Eastern Michigan Athletics
Sunday, December 15
South Bend, Ind.
2 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
1-6,0-0MAC
49
at
118
Notre Dame
9-2,1-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Eastern Mich.
9
11
10
19
49
Notre Dame
33
28
31
26
118
WBB Falls in Road Contest at #8 Notre Dame
12/15/2024 4:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Smith leads the way with 13 in return to her home state
Photo Gallery
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell to No. 8/No. 9 University of Notre Dame, 118-49, Sunday, Dec. 15, inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. The Eagles (1-6) were led by Olivia Smith's 13 points in her return to her home state as the Indiana native scored eight points in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Irish (9-2, 1-0 ACC).
How It Happened
The Eagles struggled out of the gate as neither team was able to find a basket in the opening minutes of play before the Fighting Irish opened a 15-0 lead before a Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) free throw ended the scoring drought. Four players scored points in the opening stanza, but Eastern trailed, 33-9, through one. The opening five minutes of the second quarter saw the Eagles keep it close, but a 14-3 run by the hosts opened a larger lead for Notre Dame as the Eagles trailed, 61-20, at halftime.
The Fighting Irish extended their lead in the third as they added 31 points while the Eagles were limited to 10. Eleko and Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side) each scored three points in the stanza while Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk/Canisius) and Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park/Duquesne) chipped in two. Eastern tallied 19 points in the final stanza with Smith scoring eight of her team-high 13 points.
Game Notes
» Olivia Smith scored a season-high 13 points for the Eagles, including eight in the fourth quarter. She added a team-high two assists and chipped in two rebounds as well.
» Sisi Eleko finished with 10 points, marking her seventh consecutive game this season she has scored in double figures and the 49th time in her collegiate career.
» Mackenzie Amalia finished the game with 10 points and a team-leading five rebounds. It marked her third consecutive game scoring 10+ points for the Eagles after no scoring higher than eight points in the first four games of the season.
» The Eagles drained six three-pointers in the game, marking the eighth consecutive game Eastern has connected on at least five triples in a game, dating back to the season finale against Bowling Green (March 9, 2024). The eight game streak ties for the longest since the 2018-19 season in which the Eagles also had a run of eight games, starting with the Jan. 5, 2019, contest at Kent State and ended with five makes at home against Northern Illinois, Feb. 2, 2019. Olivia Smith, Olivia Westphal, and Mackenzie Amalia each hit two three-pointers in the game.
» Jada Williams (Williamstown, N.J./Gloucester Catholic/St. Peter's) played in her second consecutive game and scored four points once again. She also added a season-high three rebounds.
» Kyndal Lewis (Belton, Mo./Belton) made her season debut for the Eagles as she entered the game in the third quarter, marking her first minutes since last season because of an injury.
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-6 on the year while the Fighting Irish improved to 9-2 (1-0 ACC).
» Eastern fell to 0-19 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The last time the Eagles played a ranked foe was Dec. 20, 2020, a 77-68 loss to then-No. 20 Gonzaga in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
» The Eagles fell to 0-5 all-time against the Fighting Irish and 0-3 when playing in South Bend.
» Eastern surrendered 100+ points in a game for the first time since the 2016-17 season when the Eagles fell at home to Central Michigan, 104-63.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road for two games next week when the Eagles take part in the UTRGV Holiday Classic, Dec. 19-20, in Edinburg, Texas. The Eagles will open competition Dec. 19 with a 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET) game with the host Vaqueros of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before closing the event Dec. 20 with a 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET) meeting with the Islanders of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell to No. 8/No. 9 University of Notre Dame, 118-49, Sunday, Dec. 15, inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. The Eagles (1-6) were led by Olivia Smith's 13 points in her return to her home state as the Indiana native scored eight points in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Irish (9-2, 1-0 ACC).
How It Happened
The Eagles struggled out of the gate as neither team was able to find a basket in the opening minutes of play before the Fighting Irish opened a 15-0 lead before a Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) free throw ended the scoring drought. Four players scored points in the opening stanza, but Eastern trailed, 33-9, through one. The opening five minutes of the second quarter saw the Eagles keep it close, but a 14-3 run by the hosts opened a larger lead for Notre Dame as the Eagles trailed, 61-20, at halftime.
The Fighting Irish extended their lead in the third as they added 31 points while the Eagles were limited to 10. Eleko and Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side) each scored three points in the stanza while Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk/Canisius) and Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park/Duquesne) chipped in two. Eastern tallied 19 points in the final stanza with Smith scoring eight of her team-high 13 points.
Game Notes
» Olivia Smith scored a season-high 13 points for the Eagles, including eight in the fourth quarter. She added a team-high two assists and chipped in two rebounds as well.
» Sisi Eleko finished with 10 points, marking her seventh consecutive game this season she has scored in double figures and the 49th time in her collegiate career.
» Mackenzie Amalia finished the game with 10 points and a team-leading five rebounds. It marked her third consecutive game scoring 10+ points for the Eagles after no scoring higher than eight points in the first four games of the season.
» The Eagles drained six three-pointers in the game, marking the eighth consecutive game Eastern has connected on at least five triples in a game, dating back to the season finale against Bowling Green (March 9, 2024). The eight game streak ties for the longest since the 2018-19 season in which the Eagles also had a run of eight games, starting with the Jan. 5, 2019, contest at Kent State and ended with five makes at home against Northern Illinois, Feb. 2, 2019. Olivia Smith, Olivia Westphal, and Mackenzie Amalia each hit two three-pointers in the game.
» Jada Williams (Williamstown, N.J./Gloucester Catholic/St. Peter's) played in her second consecutive game and scored four points once again. She also added a season-high three rebounds.
» Kyndal Lewis (Belton, Mo./Belton) made her season debut for the Eagles as she entered the game in the third quarter, marking her first minutes since last season because of an injury.
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-6 on the year while the Fighting Irish improved to 9-2 (1-0 ACC).
» Eastern fell to 0-19 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The last time the Eagles played a ranked foe was Dec. 20, 2020, a 77-68 loss to then-No. 20 Gonzaga in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
» The Eagles fell to 0-5 all-time against the Fighting Irish and 0-3 when playing in South Bend.
» Eastern surrendered 100+ points in a game for the first time since the 2016-17 season when the Eagles fell at home to Central Michigan, 104-63.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road for two games next week when the Eagles take part in the UTRGV Holiday Classic, Dec. 19-20, in Edinburg, Texas. The Eagles will open competition Dec. 19 with a 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET) game with the host Vaqueros of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before closing the event Dec. 20 with a 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET) meeting with the Islanders of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
Team Stats
EMU
ND
FG%
.288
.676
3FG%
.222
.667
FT%
.750
.667
RB
28
41
TO
23
10
STL
2
17
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
S/Y
/ Women's BasketballM/F
/ Women's Basketball
Y/M
/ Women's BasketballS/Y
/ Women's BasketballW/Y
/ Women's Basketball
M/F
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