Eagles Host Rockets for Senior Day Showdown

Women's Basketball vs. Toledo
Date	Wednesday, March 6 \| 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,754)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN +
Listen	WEMU 89.1 FM
Twitter	@EMU WBB \| @EMUAthletics
Tickets	Order Tickets Online or call 734.487.3669

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team looks to send its seniors out on a high note Wednesday night, March 6, when EMU hosts Mid-American Conference West Division foe the University of Toledo. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center, with Senior Day festivities to begin at 6:50 p.m.
   Eastern (12-15, 5-11 MAC) looks to get back on track after dropping its third straight game, an 87-60 setback at the hands of MAC West Champion Central Michigan University, March 2. Meanwhile, Toledo (18-9, 10-6 MAC) is in search of its fourth straight victory following a 64-53 win over Northern Illinois University on Senior Day inside Savage Arena, March 2.
   The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ryan Wooley calling the action on the court alongside Greg Steiner. Chad Bush will also return to the airwaves on WEMU 89.1 FM, while additional coverage can be found on the team's Twitter account, @EMUWBB, and through live stats at EMUEagles.com.

THANK YOU SENIORS!: Eastern Michigan will celebrate the careers of its three seniors prior to Wednesday night's game against Toledo. The MAC West showdown will mark the final home game for Danielle Minott, Emoni Jackson, and Lorraine Enabulele.

   #23 Danielle Minott - Minott has proven to be one of the most electric scorers in program history during her two-year career. Appearing in 55 games for EMU, Minott has made 51 starts. For her Eastern career, she has scored 831 points, while adding 297 rebounds, 115 assists, and 120 steals. She is one of two players in program history to with multiple 40+ point games, and holds the Eastern single game record for points scored. She set the program standard with 44 points at Buffalo last season, before going off for 43 against the Bulls at home earlier this year. A Third Team All-MAC selection as a junior, Minott has been named the conference player of the week three times.

   #24 Emoni Jackson - In two seasons, Jackson has appeared in 37 games for Eastern Michigan, making 15 starts. For her career, she has scored 189 points, grabbed 200 rebounds, and added 23 steals. During her time in the Green and White, Jackson has posted two double-doubles, while leading the Eagles in rebounding on 12 occasions.

   #31 Lorraine Enabulele - Enabulele has appeared in 38 games, including making 20 starts, in her two-year career with the Eagles. She has scored 131 points and added 135 rebounds. This season, Enabulele recorded career-highs in field goal percentage, rebounds, assists, and points per game. Against Detroit Mercy, she posted the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 17 rebounds. Her 17 boards marked the sixth-most in Convocation Center history, and the most by an Eagle since Dec. 21, 2016.

WON THE QUARTER: Eastern Michigan was firing on all cylinders in the third quarter against Central Michigan, March 2. The Eagles went 12-of-16 from the floor en route to scoring 30 points in the period, while forcing the Chippewas into five turnovers. EMU's 30 points are the second-most scored in a single period all-time, as well as the most the Green and White has scored since dropping 30 points against CMU in the third frame in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 17, 2018.

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.

SENIOR DAY SEND OFF: Eastern Michigan will look to send its senior class off with a win on Senior Day for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign. Eastern dropped its last two Senior Day showdowns to Ball State (L, 63-88 - March 3, 2018; and L, 54-64 - March 1, 2017). EMU's last successful send off came back when the Eagles knocked off Western Michigan, 63-52, inside the Convocation Center, March 2, 2016. Chanise Baldwin led all scorers with 19 points,and added a team-best nine rebounds, while Cha Sweeney and Phillis Webb added 10 points apiece in the win.

SEEDING SCOOP: With two 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, Central Michigan, Ohio, and Buffalo would hold byes to Cleveland as the top four seeds.

THEFT REPORTED IN YPSILANTI: Eastern Michigan has made a living behind its defensive play this season, forcing the fourth-most turnovers per game (17.33) in the conference, while ranking 101st 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 and Corrione Cardwell lead the way, ranking tied for fifth with 2.3 thefts per contest, while Jenna Annecchiarico (1.6) is tied for 13th.

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 83rd meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 50-32, and have split the last 10 meetings.
   Toledo defeated Eastern, 63-43, when the two teams tangled in the Glass City, Feb. 9. The Rockets shot 46.3 from the field, while the Eagles' offense connected at a 27.7 percent clip. Danielle Minott scored a team-best 12 points, while Autumn Hudson added a double-double with 11 points and team-best 12 rebounds.

HOME COOKING: With its 56-53 win against Ball State, Feb. 16, EMU secured its first winning season at the Convocation Center since the 2015-16 campaign. Following up its win over BSU with a victory against Akron, Feb. 20, Eastern's nine home wins are also the most since the 2015-16 season, when EMU went 10-4 inside Convo.

THE EMERALD YEAR: Home to EMU's basketball and volleyball teams, the Convocation Center is celebrating its 20th birthday this season. In its Emerald year, the Convo has been the home of EMU women's basketball since the 1998-99 season. The Convocation Center has been the backdrop of 177 wins for the program, with the Green and White holding a .658 win percentage on its home court.

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 6-3 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.

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 six 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 46.2 field goal percentage on 30-for-65 shooting and knocking down 14-of-33 triples, good for a 42.4 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.

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.

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 13.3 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 44.3, 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.

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: The regular season comes to a close Saturday, March 9, as Eastern Michigan travels to Muncie, Ind. to take on MAC West foe Ball State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Worthen Arena.
   Eastern outlasted Ball State, 56-53, behind four double-digit scorers in the Convocation Center, Feb. 16. EMU will head to BSU looking for its first season sweep of the Cardinals since the 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Sasha Dailey

Tori Easley

Lorraine Enabulele

Autumn Hudson

Emoni Jackson

Courtnie Lewis

Danielle Minott

Eastern Michigan Athletics