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

Women's Basketball at Akron
Date	Monday, March 11 \| 5 p.m.
Venue	Akron, Ohio \| James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Watch	ESPN +
Listen	N/A
MAC Tournament Central	MAC Tournament Bracket \| MAC Tournament Page
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics

AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team's postseason journey begins on the road Monday, March 11, as No. 9 EMU treks to the Rubber City for a first-round tilt against No. 8-seeded University of Akron. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be the first leg of a doubleheader inside of James A. Rhodes Arena.
   Eastern Michigan (13-16, 6-12 MAC) enters the tournament following a gritty come-from-behind win at Ball State University, March 9. The Eagles erased a 13-point deficit to spoil the Cardinals' Senior Day, 67-57. Akron (16-13, 7-11 MAC) finds itself on a three-game losing skid after closing out the regular season with a 66-49 setback at Miami University, March 9.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 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 2019 Mid-American Conference Tournament on the road Monday, March 11. It marks the fourth 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.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 43-38 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 seven wins over better ranked opponents. The Green and White's last upset came in the first round of the 2018 MAC Tournament, when No. 9 EMU ousted No. 8-seeded Northern Illinois, 84-77, in DeKalb, Ill., March 5, 2018.

ON THE ROAD IN THE TOURNEY: Eastern Michigan will begin the postseason on the road for the third straight year and just the fourth time since the 1999 season.
   All-time, Eastern Michigan is 1-6 in road tournament games, going 1-0 at Northern Illinois, 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 last year when ninth-seeded Eastern knocked off No. 8 seed Northern Illinois, 84-77. Danielle Minott and Courtnie Lewis led the hot-shooting Eagles with 22 points apiece, while Micah Robinson and Emoni Jackson added 15 and 12 points, respectively. Eastern shot a blistering 50.8 from the field and 40.0 percent from deep, while the EMU defense forced 19 NIU turnovers.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport a 25-22 mark in 24 trips to the conference postseason and are making their third 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 2-2 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 AKRON: The No. 6-seeded Eagles emphatically upset the No. 3-seeded Zips of Akron, 95-66, in the Mid American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, March 12, 2014. EMU went on to oust No. 2-seeded Ball State in the semifinals before falling to top-ranked Ohio, 60-44, in the MAC Tournament Championship game. The Green and White's run earned the Eagles a postseason berth, where EMU eventually made a run to the WNIT's Sweet 16.
   Five players finished in double digits led by a 24-point effort by Cha Sweeney. Sera Ozelci and Jamaica Bucknor chipped in 17 points apiece, while Janay Morton added an 11-point, 10-assists double-double. The final Eagle in double figures was Brianna Puni, as she tallied 10 points off the bench.

MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDING FACTS: In the 36 years of the tournament, the top seed has won the title 23 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 16 times in the championship game, with the top seed winning 14 times.

EMU AND AKRON ALL-TIME: Monday's meeting between the Eagles and the Zips marks the 41st meeting between the squads all-time. Akron holds the upper hand in the series, 23-17, but Eastern has won both meetings this season. The Eagles walked away from James A. Rhodes Arena 72-60 winner, Jan. 22, before completing the sweep, 67-60, in Ypsilanti, Feb. 20.

UNCHARTERED TERRITORY: Eastern Michigan and Akron have only met multiple times in a year on eight occasions, with the most recent taking place during the 2015-16 campaign. When the two squads squared off in the Convocation Center, Feb. 20, the Eagles swept the season series with the Zips for the first time in program history.

SWEEP SWEEP: Eastern Michigan broke out the brooms against Ball State for the first time in nearly 10 years after completing the season sweep with a 67-57 win at BSU, March 9. It marked the first time Eastern swept the regular season series against Ball State since 2010-11 campaign. That year, Eastern knocked off Ball State, 70-62, in Ypsilanti before completing the sweep with an 81-73 victory on the Cardinals' home floor.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DEE: Danielle Minott recorded her team-leading fourth double-double of the season in Eastern's regular season finale at Ball State, March 9. Minott scored 16 points while adding 10 rebounds to lead EMU to a comeback win on the road. She now ranks tied for 12th in Eastern Michigan history with five career double-doubles.

THEFT REPORTED IN YPSILANTI: Eastern Michigan has made a living behind its defensive play this season, forcing the fourth-most turnovers per game (17.17) in the conference, while ranking 100th nationally. Additionally, Eastern is one of two schools (Central Michigan) in the league to have three players ranked inside the MAC's top-15 in steals per game. Danielle Minott leads the way, ranking fifth with 2.3 thefts per contest, while Corrione Cardwell (2.2) and Jenna Annecchiarico (1.6) are slotted tied for sixth and 12th, respectively.

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 9-5 when leading in bench scoring.

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 26 games complete, EMU is 9-4 when eclipsing the 14-point mark in the first quarter. On the flip side, Eastern is 6-4 when holding the opposition to 14-or-fewer points in the quarter, in stark contrast to the Eagles' 6-12 record when giving up 14+ in the stanza.

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 13.0 points per game, more than a nine-point improvement over last season's mark of 4.4. Cardwell has seen her field goal percentage improve from 36.7 percent to 43.7, while she has made 17 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 4.3.        Moreover, Cardwell scored 108 points all of last year, a mark she surpassed nine games into this season, and is on the verge of cracking EMU's top-10 scoring list by a sophomore. Cardwell has scored 376 points this season, leaving her 10 points shy of Cassie Schrock's ninth-ranked mark (386) set back in the 2008-09 season.

FINDING HER STRIDE: Sophomore Courtnie Lewis has found her stride as of late, as the Belton, Mo. product is averaging 12.9 points per contest over EMU's last eight games, a nearly three-point improvement above her season mark prior to that point (10.4 ppg). She has also been significantly more efficient, boasting a 45.1 field goal percentage on 37-for-82 shooting and knocking down 17-of-39 triples, good for a 43.6 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.

SHARING IS CARING: Eastern Michigan dished out 11 assists in its loss at Central Michigan, March 2. It was the 16th time this season the Eagles have totaled 10-or-more dimes. EMU is 9-7 this year when recording at least 10 assists, with two of its seven losses taking place in overtime (at Illinois and vs. Buffalo).

ON THE HORIZON: With a win, Eastern Michigan will advance to the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals where the Eagles would face the top-seeded Chippewas of Central Michigan Wednesday, March 13. Tipoff between EMU and CMU would be noon inside Quicken Loans Arena.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Emoni Jackson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Micah Robinson

Eastern Michigan Athletics