sophomore Autumn Hudson has found her stride as of late, posting back-to-back double-digit rebounding efforts. Hudson grabbed a career-high 12 boards in an overtime loss to Northern Illinois, Feb. 2, before following it up with 11 rebounds at Miami, Feb. 6. She has now posted back-to-back games with 10+ boards for the first time in her career and is just six rebounds away from passing her total (86) from a season ago.

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 1-15 in February since 2017. Ironically, the Eagles' last win in the month came on Valentine's Day of last year when Eastern knocked off Ohio, 73-58, in Athens.

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 13.5 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 43.9, while she has made 13 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 4.2. Moreover, Cardwell scored 108 points all of last year, a mark she surpassed nine games into this season.

SO MUCH FOR CHARITY: Free throws have been anything but free for the Eagles this season. The Green and White connect on just 57.5 percent of its shots from the charity stripe and boast the worst FT percentage in the league. In seven of its 10 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)).

MAKING THEM PAY: Eastern Michigan has turned conference opponents over an average of 16.3 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 17 points a game, including 22 points off 18 Northern Illinois turnovers, Feb. 2.

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 5.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest, alongside Hudson's 6.2 points and 5.9 boards to lead the Eagles in the post.

LONG DISTANCE LUST: The Green and White has attempted 20-or-more three-pointers in 15 of its 19 games this season, including a season-high 36 at Illinois, Dec. 1. Furthermore, Eastern is 10-26 when taking 20-or-more threes since the start of the 2016-17 season.

RESPECT THE GAME: The MAC 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, UB, and Ohio have each received votes in the top-25, while three teams are currently ranked in the Mid-Major Top-25 - No. 6 CMU, No. 9 Ohio, and No. 10 UB, in addition to Kent State and Northern Illinois receiving votes.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan begins a three-game homestand Wednesday, Feb. 13, with a rematch against Kent State University. KSU came out on top, 71-64, in the MAC opener, Jan. 5, and has won five straight against EMU. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

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Players Mentioned

Corrione Cardwell

Sasha Dailey

Tori Easley

Autumn Hudson

Kiara Johnson

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics