Women's Basketball Travels to Ohio for MAC First Round Monday

Women's Basketball at Ohio
Date	Monday, March 6 \| 6 p.m.
Venue	Athens, Ohio \| Convocation Center (13,080)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Tournament Bracket
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	All-Access (FREE) \| Mobile Apps: iPhone or Android
Twitter	@EMUWBB \| @EMUAthletics

ATHENS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team begins its postseason run Monday, March 6, with a trip to Ohio University in the opening round of the 2017 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
   Greg Steiner will have the call on Eagle All-Access, which is available at EMUEagles.com/showcase or on the new EMU Eagles mobile app on iPhone or Android. The game will also be shown on ESPN3 as part of the campus connection initiative.
   The Eagles, seeded 12th in the tournament, fell in the lone regular season meeting with the No. 5-seed Bobcats. Ohio won 68-51 at the Convo, Jan. 21, to snap EMU's three-game winning streak in Athens dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.
   Coming off a 71-48 setback at regular season champion Central Michigan University, March 4, the Eagles enter the game with a mark of 6-24 (1-17 MAC) and a 1-12 record this season on the road. Meanwhile, Ohio is 21-8 (12-6 MAC) after downing the University of Akron, 62-48, at home on the final day of the regular season.
   The winner advances to play No. 4 Northern Illinois University, Wednesday, March 8, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Tipoff for the second round contest is scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m.

ON THE ROAD IN THE TOURNEY: The last time EMU traveled in the MAC Tournament was as the sixth-seed to No. 3 Western Michigan in 1999. The Broncos posted a 95-68 victory in Kalamazoo, Mich.
   All-time, Eastern Michigan is 0-5 in road tournament games, going 0-2 at Bowling Green, 0-1 at Toledo, 0-1 at Kent State, and 0-1 at WMU.

WEBB SEEKING LEADING SCORER AND REBOUNDER STATUS: Just one point behind teammate Sasha Dailey, senior Phillis Webb has the opportunity to become the first Eagle to lead the squad in both scoring and rebounding. Webb has 452 points this year to go along with a team-best 252 caroms.
   The last EMU player to finish the season as both the leader in points and rebounds was Academic All-American Sarah VanMetre in 2006-07. The Noblesville, Ind. native finished her senior year with 461 points and 242 rebounds as EMU finished with a 16-13 record.

NOW THIS IS MARCH MADNESS: The Green and White has posted a 41-33 record during the month of March over the last 19 years, including an 8-2 mark during the 2014-15 season.

EMU's MAC TOURNAMENT ADVENTURE TO BEGIN ON THE ROAD: Eastern Michigan will open the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament on the road Monday, March 6. It marks the first time since 1998-99 that the Eagles will not have either a bye to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, or a first round home game at the Convocation Center.
   Since the MAC switched to the 12-team format in 1998-99, Eastern Michigan has hosted 11 first round contests while accumulating three free-passes to the second round at "The Q". In addition, the Green and White played a trio of first round contests in Cleveland during a stretch when all the teams were brought directly to the neutral site.

ALL-TIME AGAINST TEAMS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The Eagles sport a 24-21 mark in 23 trips to the conference postseason and are making their first under Head Coach Fred Castro. The Eagles have faced Bowling Green (2-5) the most times of any squad in the tournament. Eastern is 5-1 against Toledo, 2-3 versus Ohio, 3-3 against Kent State, and 2-2 versus Miami. EMU is 3-1 in postseason play versus Ball State and 1-2 against Northern Illinois. The Green and White are 2-0 against Buffalo, 1-1 versus Central Michigan, 1-1 against Akron, and winless against Western Michigan. EMU was 2-0 versus Marshall in tournament play before the Thundering Herd departed for Conference USA.

LAST POSTSEASON MEETING VERSUS OHIO: The No. 6-seeded Eagles saw their eight-game winning streak come to a close in the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament finals as No. 1-seeded Ohio claimed a 60-44 victory and the tournament championship, March 14, at Quicken Loans Arena.
   The Eagles posted a memorable run to close out the MAC season, winning 12 of its last 16 games and earning a 20-win season. Eastern tied the third-longest winning streak in program-history with eight-straight wins, while the team was just the first No. 6 seed to make the tournament finals and the fourth team to win four games at the conference tournament.
   Cha Sweeney etched her name into the MAC Tournament record book, knocking down seven field goals and scoring 24 points for the Green and White against Ohio. The Toledo, Ohio native's 39 field goals in five games surpassed Central Michigan's Crystal Bradford MAC Tournament record of 36 field goals, set in the 2012 tournament. Coming into the contest, Sweeney needed just four field goals to tie the record and made her fifth field goal of the game with 29 seconds remaining in the first half to not only break the record, but also allow EMU to take a slight 27-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
   Ohio shot 37.7 percent from the floor with tournament MVP, Kiyanna Black scoring a team-best 25 points, including five three-pointers.

MAC TOURNAMENT SEEDING FACTS: In the 35 years of the tournament, the top seed has won the title 22 times. In 2015, the No. 6 Eastern Michigan Eagles became the then-highest seed to ever advance to the tournament championship game. Buffalo, a No. 8 seed in 2016, is the highest seed to ever win the title. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have met 15 times in the championship game, with the top seed winning 13 times.

ALL-TIME AGAINST OHIO: Eastern Michigan and Ohio will square off for the 60th time in program history Monday, March 6. The Bobcats hold the upper hand, leading the all-time series, 34-25, including a 4-1 record against EMU the last three seasons. EMU dropped the most recent contest, 68-51, at OU's Convocation Center, Jan. 21. Eastern shot 28.8 from the field, connecting on 19-of-66 attempts from the field, while Ohio used six three-pointers and a 38.1 field goal percentage to top the Eagles.
   Junior Micah Robinson and senior Sheyna Deans posted double digit scoring efforts for the Eagles. Robinson turned in a team-high 16 points, including a 2-of-3 showing from three-point range. Deans added 11 points, all of which came in the second half, while falling just short of a double-double with nine rebounds. Fellow senior Phillis Webb also came close to a double-double, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points.

EMU AT OHIO'S CONVOCATION CENTER: EMU and OU have battled inside of Ohio's Convocation Center 27 times since the teams first squared off in 1981. Ohio has protected its home court throughout the all-time series, holding a 17-10 edge over Eastern in Athens. EMU has closed the gap, winning three of last four meetings at the Convocation Center.
   The Eagles' last win against the 'Cats came at their place, Feb. 18, 2015, when the Green and White defeated the Bobcats 73-61. Three players scored in double figures for the Eagles (Cha Sweeney-23, Jamaica Bucknor-17, and Janay Morton-14) while Eastern knocked down 20-of-21 free throws in their 12-point victory.

MAC-BEST 19 FOR ROBINSON: Junior Micah Robinson posted 19 points and seven rebounds against Central Michigan, March 4. The 19 points were a career-high in conference play, bettering an 18 point outing versus NIU (12-25-17).

BENCH SCORING: For the first time since March 24, 2014, EMU did not accumulate a point from its bench in a 71-48 setback to MAC Regular Season Champion Central Michigan. The last time it occurred was against the University of Illinois-Chicago in the Women's Basketball Invitational. The Flames notched a 93-91 victory in the second round of the postseason tournament.

GETTING CLOSER: Head Coach Fred Castro's crew has been able to make some adjustments the second time around the MAC, cutting the point differential to -10.8 points per game in its last six outings. Despite still going 0-6 during the stretch, the Eagles have played significantly better with shooting percentages nearing 40 percent and the defense allowing just 67.8 points per game.

LOCKING DOWN THE CARDINALS: Eastern Michigan turned in its best first quarter defensive performance of the year against Ball State, March 1. The Eagles held the Cardinals scoreless for the opening 6:33 of the contest, as BSU missed its first 11 shots of the game. EMU built a 10-0 advantage before giving up the first basket of the game at the 2:27 mark. Ball State would add a pair of free throws the remainder of the stanza to finish with just four points against the stingy EMU defense.

STRONG SENIOR SEASON: Senior Phillis Webb now has 452 points this season, which ranks seventh-best among EMU seniors all-time. Webb passed Relly Hebler (1989-90 – 446) and now has her sights set on Sarah VanMetre (2006-07 – 461) in sixth place. Last year, Webb finished with 389 points, so she has already bettered that mark by 63 points.

THE 400 CLUB: Junior Sasha Dailey passed the 400-point plateau this season, and is knocking on the door of being of one of the most prolific junior seasons in program history. With 453 points, she needs six points to catch Janay Morton (2015-16 - 459 points) for the fifth-most points scored by an EMU junior. Tavelyn James holds the all-time third-year mark with 642 points during the 2010-11 campaign. For the complete list, turn to page 10 of these notes.

OH WHAT A WEBB WE WEAVE: Senior Phillis Webb has been putting on a show as of late, averaging 18.2 points and 8.5 caroms a contest in her last 12 appearances. During that time frame, the Brooklyn Park, Minn. native is shooting 39.9 percent (85-of-213) from the floor, including 21 trilighters. Webb has carried 29.9 percent of the Eagles' offensive output, and has taken 67 more shots than anyone else on the squad.

EMU WORKHORSE: Coming into the season, junior Micah Robinson had played a total of 378 minutes over 50 games in the first two seasons of her collegiate career, averaging just 7.5 minutes per contest. This season, Robinson has been one of the most utilized players in the country. The Ann Arbor product has played 1,112 minutes, the most of any player in the conference and the 21st-most in the country. Additionally, Robinson's 37.1 minutes per game average ranks 24th nationally.

SWIPING RIGHT MORE THAN TINDER: Junior Sasha Dailey is the team leader with 66 steals this season, the third-most in the league, and good for 62nd nationally. Meanwhile, her 2.36 steals per game are fourth-most in the conference and ranks 66th in the nation.

MAKING IT LOOK EASLEY: Junior Tori Easley has picked up her game in the last 12 outings, averaging 6.2 points and 5.8 rebounds a contests dating back to Jan. 21. During that span, the Toledo, Ohio, product has a trio of double figure rebounding games against Bowling Green (12), Central Michigan (10), and Ball State (10). She also tied her career-high in points and field goals with 10 and five, respectively, against the Chippewas, Feb. 4.

Women's Basketball Travels to Ohio for MAC First Round Monday

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Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Sheyna Deans

Tori Easley

Janay Morton

Micah Robinson

Cha Sweeney

Phillis Webb

Eastern Michigan Athletics