Eastern Michigan Athletics
Monday, March 9
Convocation Center
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
15-15
76
vs
69
Northern Illinois
11-19
1
2
3
4
F
Northern Illinois
22
15
15
17
69
Eastern Michigan
15
18
23
20
76
Eagles Advance to Cleveland with 76-69 Win Over Northern Illinois
3/9/2020 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Eastern erased a 12-point, first-half deficit to reach the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals
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Postgame Recap Video.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Trailing by as many as 12 points in the opening half, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team came back to eliminate Mid-American Conference rival Northern Illinois University, 76-69, on Monday, March 9 inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles (15-15, 9-9 MAC) had three players reach double-figures in points in Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East), Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-Putnam West (Oklahoma State)), and Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo.-Belton).
Combs led the way in scoring for the Eagles with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and a trio of steals. Her double-digit rebounding performance marks her fourth of the season. Lewis dropped 21 points, her second-highest scoring performance ever, shooting 6-of-7 from the charity stripe and adding four boards. Meanwhile, Cardwell finished with 15 points while pacing the team in assists with four.
Down 6-0 early, Cardwell came off the bench and immediately made an impact. The Cleveland native sank EMU's first two buckets and caused a turnover on the defensive end. Moments later, Lewis nailed a deep mid-range jumper to bring the Eagles within striking distance. Combs drained a three-pointer at the 2:50 mark, then proceeded to steal the ball back from Northern Illinois and lay it in to tie the game at 13. However, the Huskies finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 22-15 after one period of play.
In the second quarter, behind 29-20, Lewis hit a three-ball with contact from the Huskies, then converted on the four-point play. Coming off the bench, sophomore Kiara Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.-Cardinal O'Hara) scored on a physical lay-in, drawing the foul in the process. After converting the and-one, Johnson grabbed a board and scored another tough basket. Lewis hit a jumper at 52 seconds left to cut the Huskies' lead to four before halftime, 37-33.
Early in the third, Cardwell found Lewis as the latter drilled another shot from beyond-the-arc, but the Eagles continued to trail, 43-38. Cardwell was effective on the other end of the floor, nabbing a steal and finding teammate Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) for the easy lay-in with 3:28 left in the period. The Convocation Center erupted moments later as Lewis knocked down yet another trifecta to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 50-48. The Green and White wrapped up the quarter on a 6-0 run highlighted by an Annecchiarico jumper with fewer than ten seconds to go. The Eagles would end the third quarter up 56-52, and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
Annecchiarico started where she left off in the fourth quarter, hitting a deep three to put the Eagles up by five with over nine minutes to play. Combs hit a jumper at the 4:24 mark as Eastern expanded its cushion to six, 65-59. The Oklahoma native hit three more shots in succession to keep the Huskies at bay as the Eagles built a 71-65 advantage with under a minute remaining in regulation. The Green and White continued to be stingy on defense and knock down shots to ultimately overwhelm the Huskies, 76-69.
The Eagles were more efficient from the field, shooting 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the floor compared to the Huskies' 25-of-66 (37.9%) clip. Eastern also led in bench points (22-19), fast-break points (12-6), and points off of turnovers (19-7).
Eastern Michigan will continue its MAC Tournament run on Wednesday, March 11 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles will face the No. 2 seed Ball State University at approximately 5 p.m., 30 minutes after the conclusion of the matchup between Western Michigan and Ohio.
Postgame Recap Video.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Trailing by as many as 12 points in the opening half, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team came back to eliminate Mid-American Conference rival Northern Illinois University, 76-69, on Monday, March 9 inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles (15-15, 9-9 MAC) had three players reach double-figures in points in Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East), Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-Putnam West (Oklahoma State)), and Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo.-Belton).
Combs led the way in scoring for the Eagles with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and a trio of steals. Her double-digit rebounding performance marks her fourth of the season. Lewis dropped 21 points, her second-highest scoring performance ever, shooting 6-of-7 from the charity stripe and adding four boards. Meanwhile, Cardwell finished with 15 points while pacing the team in assists with four.
Down 6-0 early, Cardwell came off the bench and immediately made an impact. The Cleveland native sank EMU's first two buckets and caused a turnover on the defensive end. Moments later, Lewis nailed a deep mid-range jumper to bring the Eagles within striking distance. Combs drained a three-pointer at the 2:50 mark, then proceeded to steal the ball back from Northern Illinois and lay it in to tie the game at 13. However, the Huskies finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 22-15 after one period of play.
In the second quarter, behind 29-20, Lewis hit a three-ball with contact from the Huskies, then converted on the four-point play. Coming off the bench, sophomore Kiara Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.-Cardinal O'Hara) scored on a physical lay-in, drawing the foul in the process. After converting the and-one, Johnson grabbed a board and scored another tough basket. Lewis hit a jumper at 52 seconds left to cut the Huskies' lead to four before halftime, 37-33.
Early in the third, Cardwell found Lewis as the latter drilled another shot from beyond-the-arc, but the Eagles continued to trail, 43-38. Cardwell was effective on the other end of the floor, nabbing a steal and finding teammate Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) for the easy lay-in with 3:28 left in the period. The Convocation Center erupted moments later as Lewis knocked down yet another trifecta to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 50-48. The Green and White wrapped up the quarter on a 6-0 run highlighted by an Annecchiarico jumper with fewer than ten seconds to go. The Eagles would end the third quarter up 56-52, and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
Annecchiarico started where she left off in the fourth quarter, hitting a deep three to put the Eagles up by five with over nine minutes to play. Combs hit a jumper at the 4:24 mark as Eastern expanded its cushion to six, 65-59. The Oklahoma native hit three more shots in succession to keep the Huskies at bay as the Eagles built a 71-65 advantage with under a minute remaining in regulation. The Green and White continued to be stingy on defense and knock down shots to ultimately overwhelm the Huskies, 76-69.
The Eagles were more efficient from the field, shooting 27-of-64 (42.2%) from the floor compared to the Huskies' 25-of-66 (37.9%) clip. Eastern also led in bench points (22-19), fast-break points (12-6), and points off of turnovers (19-7).
Eastern Michigan will continue its MAC Tournament run on Wednesday, March 11 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles will face the No. 2 seed Ball State University at approximately 5 p.m., 30 minutes after the conclusion of the matchup between Western Michigan and Ohio.
Team Stats
NIU
EMU
FG%
.379
.422
3FG%
.118
.300
FT%
.654
.640
RB
55
36
TO
15
6
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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