MAC Semifinal Preview: Eastern Michigan Eagles
With the Central Michigan women’s basketball team defeating the Western Michigan Broncos for the third time this year on Wednesday, the only team standing between CMU and the Mid-American Conference tournament final is another team from the mitten: Eastern Michigan.
CMU (21-9, 14-4 MAC) beat EMU during both meetings during the regular season, including a 56-55 game in Ypsilanti, and a 78-70 win at McGuirk Arena during the final game of the regular season.
EMU finished in fourth place in the MAC West.
Scouting Report: Eastern Michigan Eagles
Record: 21-10, 10-8 MAC | Two game winning streak | 1-1 at neutral sites
Team Makeup: Seniors: 4 | Juniors: 5 | Sophomores: 3 | Freshman: 1
Tournament Seed: 6
Previous Game: No. 6 EMU 67, No. 3 Ball State 53
After losing to Ball State two times in the regular season by a combined 26 points, the Eagles were able to defeat the Ball State Cardinals in tournament play for the second straight year.
EMU junior guard Cha Sweeney had 29 points, having 19 points in the first half alone. The Eagles also limited the Cardinals to only six points in the second quarter.
Ball State had more points in the paint than EMU did, but the Eagles had more points off turnovers (7-2), second chance points (12-4) and fast break points (9-2) than the Cardinals.
Senior forward Chanise Baldwin also contributed with nine points and 13 rebounds.
Last MAC Tournament meeting
The last time the Eagles and Chippewas met in the MAC Tournament was the 2012 MAC Championship Game. The Eagles topped CMU 72-71 on a last-second layup.
That's the only time CMU and EMU have met in MAC Tournament history.
Season stats
The Eagles are fifth in the MAC in scoring offense (67.6 points per game), fourth in scoring defense (62.3 points per game) and first in steals per game (11.8). EMU’s turnover margin is the second best in the MAC, while CMU ranks 11th in that category.
However, EMU ranks last in the MAC in rebounding defense, giving up 43.3 rebounds per game. EMU also ranks 10th in field goal percentage at .376
Who to watch for
Two players received conference honors for EMU this season. Sweeney was named to the All-MAC second team, while junior guard Janay Morton was All-MAC third team and on the MAC All-Defensive team.
Sweeney is fourth in the conference with 18.1 points per game. She also ranks third in steals, sixth in free-throw percentage and assists, ninth in assists/turnover ratio and 10th in 3-point field goals made.
Morton leads the MAC with 2.7 steals per game and is fourth with a 1.8 assists/turnover ratio.
