The season has started off fast for the Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team. The Eagles are 2-0 on the season after Monday’s victory against Marygrove College in the Convocation Center.
The women’s basketball team defeated Marygrove 110-32 in a record-setting night. At one point in the game, the Eagles were up by 82 points.
Senior guard Tavelyn James helped the Eagles accomplish the feat of scoring the most points for a team
at EMU during the program’s 36-year history.
James scored 32 points, going 12-for-20 from the field and 4-of-9 from the three-point line with three steals. All 12 players scored in Monday’s game including senior center Paige Redditt, who scored 15 points, going 6-of-8 from the field and had four rebounds, two steals, one block, and one assist.
The Eagles were clearly the better team early on, scoring the game’s first 41 points. Coach Ann Marie Gilbert and her coaching staff witnessed their defense hold Marygrove’s offense to zero points until a layup was made with 8:55 left in the first half.
EMU defeated Marygrove in every aspect of the game. In the first half, the Eagles shot for 59 percent from the field and 44 percent from the three-point line.
EMU outscored Marygrove 72-7 in the first half. James, alone, scored more points in the game than the
entire Marygrove team did.
The Eagles defense held Marygrove to 17 percent shooting from the field in the first half, and 30 percent shooting from the field in the second half. Marygrove committed 36 turnovers and shot 21 percent from the three-point line for the game.
Meanwhile, EMU had only six turnovers, but stole the ball 26 times, dished out 25 assists and had 57 rebounds.
Eastern was too much for Marygrove to handle offensively. Marygrove sent EMU to the free throw line 38 times and committed 21 personal fouls compared to EMU’s 12.
EMU excelled in the paint, scoring 66 points compared to Marygrove’s 12. EMU scored 53 points off turnovers and had 37 points coming from the bench.
EMU had four players score in the double figures. Sophomore Desyree Thomas had 13 points, going 6-for-9 from the field with three assists and four steals. Sophomore Natachia Watkins had a career-high 12 points, going 3-for-5 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. She also grabbed six rebounds.
Junior Taylor Bird had a good all-around game with four steals, five assists, six rebounds and four points. Freshman Iesha Collins dished out seven assists scored six points and had five steals. While sophomore Olivia Fouty had nine rebounds, nine points, four assists, four steals, and a block.
The Eagles’ next game is against Green Bay at 7 p.m. Friday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
