Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
0-2,0-0MAC
Georgia Southern
2-0,0-0Sun Belt
Women's Hoops Falls at Georgia Southern, 82-58
11/11/2023 4:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Austin and Nelson combine for 34 points
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team held Georgia Southern University to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field, but fell, 82-58, to the Eagles on the road Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Eagles (0-2) had two players score in double figures, led by Lachelle Austin (Redford, Mich./Wayne Memorial), who had 17 points, and ZaNiya Nelson (Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City West), who also added 17 points and three steals. Tayra Eke (Madrid, Spain./IES Ortega y Gasset) added eight points, seven rebounds, two steals, and five blocks.
Led by Eke's three offensive rebounds, Eastern Michigan did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 14 boards that resulted in 16 second-chance points.
How It Happened
The Green and White opened the scoring by going on a 7-0 run, culminating in a three from Austin, to take an early lead with 8:03 left in the first quarter. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with a 13-9 advantage. EMU capitalized on five Georgia Southern turnovers in the period, turning them into four points on the other end of the floor.
The Eagles could not maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing, 41-24.
Eastern Michigan came out of halftime on fire, going on a 5-0 run to trim its deficit to 41-29 with 9:17 to go in the third. Georgia Southern countered and stretched its lead to 59-42 heading into the fourth. Eastern Michigan took advantage of seven GSU turnovers in the quarter, scoring six points off of takeaways.
Georgia Southern kept widening its lead in the fourth, constructing a 70-45 advantage before EMU went on a 6-0 run, finished off by Nelson's three, to shrink the deficit to 70-51 with 4:00 to go in the contest. Georgia Southern responded and outscored the Eagles the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 82-58. Eastern Michigan got a boost from its bench in the period, with non-starters scoring 10 of its 16 total points.
Game Notes
» The Eastern Michigan bench made an impact by adding 14 points to its scoring output. Last season, the Eagles earned 14 or more bench points in 13 outings.
» The Eagles hit the road for the first time in the 2023-24 season. Last season, the Green and White finished with a 5-6 away record. Overall, Fred Castro has compiled a 30-62 record when playing on the road in the eight seasons at the helm of the program.
» EMU forced 18 Georgia Southern turnovers while committing 16 themselves. It marked the second consecutive game in which the Green and White have forced more turnovers than they have committed. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 15 points on the offensive end of the floor.
» Eastern Michigan cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 14 offensive boards in the game. The 14 rebounds top the team's previous season high of 12 boards recorded in the season home-opener against Detroit Mercy, Nov. 6.
» Freshman Meghan Gentile (Roseland, N.J./Immaculate Conception) earned her first collegiate appearance in the setback as the rookie attempted on three field goals in her three minutes of play.
» The duo of Eke and Kennedi Myles (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills/Illinois-Marquette) combined for 14 total rebounds as each player recorded seven. It marked the second game in which Myles led the team in rebounds after recording a team-leading 11 against UDM, Nov. 6.
» Eke notched five blocks in the loss topping her EMU career-high of four set on two different occasions during the 2022-23 season. The junior recorded her career-high six blocks when playing for Long Island University against Army West Point, Dec. 1, 2021.
Historical Notes
» The last time an Eagle player recorded five blocks in a single game was when Becca Turney did so against Ferris State University, Nov. 16, 2016.
» EMU and GSU met for just the second time in each of their program's histories. The two schools first met in the 1993 season when the Eagles of Georgia Southern defeated the Eagles of EMU, 87-67, in a neutral site in Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 11. EMU now trails GSU 0-2 in the all-time series.
Up Next
Following the season road-opener in Georgia, the Green and White are slated to return home in time to host SIU-Edwardsville Saturday, Nov. 18, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
