Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, December 19
Edinburg, Texas
7:30 p.m. ET
Eastern Michigan University
1-7,0-0MAC
66
at
73
UTRGV
5-6,1-1Southland
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Eastern Mich.
11
19
18
11
7
66
UTRGV
17
16
10
16
14
73
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Eagles Fall in Overtime at UT Rio Grande Valley
12/19/2024 10:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Eleko and Amalia each score 18 in a back-and-forth battle on the road
EDINBURG, Texas (EMUEagles.com) – Sisi Eleko scored 18 points and added a season-best 17 rebounds and Mackenzie Amalia posted a season-high 18 points, but it was not enough as the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell in overtime, 73-66, to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Dec. 19, in both teams' opening game of the UTRGV Holiday Classic in Edinburg, Texas. The Eagles (1-7) trailed for much of the game before taking a late lead in the fourth quarter, but the Vaqueros (5-6) forced overtime and took the win on their home court.
How It Happened
The game opened with both teams moving the ball up and down the court, but neither able to settle in on offense. UTRGV built an eight-point lead near the end of the first quarter before Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk/Canisius) beat the buzzer by banking in her jumper from just above the free throw line to cut the deficit to 17-11 at the break. Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) led the way with six points while chipping in three rebounds and one block in the opening 10 minutes. Eastern cut the deficit to three points before halftime with Amalia scoring eight points in the stanza. The Eagles shot 50 percent in the quarter (8-of-16) while holding the Vaqueros to just 33 percent.
Following the break, the Eagles continued to push the pace and it paid off as they took their first lead of the game with 1:23 remaining in the third. Amalia drove to the hoop and tied things at 43-43 with 1:48 remaining before she again drove to the hoop and was fouled. She drained the second of the two free throw attempts to give EMU a lead that was extended by an 11-0 run that spilled into the fourth.
In the fourth, the hosts reclaimed the lead with 3:21 remaining to start a back-and-forth that saw Brooklyn Thrash (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood/Canisius) pick up a loose ball in the paint and lay it in for a 59-57 lead with 6.2 seconds remaining. UTRGV tied the game on a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining and the Eagles could not get off a shot before the game went into overtime. In the extra session, the hosts connected on their first four shots to build a lead that EMU could not overcome with the Vaqueros winning, 73-69.
Game Notes
» Sisi Eleko recorded her fifth double-double of the season and the 23rd of her career as she scored 18 points and added a season-best 17 rebounds. Eleko, the MAC leader in double-doubles, reached double-digit points for the eighth time this year and the 50th time in her career while her rebounds surpassed her previous season best of 16, she posted at home against Alabama A&M, Nov. 9.
» Mackenzie Amalia continued to find her scoring touch as she tallied a season-high 18 points, bettering the 13 she scored at Detroit Mercy, Nov. 26. Amalia, who led the team with three three-pointers, added a season-high six rebounds as well. She also recorded a team-high-tying three assists, which brought her career total to 300.
» Mackenzie Amalia's 18 points marked the fourth consecutive game she has scored 10+ points after scoring 13 at Detroit Mercy and 10 each against Xavier (Dec. 1) and No. 8 Notre Dame (Dec. 15). Her four-game streak is the longest of her career when scoring in double digits, surpassing the three-game streak she put together last year for Canisius by scoring 10 at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 7, 2023), 12 at Youngstown State (Jan. 12, 2023), and 11 at home against IU Indy (Jan. 14, 2023).
» Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park/Duquesne) scored six points in the game with two three-pointers to extend her current streak to eight consecutive games with two-or-more made triples. Additionally, she has scored 20 three-pointers this year through seven games played after scoring 23 in 28 games played last season.
» The Eagles finished 7-of-30 from behind the arc to extend their current streak to 112 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer. The last EMU failed to drain a long-distance shot came Nov. 29, 2020, when Eastern finished 0-of-15 from three-point range at home against UIC.
» With their seven made three-pointers, Eastern extended its streak to nine consecutive games with 5+ made triples dating back to the 2023-24 season finale, March 9, 2024, against visiting Bowling Green.
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-7 overall while the Vaqueros improved to 5-6 (1-1 SLC).
» UTRGV took the lead in the all-time series at 2-1 with each team winning on their home courts.
» The Eagles fell to 4-3 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference.
» Eastern fell to 23-28 all-time in overtime contests and have dropped three consecutive overtime games. The last time the Eagles played an extra-session game was Feb. 7, 2024, a 68-67 home overtime loss to Akron.
Up Next
The Eagles return to action Friday, Dec. 20, in the second and final game of the UTRGV Holiday Classic as Eastern will take on the Islanders of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi at 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET).
How It Happened
The game opened with both teams moving the ball up and down the court, but neither able to settle in on offense. UTRGV built an eight-point lead near the end of the first quarter before Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk/Canisius) beat the buzzer by banking in her jumper from just above the free throw line to cut the deficit to 17-11 at the break. Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) led the way with six points while chipping in three rebounds and one block in the opening 10 minutes. Eastern cut the deficit to three points before halftime with Amalia scoring eight points in the stanza. The Eagles shot 50 percent in the quarter (8-of-16) while holding the Vaqueros to just 33 percent.
Following the break, the Eagles continued to push the pace and it paid off as they took their first lead of the game with 1:23 remaining in the third. Amalia drove to the hoop and tied things at 43-43 with 1:48 remaining before she again drove to the hoop and was fouled. She drained the second of the two free throw attempts to give EMU a lead that was extended by an 11-0 run that spilled into the fourth.
In the fourth, the hosts reclaimed the lead with 3:21 remaining to start a back-and-forth that saw Brooklyn Thrash (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood/Canisius) pick up a loose ball in the paint and lay it in for a 59-57 lead with 6.2 seconds remaining. UTRGV tied the game on a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining and the Eagles could not get off a shot before the game went into overtime. In the extra session, the hosts connected on their first four shots to build a lead that EMU could not overcome with the Vaqueros winning, 73-69.
Game Notes
» Sisi Eleko recorded her fifth double-double of the season and the 23rd of her career as she scored 18 points and added a season-best 17 rebounds. Eleko, the MAC leader in double-doubles, reached double-digit points for the eighth time this year and the 50th time in her career while her rebounds surpassed her previous season best of 16, she posted at home against Alabama A&M, Nov. 9.
» Mackenzie Amalia continued to find her scoring touch as she tallied a season-high 18 points, bettering the 13 she scored at Detroit Mercy, Nov. 26. Amalia, who led the team with three three-pointers, added a season-high six rebounds as well. She also recorded a team-high-tying three assists, which brought her career total to 300.
» Mackenzie Amalia's 18 points marked the fourth consecutive game she has scored 10+ points after scoring 13 at Detroit Mercy and 10 each against Xavier (Dec. 1) and No. 8 Notre Dame (Dec. 15). Her four-game streak is the longest of her career when scoring in double digits, surpassing the three-game streak she put together last year for Canisius by scoring 10 at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 7, 2023), 12 at Youngstown State (Jan. 12, 2023), and 11 at home against IU Indy (Jan. 14, 2023).
» Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park/Duquesne) scored six points in the game with two three-pointers to extend her current streak to eight consecutive games with two-or-more made triples. Additionally, she has scored 20 three-pointers this year through seven games played after scoring 23 in 28 games played last season.
» The Eagles finished 7-of-30 from behind the arc to extend their current streak to 112 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer. The last EMU failed to drain a long-distance shot came Nov. 29, 2020, when Eastern finished 0-of-15 from three-point range at home against UIC.
» With their seven made three-pointers, Eastern extended its streak to nine consecutive games with 5+ made triples dating back to the 2023-24 season finale, March 9, 2024, against visiting Bowling Green.
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-7 overall while the Vaqueros improved to 5-6 (1-1 SLC).
» UTRGV took the lead in the all-time series at 2-1 with each team winning on their home courts.
» The Eagles fell to 4-3 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference.
» Eastern fell to 23-28 all-time in overtime contests and have dropped three consecutive overtime games. The last time the Eagles played an extra-session game was Feb. 7, 2024, a 68-67 home overtime loss to Akron.
Up Next
The Eagles return to action Friday, Dec. 20, in the second and final game of the UTRGV Holiday Classic as Eastern will take on the Islanders of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi at 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET).
Team Stats
EMU
UTRGV
FG%
.391
.354
3FG%
.233
.100
FT%
.643
.676
RB
41
49
TO
16
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
S/Y
/ Women's BasketballM/F
/ Women's BasketballM
/ Women's Basketball
W/Y
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