Women's Basketball Opens Eight-Game Road Trip Thursday Versus Cleveland State

Women's Basketball at Cleveland State
Date	Thursday, Nov. 16 - 7 p.m.
Venue	Cleveland, Ohio - Wolstein Center (13,610)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| CSU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats vs. CSU
Watch	N/A
Listen	N/A
Twitter	@EMUWBB \| @EMUAthletics

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - Eastern Michigan University's women's basketball team takes its 2-0 record on the road Thursday, Nov. 16, when it travels to Cleveland, Ohio to take on Cleveland State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and marks the beginning of EMU's 35-day roadtrip.
   Eastern Michigan enters the clash with a 2-0 ledger, most recently besting Rochester, 62-29. Meanwhile, CSU is looking for its first win of the 2017-18 season after dropping its season opener to Ball State University, 76-64, Nov. 11.
   Fans can follow the game via Twitter, as it will be live tweeted from the team's account, @EMUWBB.

CLASHING WITH CSU: Eastern Michigan and Cleveland State have squared off on the hardwood 15 times, with EMU holding an 11-4 lead in the all-time series. The Vikings took the initial clash by a final score of 80-67 in Cleveland during the 1980-81 campaign.
   Thursday's tilt will be the first meeting between the Eagles and Vikings since the 2014-15 season when Eastern knocked off CSU 71-68 inside the Convocation Center. It was the Green and White's fourth straight win over Cleveland State.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!: The Green and White put together one of the best defensive performances the Convocation Center has ever seen Monday, Nov. 13, in a 62-29 win over Rochester. The Eagles held the Warriors to the sixth-worst shooting percentage (.208) in Convo history, while RC's 29 points were the fourth-fewest all-time. Additionally, the Eagles held the Warriors to just nine points in the second half, the third-fewest in arena annals.

CORRIONE'S HOMECOMING: Redshirt freshman Corrione Cardwell makes her return to "The Land" this week as the Green and White head to Cleveland for a clash with Cleveland State. Cardwell, a four-year letterwinner out of New Tech East High School, played her high school games just two miles away from CSU's Wolstein Center. Cardwell averaged 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.0 steals in her final season as a Scarab, while garnering all-state and All-Senate League honors.

HITTING THE HARWOOD VS. THE HORIZON LEAGUE: EMU owns a 53-41 record against the Horizon League all-time. Home to Cleveland State and nine other institutions, the Eagles have battled all but one of the members of the Indianapolis, Ind.-based conference.
   Given the proximity, it comes as no surprise that EMU has squared off against Detroit Mercy more than any other Horizon League opponent, with 26 meetings taking place between the two all-time. While Eastern trails in the all-time series, 15-11, against Detroit Mercy, EMU holds the upperhand versus Cleveland State, 11-4. The Eagles also lead the series with Illinois-Chicago (8-3), Valparaiso (5-3), Wright State (6-0), and Youngstown State (4-2). The Green and White sit level with Oakland (7-7) and Milwaukee (2-2) all-time, and are winless in the all-time series against Green Bay, 0-5.

LEWIS' STRONG START: Freshman Courtnie Lewis has made her presence known in her first two games as an Eagle, totaling 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists. The Belton, Mo. native scored 18 points in her first collegiate game, the most in an Eagle debut since Sasha Dailey scored 31 against Kent State-Tuscarawas, Nov. 14, 2014, before adding a 14-point effort against Rochester. She is the first EMU freshman to post back-to-back double digit scoring performances to start their career since Chenise Miller did so in 2009.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT: EMU's 33-point margin of victory against Rochester was its largest since Eastern Michigan overpowered Madonna, 104-45, Dec. 18, 2015.

A WIN WOULD...: With a win, the Eagles would be off to their best start since the 2013-14 season. That season, Eastern opened the year 5-0 en route to a Women's Basketball Invitational appearance.

UNDER 50: In Eastern Michigan's game against Rochester, EMU held its opponent to 50-or-fewer points for the 108th time in program history. The Eagles are 107-1 all-time when holding the opposition below the 50-point mark.

COMBINED MARGIN: EMU has won big in its first two games of the season defeating Florida A&M by a 22-point margin and Rochester by a whopping 33 points. Eastern's 55-point combined margin of victory is the largest since the 2011-12 season. That season, EMU won its first two games of the year by a combined 129 points, defeating Northeastern (83-53) and Marygrove (110-31).

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: The Eagles depth has been at the forefront this season, as 13 players have garnered minutes in their first two games of the season. Furthermore, EMU's bench has outscored their counterparts 93-28 through two games. To put that in perspective, EMU endured a 12-game stretch last season in which its bench scored a combined 94 points, posting just two double digit efforts during that span.

POURING IT ON: The Green and White had no shortage of offense Friday, Nov. 10, toppling Florida A&M 83-60. It marked just the third time in the Fred Castro era that the Eagles have eclipsed the 80-point mark, while it was the most points EMU has scored since Feb. 20, 2016 when Eastern put up 84 points against Northern Illinois.

WORKING TOWARDS THE 1000-POINT CLUB: Senior Sasha Dailey stands 141 points short of the 1,000-point mark in her final season donning the Green and White. Dailey amassed 855 points for her career through her first three seasons, and has scored 14 points so far this year. If Dailey eclipses four-digits, she will become the 22nd player in program history to score at least 1,000 points during their career.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Eastern Michigan has won 78 of the last 108 home games dating back to the 2008-09 season. The Eagles have racked up a solid home-court advantage inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center since the doors opened during the 1998-99 campaign. The Green and White has won 66.2 percent of the contests played in the building, piling up a 172-88 all-time mark.

BELTON CONNECTION: Courtnie Lewis is not the first Kansas City area native to land in Ypsilanti. In fact, Lewis and former EMU standout Paige Redditt both graduated from Belton High School. Redditt, a 6-foot-1 forward for the Eagles from 2008-12, averaged 6.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during her time donning the Green and White. Currently, she ranks tied for ninth all-time with 13 double-doubles.

TEAM IMPACT: Eastern Michigan added Alyssa Suisham to the roster before the start of the 2017-18 season through Team Impact, a non-profit organization which aims to improve the quality of life of children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses through sport. Suisham, a native of Royal Oak, Mich., was diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy at nine months old, and began to experience seizures at the age of two. An annual participant in the Special Olympics competing in track and field, Suisham will join the Eagles for games, practices, and other events throughout the year.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Eastern Michigan's 14-player roster has combined for 6,452 career minutes ahead of the 2017-18 season, the third-fewest in the Mid-American Conference. Additionally the Eagles are the least experienced team in the West Division. Ohio brings back just 3,877 minutes, the fewest in the league, while Akron returns 4,964. Meanwhile, Miami is the most experienced squad in the league with 13,782 career minutes on the roster.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan remains on the road Saturday, Nov. 18, as the Green and White make the trek to Olean, N.Y. for a 1:30 p.m. tip against St. Bonaventure.

Women's Basketball Opens Eight-Game Road Trip Thursday Versus Cleveland State

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Players Mentioned

Corrione Cardwell

Sasha Dailey

Courtnie Lewis

Eastern Michigan Athletics