The Eastern Michigan women’s basketball team will return home for a two-game stretch when it plays Mid-American Conference East foe Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center.
The Eagles (14-7, 6-2 MAC) are currently tied atop the MAC West with Toledo. Meanwhile, Miami (16-5, 6-2) is second in the East behind Bowling Green State University, who sits at 8-0 in conference play.
Senior guard Tavelyn James will look to have another stellar performance in a game of two MAC heavyweights. The reigning MAC Player of the Week is coming off a week in which she averaged 32.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3 steals per game. In last year’s MAC tournament, James scored a season-high 36 points in an 82-74 victory against the RedHawks.
The Eagles will look to sophomore guard/forward Natachia Watkins as a secondary scoring option. Watkins is second on the team in scoring (11.8 PPG). The sophomore has seen increased minutes since a Dec. 3 contest against Michigan State. Since then, she has averaged 13.6 points and has had four games scoring over 20 points, including a season-high 28-point outing against Detroit on Dec. 20.
EMU will need to continue its strong play on the defensive end in order to defend the high-scoring RedHawk junior guard Courtney Osborn (19.0 PPG). EMU currently leads the conference in steals, with 13.8 per game, and is third in scoring defense, allowing 58.4 points per game.
Defense could turn out to be the key to the game. EMU leads the conference in turnover margin, turning the ball over on average 6.38 times less than their opponents, good enough for 12th in the NCAA.
The potential matchup of two preseason All-MAC guards James and Osborn is one worth keeping an eye on. Both lead their teams in scoring and are top three in the conference overall, with James (23.7 PPG) leading the way. Meanwhile, Osborn is currently leading the conference in assists, averaging 5.5 per game.
Miami started the season off hot, but has since cooled. In its first 18 games, the RedHawks raced to a 15-3 overall record and claimed a 10-game winning streak before suffering a three-point loss to Bowling Green on Jan. 19.
Junior forward Kirsten Olowinski also plays a big role for Miami. Olowinski currently leads the conference in rebounds (10.4 RPG) and is second-highest scorer for the RedHawks (11.7 PPG).
While EMU is tough on the defensive end, Miami leads the conference in blocked shots with 4.5 per game, just ahead of Central Michigan.
Olowinski is third in the conference in blocked shots, while senior forward Rachael Hencke, coming off the bench, is ninth in the conference (0.9 BPG).
After the game against Miami on Saturday, the Eagles will have one week until their next game against Kent State.
