The Eastern Michigan university women's basketball team picked up a victory over Oral Roberts University on Tuesday evening, defeating the Golden Eagles by a score of 77-69 at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Oral Roberts were able to come back late in the second half, coming within four points, but the Eagles were able to hold off Oral Roberts for the victory and improving its record to 3-1.
The first half was all EMU as it performed well on both ends of the floor. The Eagles held Oral Roberts to 27 percent shooting from the floor, going just 9-of-33. Guards Janay Morton and Cha Sweeney quickly got to work for the Eagles, scoring a combined 21 of the Eagles’ 36 first half points.
The Eagles scored 16 points in the paint during the first half as it made a point of not settling for shots and getting the ball down low to the bigs as much as possible.
“We wanted to drive [and] attack the basket," noted EMU women’s coach Tory Verdi. “We wanted to shoot 30 free throws. We shot 23. They ran a 'buzz' defense, but they took it off because we did such a good job attacking the basket.”
The second half was up and down as Oral Roberts began to make their comeback.
The Golden Eagles began taking advantage of EMU’s defense as it launched a barrage of three pointers to slowly cut away at Eastern’s lead. Oral Roberts cut the lead to four with four minutes left in the game.
The Eagles eventually got back on track in the fourth quarter as it extended its lead to 11 with under a minute left in the game.
“We just needed to dig down, keep our composure, and we needed a stop,” noted Verdi. “I knew we could get it done.”
Janay Morton was the top player for the Eagles on Tuesday, scoring 25 points and dishing out four assists. Chanise Baldwin and Cha Sweeney both finished with 15 points. Baldwin collected her first double-double of the season with an additional 14 rebounds. Sweeney added three assists, three steals and a block to her performance.
The Eagles’ next contest will be at Air Force on Friday, Dec. 4 at the Air Force Academy. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
