Women's Basketball Readies for Toledo in MAC Second Round

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team continues its postseason run Wednesday afternoon, March 11, against the University of Toledo in the second round of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The contest is the finale of the two second round tilts and is scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m. from Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
   The Eagles, seeded sixth in the tournament, split with the No. 7-seed Rockets in their two regular season meetings. EMU raced to a 75-61 victory in the Glass City, Jan. 24, while UT came from behind to steal an 81-72 decision in Ypsilanti, Feb. 21. The winner advances to play No. 3 Akron Thursday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m.
   Coming off a 70-52 victory over 11th-seeded Kent State, March 9, the Eagles enter the game with a mark of 19-11 (11-7 MAC) and will be playing its third game on a neutral court this season. Meanwhile, Toledo earned the right to advance to Cleveland with a 62-47 victory over No. 10 Miami University, March 9, to up its record to 18-12 (10-8 MAC).

EMU SEEKS SEVENTH 20-WIN SEASON: The Eagles need just one more victory in 2014-15 to pick up their seventh 20-win season in the past 12 campaigns. Prior to the 2003-04 year, Eastern Michigan had never won more than 18 games in a single season.

EMU AT THE 'Q': Eastern Michigan is very familiar with the Quicken Loans Arena floor, as the school has posted a 10-8 record, including capturing the 2004 and 2012 MAC Championships. However, no current EMU players or coaches have ever played a game at the former Gund Arena.

BIG WINS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles' first round 70-52 victory over Kent State University was the fourth largest margin of victory for EMU in a MAC Tournament game. The Eagles largest margin of victory came in an 88-51 win over Miami University during the 1999-2000 season.

FIRST TIME IN A WHILE: For the first time since the 2006-07 season, both the men's and women's basketball teams have advanced to the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament after the two teams posted wins in a doubleheader, March 9. The women came away with a 70-52 win over Kent State, while the men had a thrilling 62-61 overtime victory over Ohio. In the 2006-07 campaign, the women took down Ohio in the first round, 79-69, before dropping the second round contest to No. 18/19 Bowling Green, 57-71. The men had a similar story, beating Ball state in a 51-48 decision before exiting the tournament following a 62-54 setback to Toledo.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 32-26 record during the month of March over the last 17 years, including a 3.0 mark this season. Eastern is 19-19 all-time in 21 trips to the MAC Tournament. The 1999-2000 campaign marked the first season in which all teams qualified for the tournament.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK: The Eagles tied a season-low with just six turnovers in the contest against Kent State, March 9. EMU has produced eight games this season that it has turned the ball over less than 10 times.

SWEENEY TURNS IT ON IN THE TOURNEY: Sophomore Cha Sweeney scored 21 points in the Eagles victory over Kent State, March 9. Sweeney scored 26 points in her first MAC Tournament game a season ago in the Eagles' overtime loss to the Huskies, March 10, 2014.

Friendly Confines of the Convo: EMU finished the 2014-15 season with 11 wins at the Convocation Center which is the most victories the Green and White have recorded at home since the 2011-12 campaign. The 11-4 (.733) home record is the best a Tory Verdi led squad has done at the Convo under the third-year head coach.

SWEENEY NAMED SECOND-TEAM ALL-MAC: Eastern Michigan University women's basketball sophomore guard Cha Sweeney has been named to the 2015 All-Mid-American Conference Second Team after an exceptional season for the Eagles. The All-MAC teams are voted on by the league's head coaches. Sweeney earns the honor for the second consecutive year after also taking home 2014 MAC Freshman of the Year accolades last season.
   The 5-foot-2 guard led the Eagles in scoring (15.9 ppg), which ranked as the eighth most in the MAC. In addition to her stellar scoring effort, the Toledo, Ohio native also led the Green and White in steals (2.1 spg) which is second best in the league, while placing fifth with 3.6 assists per contest. Sweeney also ranked 13th in three point field goals made (1.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3).

SUPER SOPHOMORES: The sophomore trio of Janay Morton, Cha Sweeney and Phillis Webb has been a large part of the team's success in 2014-15. The trifecta has combined for 47.8 percent of EMU's points (978), 29.2 percent of its rebounds (361) and 63.8 percent of the assists (208).
   Surprisingly, it is nearly the same pace as their freshman campaign, when the three players combined for a season total of 1,078 points, 312 rebounds and 164 assists.

#HEADYREADY: The Kent State contest on Feb. 4 may have been the turning point for the EMU basketball team, as since that date the squad has compiled a 9-2 record as it plays in honor of Shannise Heady and Jordan Hopkins. Heading to Kent, Ohio, the Eagles were just 10-9 on the year and had lost back-to-back games following the accident to drop to 3-5 in the MAC. Since then the Eagles have played inspired and unselfish basketball to become one of the hottest teams nationally, winning nine of its last 11 contests. During the streak, Cha Sweeney is pouring in an average of 19.3 points a contest while Janay Morton is contributing 15.4. The outside shooting is the biggest difference with EMU making 36.0 percent (82-of-228) of its three-point attempts after shooting just 27.4 percent (85-of-310) in its first 19 contests. EMU also is averaging 12.5 assists, up from 9.9.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport an 19-19 mark in 21 trips to the conference postseason and are making their third appearance under Head Coach Tory Verdi. The Eagles have faced Bowling Green (2-5) the most times of any squad in the tournament. Eastern is 4-1 against Toledo, 2-2 versus Ohio, 2-2 against Miami and 2-3 versus Kent State. EMU is 1-1 in postseason play versus Ball State and 1-2 against Northern Illinois. The Green and White are 2-0 against Buffalo, 1-0 versus Central Michigan and winless against Akron and Western Michigan. EMU was 2-0 versus Marshall in tournament play before the Thundering Herd departed for Conference USA.

SEEKING MAC TITLE NUMBER THREE: The Eagles advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament in 2004, 2011 and 2012. EMU is 2-1 all-time in the contest that decides the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Green and White defeated BGSU, 65-56, in the 2004 finale, March 13, and then fell to the Falcons, 51-46, in the 2011 title game, March 12. One year later, EMU defeated CMU 72-71 thanks to a Paige Redditt layup with 1.8 seconds left in the contest.

SEVEN POSTSEASON TRIPS IN THE PAST 11 YEARS: Playing in late March has become a regular tradition for Eastern Michigan, as the Eagles have participated in the postseason seven times in the past 11 years. Prior to the 2003-04 campaign, EMU had never even advanced to the championship game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. However, all that changed when EMU won the 2004 MAC Tournament and earned the automatic bid to the program's first NCAA Tournament. The Green and White has since followed it up with appearances in the 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011 Women's National Invitational Tournaments (WNIT). EMU again returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 after winning the MAC Tournament and last season hosted two rounds of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).

MUDDY'S BUDDIES: Cha Sweeney's left shoulder has a tattoo with a Toledo Mud Hens logo and an inscription that reads "Never Forget Where You Came From." It's safe to say Sweeney has remembered just fine when taking on her hometown team. In four career games versus Toledo, Sweeney has averaged 21.3 points while connecting on at least seven field goals in each of the contests. The Rogers High School product also has 13 career three-pointers versus the Midnight Blue and Gold to go along with 10 assists and eight thefts.

LAST POST-SEASON MEETING WITH TOLEDO: Despite being down by 10 points with 7:45 remaining, the Eagles ended the game on an 18-6 run to defeat the Rockets by a final score of 59-57, March 9, 2012 at Quicken Loans Arena to advance to the 2012 MAC Tournament Championship game. The Eagles were paced offensively by Tavelyn James and Natachia Watkins who each scored 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting. The pair combined for seven rebounds and seven steals as well. Paige Redditt finished in double-figures as well, recording 11 points. Yolanda Richardson led the way for the Rockets, finishing with 15 points.
   The 2011-12 EMU women's basketball team defeated CMU in the MAC Tournament finals by a score of 72-71 to advance to the NCAA Tournament. EMU earned a No. 12 seed and loss to No. 5 South Carolina by a final tally of 80-48.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ROCKETS: Wednesday's contest marks the 75th meeting between Toledo and Eastern Michigan, who first met during the 1977-78 season. The Rockets lead the overall series, 46-28, as the two sides split the season series.

ALL-TIME VERSUS AKRON: Should the Eagles come out a winner against Toledo, the March 12 contest against the University of Akron would mark the 34th meeting between the Zips and Eagles, who first met during the 1981-82 season. UA leads the all-time series, 19-14. The teams met only once during the 2014-15 regular season with the Zips cruising to a 65-48 decision at the James A. Rhodes Arena, Jan. 10.

STAT YOU VERY MUCH: For the sixth consecutive season the EMU Athletic Media Relations Office will be called upon to serve as the official statistics crew of the 2015 MAC Tournament. Under the direction of Greg Steiner, the office worked the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 tournament logging more than 60 hours over a four day span at Quicken Loans Arena. The office has also worked as the stat crew for the past seven Marathon MAC Football Championship games and the previous eight MAC Baseball Tournaments. The this year's MAC basketball crew consists of Greg Steiner, Sean Hostetter, Chris Puzzuoli, Megan Samassa, Chloe Smith, Michael Craig and Ken Dewey.

TOP OF THE MAC: The Eagles rank in the top-five in eight different statistical categories, including being second in steals with 10.4 per game and offensive rebounds with 15.1 per games. EMU is third in scoring offense at 67.3 ppg and fifth in free throw percentagr (71.4). Individually, Cha Sweeney is second in steals at 2.1 swipes a contest, while Janay Morton is third with 2.1 takeaways. Sweeney is also eighth in scoring with Morton following closely in 14th and Jamaica Bucknor in 21st.

INTERESTING STATS ABOUT EMU: In its 19 victories this season, EMU is averaging 73.6 points while the opposition is posting just 57.6 points. In those games, opponents are shooting 35.8 percent from the field compared to 41.1 percent for the Eagles. In defeats, the Eagles are only scoring 58.9 points, while giving up 73.3. Another factor in the Eagles' success has been the ability to control the glass. EMU is grabbing 42.5 rebounds to just 39.0 for the opponents in the wins, while in setbacks the rebounding edge tracks in the opponents favor (EMU 39.2, OPP 45.9).

DEFENSE LEADING TO EASY OFFENSE: Over the previous 15 games, the ultra-athletic Eagles have forced 19.1 turnovers a game while snagging 11.3 steals. The 309 turnovers by the opposition led to 297 points-off-turnovers or 27.6 percent of the EMU's offense.

LUCK CHANGING AGAINST THE FLASHES: With the 70-52 victory over Kent State, March 9, Eastern Michigan has now won nine consecutive games over the Golden Flashes dating back to the 2009-10 campaign. In total, EMU has come away victorious in 13 of the last 16 battles with KSU.    Between 1992 and 2003, Kent State downed the Eagles in 19 consecutive meetings.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1,000 IS COMPLETE: Sophomore Cha Sweeney became the 19th player all-time in EMU history to reach the 1,000-point club. The sophomore guard notched 20 points in the Eagles' March 7 win at Central Michigan to become the second-fastest player in school history to reach the grand total, needing just 61 games. EMU's all-time leading scorer Tavelyn James (2008-12) was also a sophomore when she joined the elusive club in 57 career games. James ended with 2,470 points in her distinguished career.

MICHIGAN MAC TROPHY RETURNS TO YPSI: With its 93-86 victory at Central Michigan, March 7, the Eagles' reclaimed the Michigan MAC Trophy, which is given to the Michigan MAC university that defeats the other two schools in the same sport in the same regular season. This season in the rivalry games, EMU was 3-1, WMU was 2-2 and CMU was 1-3. Created in 2005 by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, CMU had previously held the women's basketball trophy.    The EMU women's basketball team also won the trophy title during the 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons.

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT: Each season under Head Coach Tory Verdi the Eagles have taken steps to return to the programs's previous championship form. The 2014-15 squad is no different as the Green and White recorded 11 Mid-American Conference wins for the first time in three seasons under Verdi. His 2012-13 team went 6-10 in the league while last year the club was 7-11 in MAC play. EMU has posted at least 10 victories in Mid-American Conference play on nine different occasions. Prior to the 2001-02 season, the Eagles had never won more than nine games in league action.

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Players Mentioned

Jamaica Bucknor

Shannise Heady

Janay Morton

Cha Sweeney

Natachia Watkins

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics