Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, February 26
DeKalb, Ill.
6 p.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
13-13 (8-7MAC)
59
at
65
Northern Illinois
9-17 (5-10MAC)
1
2
3
4
F
Eastern Michigan
12
10
18
19
59
Northern Illinois
21
7
22
15
65
Late Comeback Falls Short as NIU Bests Women's Basketball
2/26/2020 9:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EMU drops to the No. 5 position in the current MAC tournament seeding
DEKALB, Ill (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team closed a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to three, 56-53, with two minutes remaining, but was unable to finish off the late-game comeback against its Mid-American Conference West Division foe, Northern Illinois University, tonight, Feb. 26, at the NIU Convocation Center. The Eagles ultimately fell, 65-59.
Coupled with a Kent State win over Akron, Eastern (13-13; 8-7 MAC) also relinquished its No. 4 spot in the current MAC standings, meaning that as of now, the team would no longer be privy to a first-round bye in the upcoming MAC Tournament. With three games left to play, however, there is still plenty of seeding possibilities.
The Eagles were led by redshirt junior guard Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)), who dropped 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting to lead all scorers in the game. The performance was her 19th straight with 10-or-more points, which is second best in the league behind Central Michigan's Micaela Kelly (26 straight).
Despite ending the half having shot just 21 percent from the field, the EMU offense had the advantage early on. It took sophomore Juanita Agosto (Seattle, Wash.-Garfield) just 26 seconds of clock time to score the game's first bucket as she sliced through the lane for an uncontested layup. Combs added another bucket at the seven-minute mark. Despite the early rhythm, NIU was able to build a 12-8 lead at the game's first media timeout, an advantage they stretched to nine points at the end of the quarter, 21-12.
Facing an early deficit, Eastern weathered its second-quarter shooting woes with stellar defense. The Eagles forced nine turnovers in the period as three Eagles registered steals. Junior Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo.-Belton) finished the half with a team-leading two swipes. Combs was able to fight six second-quarter points to bring the Eagles within six at the break, 28-22.
The offensive picked up out of the break as both teams scored in double digits before the first media timeout of the half. EMU scored 16 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter behind nine points from Combs on perfect 3-of-3 shooting. Redshirt junior Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East) also added four points during the stretch to build her total up to eight. Despite EMU's resurgence of scoring, it was 50-40 in favor of the home team heading into the fourth quarter.
Down six, 54-48, with four minutes remaining, it was Lewis that brought the game within striking. She avenged an 0-for-12 start to the game with a deep triple make, before Cardwell used a layup to again bring the score within three at the two-minute mark, 56-53. Despite the effort, NIU proved too timely. The Huskies closed out the game on a 9-6 run to claim the win, 65-59.
EMU is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 29, as it hosts MAC West rival Toledo. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. inside EMU's Convocation Center. For the most up-to-date information on all things EMU women's hoops, visit EMUEagles.com and continue to follow @EMUWBB on social media.
Coupled with a Kent State win over Akron, Eastern (13-13; 8-7 MAC) also relinquished its No. 4 spot in the current MAC standings, meaning that as of now, the team would no longer be privy to a first-round bye in the upcoming MAC Tournament. With three games left to play, however, there is still plenty of seeding possibilities.
The Eagles were led by redshirt junior guard Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)), who dropped 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting to lead all scorers in the game. The performance was her 19th straight with 10-or-more points, which is second best in the league behind Central Michigan's Micaela Kelly (26 straight).
Despite ending the half having shot just 21 percent from the field, the EMU offense had the advantage early on. It took sophomore Juanita Agosto (Seattle, Wash.-Garfield) just 26 seconds of clock time to score the game's first bucket as she sliced through the lane for an uncontested layup. Combs added another bucket at the seven-minute mark. Despite the early rhythm, NIU was able to build a 12-8 lead at the game's first media timeout, an advantage they stretched to nine points at the end of the quarter, 21-12.
Facing an early deficit, Eastern weathered its second-quarter shooting woes with stellar defense. The Eagles forced nine turnovers in the period as three Eagles registered steals. Junior Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo.-Belton) finished the half with a team-leading two swipes. Combs was able to fight six second-quarter points to bring the Eagles within six at the break, 28-22.
The offensive picked up out of the break as both teams scored in double digits before the first media timeout of the half. EMU scored 16 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter behind nine points from Combs on perfect 3-of-3 shooting. Redshirt junior Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East) also added four points during the stretch to build her total up to eight. Despite EMU's resurgence of scoring, it was 50-40 in favor of the home team heading into the fourth quarter.
Down six, 54-48, with four minutes remaining, it was Lewis that brought the game within striking. She avenged an 0-for-12 start to the game with a deep triple make, before Cardwell used a layup to again bring the score within three at the two-minute mark, 56-53. Despite the effort, NIU proved too timely. The Huskies closed out the game on a 9-6 run to claim the win, 65-59.
EMU is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 29, as it hosts MAC West rival Toledo. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. inside EMU's Convocation Center. For the most up-to-date information on all things EMU women's hoops, visit EMUEagles.com and continue to follow @EMUWBB on social media.
Team Stats
EMU
NIU
FG%
.333
.392
3FG%
.167
.435
FT%
.542
.577
RB
46
40
TO
18
23
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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