The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team is putting its perfect home record on the line Thursday when Ball State University comes to town.
Tip-off at the Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m.
Already with more wins than last year’s 8-22 team, the 11-1 Eagles are looking to extend their Mid-American Conference record to 2-0 after defeating Kent State University last Saturday, 88-70. A pair of freshman guards Janay Morton and Cha Sweeney led the offense with 21 and 19 points, respectively.
Now the focus shifts on a 5-7 Cardinals team coming off of an 87-78 loss to the University of Akron last Saturday in their MAC opener.
The Eagles will turn to Morton and Sweeney to lead the offensive drive as they have all season. Together, they average 27.9 points per game for an EMU team that averages 86.5 per game.
EMU will be leaning on upperclassmen leadership, as well. Shooting 36.6 percent beyond the arc, Desyree Thomas is the team’s most efficient three-point shooter. The senior guard also leads in assists with 64.
The Eagles have received that kind of leadership under the basket, as well. Redshirt junior forward Olivia Fouty has been a big reason why EMU is the best offensive rebounding team in the MAC. She’s ranked fourth in the conference with 8.9 rebounds per game and leads the team with 107 total.
Like the Eagles, Ball State gets a lot of offensive production from young talent. Nathalie Fontaine is the Cardinals’ leading scorer, averaging 16.8 PPG. She is shooting 48.3 percent from the field, good enough for eighth-best in the MAC.
Shooting 74.8 percent, BSU is the second-best team in the conference from the free-throw line, which will want the Eagles to stay out of foul trouble. Among the Cardinals best free-throw shooters is freshman Jill Morrison, who is 90.0 percent from the line which leads the MAC.
Last Meeting
The Cardinals edged out the Eagles in a low-scoring matchup, 56-34 on Feb. 20, 2013. Fontaine led the Cardinals with 16 points and also had 12 rebounds. A senior this season, forward Sara Stone led the Eagles with 7 rebounds.
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