Women's Hoops Readies for MAC Quarterfinals Clash with No. 1 CMU

Women's Basketball vs. Central Michigan
Date	Wednesday, March 13 \| 12 p.m.
Venue	Cleveland, Ohio \| Quicken Loans Arena (20,562)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN +
Listen	WEMU 89.1 FM
MAC Tournament Central	MAC Tournament Bracket \| MAC Tournament Page
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - Postseason play rolls on the for the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team with a trip to Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday, March 13. The No. 9 seeded Eagles will square off against top-seeded Central Michigan University in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at noon.
   Eastern Michigan (14-16, 6-12 MAC) overcome a double digit deficit to upset No. 8 University of Akron, 61-59, March 11, to earn a trip to Cleveland. CMU (24-6, 15-3 MAC), who earned a bye to the quarterfinals, is coming off a convincing 78-45 win over the University of Toledo, March 9, in its regular season finale.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Chad Bush will also have the call on WEMU 89.1 FM. Fans can also follow via the team's Twitter account, @EMUWBB.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 44-38 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 eight wins over better ranked opponents, including a 61-59 win over No. 8 Akron in the opening round of this year's tournament, March 11.

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.

EMU AT THE Q: Eastern Michigan is very familar with the Quicken Loans Arena floor, as the school has posted a 14-11 record, including capturing the 2004 and 2012 championships.

MINOTT NAMED ALL-MAC HONORABLE MENTION: Redshirt senior Danielle Minott garnered All-MAC Honorable Mention honors the league office announced Tuesday, March 12. It is the second straight year in which Minott has reeled in All-MAC honors after being tabbed a third team selection last season. Minott is just the sixth Eagle to be named the conference's postseason squad multiple times, and the first since Cha Sweeney was tabbed Second Team All-MAC three straight years from 2013-16.
   The Miami, Fla. native leads the Eagles in scoring at 13.8 points per game, the 15th-best mark in the conference. A MAC West Player of the Week honoree, her 2.2 steals per game are slotted tied for fifth-best in the league, while her 5.6 rebounds per game are 18th-best in the MAC. Minott has led the Eagles in scoring on 10 occasions and has posted a career-best four double-doubles this season.

FIRED UP TO PLAY THE CHIPS: Redshirt senior Danielle Minott as put together some strong performances against Central Michigan throughout her career. Minott scored a team-high 21 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from deep, while adding five rebounds when the two met in Mount Pleasant earlier this season. In her first four career games against the Chips, Minott averaged 21.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. Additionally, she was efficient in stuffing the stat sheet, shooting 46.2 percent (30-for-65) from the floor and 46.4 (13-for-28) from three-point range.

FACING IN-STATE FOES: Eastern Michigan has thrived against in-state competition over the years, compiling a 157-149 advantage over in-state opponents, including a 35-51 mark against CMU. The Eagles have been most successful against Western Michigan, piecing together a 48-37 mark versus the Broncos. Meanwhile, Michigan State has been the toughest opponent for EMU, leading the all-time series 15-1 over the Eagles.

CHIP DIP: Saturday's contest marks the 87th meeting between the Chippewas and Eagles, who first met during the 1976-77 season. CMU leads the overall series, 51-35. EMU has won 22 of the last 40 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 campaign, but Central enters the clash as winners of 10 straight against Eastern.
EMU came up on the short end at CMU, 71-61, when the two squads met up in Mount Pleasant, Jan. 26. Danielle Minott dropped 21 points, including five triples, while Corrione Cardwell added 17 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Most recently, the Chippewas topped the Eagles, 87-60, in Ypsilanti, March 2.

LAST WIN OVER CMU: Eastern Michigan has not tasted victory against in-state foe Central Michigan since the 2014-15 campaign. That season, the Green and White closed out the regular season with a, 93-86, win over the Chippewas at McGuirk, March 7, 2015, EMU's third consecutive win against CMU.
Janay Morton scored a game-high 34 points to lead the way, while Cha Sweeney joined the 1,000-point club with a 20-point effort.

DEJA VU IS REAL: For the second time in as many seasons, the ninth-seeded Eagles erased a double digit deficit to pull an upset over the Mid-American Conference's eighth-ranked team to advance to a quarterfinals clash with No. 1 Central Michigan. Last season, the Green and White toppled Northern Illinois, 84-77, in DeKalb. Meanwhile, EMU stunned Akron in the first round of this year's tournament to set up a date with the Chippewas.

UPSET SPECIAL: For the second consecutive season, the ninth-seeded Eagles pulled an upset in the tournament's opening round, this time stunning No. 8 Akron, 61-59, March 11. Last season, EMU topped the No. 9 Northern Illinois, 84,77, in DeKalb.

A LOOK AT LAST YEAR'S QUARTERFINALS VS. CMU: EMU and CMU will meet in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals for the second consecutive season Wednesday, March 13. Central Michigan escaped with a 67-64 win over Eastern last year, eventually going on to win the tournament and make a run into the NCAA's Sweet 16.
   EMU dug its way out of a 21-point deficit to pull within one late, but a Danielle Minott triple at the buzzer rimmed out, ending the Eagles' season. Minott dropped a game-high 27 points, scoring 16 in the fourth quarter alone, to fuel Eastern's comeback effort, while Sasha Dailey and Courtnie Lewis added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

BIG SHOT MINOTT: Danielle Minott hit a jumper in the paint with 2.9 seconds to play to cap a double-digit comeback for the Green and White in its opening round game, March 11, as EMU knocked out Akron, 61-59. Minott scored 13 of her team-best 18 points in the final six minutes to play to lead the charge, while also adding seven rebounds.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport a 26-22 mark in 25 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, 2-1 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.

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.

HOLDING HUDSON IN CHECK: Eastern Michigan's defense held Central Michigan's all-time leading scorer, Presley Hudson, to her lowest output of the season, March 2. The Eagles, behind an outstanding defensive effort by redshirt sophomore Corrione Cardwell, held Hudson to seven points on 2-for-12 shooting. It marked just the second time this season Hudson has been limited to single digits, as well as just the 18th time in her 124-game CMU career.

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, 10 of Eastern's 14 wins have come when EMU has held the advantage in bench points. Overall, the Eagles are 10-5 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' 8-12 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 12.8 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 43.3, 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 385 points this season, leaving her one point 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 nine 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 44.6 field goal percentage on 41-for-92 shooting and knocking down 19-of-44 triples, good for a 43.2 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.

ON THE HORIZON: With a win, Eastern Michigan will advance to the MAC Tournament Semifinals to take on the winner between No. 4 Buffalo and No. 5 Kent State Friday, March 15, at 11 a.m. inside The Q.

Women's Hoops Readies for MAC Quarterfinals Clash with No. 1 CMU

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Sasha Dailey

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics