Women's Basketball Set for Season-Opening Road Tilt at Southern Illinois

Women's Basketball at Southern Illinois
Date	Wednesday, Nov. 25 \| 2 p.m. ET
Venue	Carbondale, Ill. \| Banterra Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMUWBB \| @EMUAthletics
Attendance Information	No general public attendance will be allowed

CARBONDALE, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) -- Thanksgiving may fall on Thursday, but the celebration really gets underway Wednesday, Nov. 25, because the college basketball season is back! The Eastern Michigan University women's team gets its 2020-21 campaign started with a trip to Carbondale, Ill. for a matchup with Southern Illinois University. Tipoff from the Banterra Center is slated for 2 p.m. ET.
   Although fans will not be allowed to attend, there is an opportunity to catch the game on ESPN3.
   Fans are encouraged to continue to follow @EMUWBB on social media and visit EMUEagles.com for the most up-to-date information on all things EMU women's basketball.

SEASON OPENERS: In 44 seasons, the Green and White have compiled a 30-14 record in season openers. In fact, the Eagles have won eight of their last nine lid lifters, including eight in-a-row between 2008-09 and 2018-19. Last season, the Eagles were bested by nationally-ranked foe Michigan State, 85-50, in the season debut for both squads.

STARTING ON THE ROAD: Wednesday's opener marks just the third time in the last eight seasons that the Eagles have opened their season away from home. Before last season's bout with Michigan State, Fred Castro's last season-opening road game saw the team cruise to a 69-59 win over Georgia State in Morehead, Ky., Nov. 12, 2016.

TOP-10 JUNIOR: With her 23-point performance against BSU in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 MAC Tournament, March 11, redshirt senior Areanna Combs etched herself into the EMU record books. The second-year Eagle in now No. 7 all-time on the list of points scored in a junior season, with 465.

VETERAN STATUS: This year's squad returns 11 players from a season ago, including a large cast of serious contributers. Among the high-powered returners are redshirt senior Areanna Combs, who led the team with 465 points in just 24 games, and junior guard Jenna Annecchiarico, who led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) for the second consecutive season in 2019-20.

A LOOK BACK: The 2019-20 squad finished with a 16-15 overall record, and a 9-9 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The 16 wins is the most under current Head Coach Fred Castro. The winning record is the first for Castro (four seasons).
    Season highlights include a five-game win streak, spanning from Dec. 10 through Jan. 8, a road win over MAC West and in-state rival Western Michigan, and a pair of victories over MAC powerhouse, Ball State.
   Individually, Courtnie Lewis became just the 23rd player in program history to enter the 1,000-point club, while Areanna Combs put together a 24-game double-digit scoring streak, a feat that was second best in the MAC.

FINISHED ON TOP: Although the COVID-19 outbreak prevented the conclusion of the 2020 MAC Tournament, Eastern finished this year's event in high spirits. After defeating No. 9 Northern Illinois in its on-campus first round game, EMU took out the tournament's No. 2 seed, Ball State, to earn a berth into the semifinal round of the event for the first time since 2015. Unfortunately, that game was unable to be played. The run is the best for the team in four years under Head Coach Fred Castro.

MISS 1,000: Senior Courtnie Lewis became just the 23rd member of the EMU women's basketball 1,000-point club when she drained a deep triple in the third quarter of EMU's game against Toledo, Feb. 29. She is the first Eagle to reach the milestone since Sasha Dailey did it in 2018 (1,247 career-points).
   Lewis scored 435 points during her freshman campaign, 348 as a sophomore, and registered 283 this past season. She is on pace to finish inside the top-15 in program history in total points.

DEATH, TAXES, DOUBLE-DIGITS: Redshirt junior guard Areanna Combs was outstanding for the Eagles in the 24 games she played last season. The Oklahoma City native scored in double-figures in each contest. In all, Combs averaged a team-best 19.4 points per game.
   Combs scored a team-best 23 points against both NIU, March 9, and Ball State, March 11. The performances were her 11th and 12th of 20+ points this season.
   The 24-game double-digit streak was second-best in the MAC behind CMU's Micaela Kelly (30 games). The duo was the only pair in the MAC to have scored 10+ points in every game that they participated in during the 2019-20 season.

COMBS BACK WITH ALL-MAC STATUS: Eastern Michigan redshirt senior guard Areanna Combs was named to multiple 2020 All-Mid-American Conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday, March 10. The All-MAC teams are voted on by the league's head coaches.
   Combs garnered both Second Team All-MAC and MAC All-Defensive Team honors, becoming the first EMU student-athlete to earn either honor since the 2015-16 campaign when Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton were honored in the two categories, respectively. Combs is just the second Eagle in program history to earn all-defensive honors, and brings home the school's 17th nod on the Second-Team All-MAC list.

ACADEMIC ALL-MAC: The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team saw a trio of student-athletes named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference team in 2020. Jenna Annecchiarico, Kiara Johnson, and Natalia Pineda joined a group of 56 student-athletes from around the conference who were named to the 2020 squad. The honor was the first for all three players.
    The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.

UPPERCLASSMEN UPPED THEIR GAMES: Eastern's upperclassmen trio of redshirt seniors Areanna Combs and Corrione Cardwell, along with senior Courtnie Lewis, stepped up their game late in the season for EMU. Together, the three combined to average 15.8 points each per game in Eastern's last four contests of the 2019-20 season. Overall, the trio accounted for 74 percent (190-of-258) of the team's total points in that stretch.

DEFENSE RETURNS: EMU's defense established itself as one of the very best in the league in 2019-20. The unit allowed just 65.4 points per game, which ranked second in the MAC. EMU held Toledo to just 46 points on Feb. 29, UT's lowest point total in 25 games (Nov. 29 vs. Dayton), and followed that performance by giving up just 53 to WMU, March 4.
   Additionally, the Eagles forced their opposition into 15+ turnovers 22 times, while picking their pockets 10+ times in nine of their 31 games a season ago. EMU's 17.8 forced turnovers per game were the third-most in the MAC in 2019-20.
   Furthermore, EMU finished fourth in the Mid-American Conference with 8.58 steals per game, and racked up 266 total steals last season. Redshirt senior Areanna Combs led the team and finished fourth in the MAC with a 2.3 SPG average.

THANKS FOR ASSISTING: Junior guard Jenna Annecchiarico was one of the best in the MAC at dishing the rock in 2019-20. She tallied a team-leading five helpers against Ohio, Feb. 5, which marked the third (of four) times that she racked up five-plus assists in a game. Her 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio was first in the league, while her 3.3 assists per game ranked 11th. The Baldwin, N.Y. native led EMU in both categories.

ALL-TIME VS. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: The Eagles and Salukis will face off for the third time in program history Wednesday, Nov. 25. The first meeting between the two sides occurred Jan. 23, 1982, when Southern Illinois came away with the 64-59 win over Eastern Michigan at the University of Illinois Classic in Champaign, Ill.
   Last season, the Salukis again secured a victory when it defeated Eastern, 85-54, Nov. 23, in Ypsilanti.

ALL-TIME VS. THE MVC: Saturday's meeting between the Eagles and Salukis may only be the third all-time meeting between the two programs, but the Eagles have faced other Missouri Valley Conference opponents in the past. Eastern holds an 11-6 all time record against MVC squads, holding its best record against Loyola Chicago (6-2).

ALL THE LEAGUES EMU WILL FACE: EMU will play teams hailing from six different Division I conferences this season. In addition to its 20-game Mid-American Conference slate, EMU will take on teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, West Coast Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and the Horizon League.

NEW (OKLA)HOMA IN YPSI: Eastern's Oklahoma connections run deeper than ever this season. Redshirt sophomore Ce'Nara Skanes, redshirt senior Areanna Combs, and freshman ZaNiya Nelson were all members of a Putnam City West high school team that was at one time coached by EMU assistant Carlos Adamson. EMU head man Fred Castro has Sooner State connections as well, having graduated from the University of Oklahoma with his bachelors degree in 2004.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern returns to Ypsilanti for its only non-conference home game of the season Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. The Eagles will face Illinois-Chicago at 2 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Women's Basketball Set for Season-Opening Road Tilt at Southern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Annecchiarico

Corrione Cardwell

Areanna Combs

Sasha Dailey

Kiara Johnson

Courtnie Lewis

ZaNiya Nelson

Natalia Pineda

Ce'Nara Skanes

Eastern Michigan Athletics