EMU women’s basketball participated in a conference matchup against the Akron Zips on Wednesday after coming off a win in a previous game against Western Michigan. EMU was looking for their second-straight MAC win of the season. The Eagles sought to do so all while being short-handed by having only eight players suit up. The Eagles still managed to pick up a win on the road, pushing their record to 9-6 with a final score of 72-60.
After being named the MAC West Player of the Week, Danielle Minott put up the first four points for the Eagles, giving them an early lead. However, she found herself in early foul trouble, picking up two fouls before the end of the second quarter. Despite this, freshman Jenna Annecchiaro was a huge help. She managed to put up eight straight points in attempt to keep the score rolling in the first quarter.
Both the Eagles and the Zips were close in turnovers in the first quarter. The Zips held a six-point lead in the first, while the Eagles were successful from deep. In fact, it was a 3-pointer that tied the game for the Eagles, after being down by at least six.
Fortunately for Akron, EMU found themselves in foul trouble to close the quarter. The Eagles committed five fouls in the first quarter. The Akron Zips were down by one to close the quarter.
EMU took over in the second quarter. While the Eagles were scoring from deep, the Zips had a hard time getting in rhythm from the 3-point range. By 8:23 in the second quarter, the Eagles were on a 16-3 run. In the absence of Danielle Minott, Courtnie Lewis, Jenna Annecchiaro, and Corrione Cardwell kept the points rolling for the Eagles. Annecchiaros’ scoring hit double digits before the half. Despite the Eagles foul trouble throughout the half, the Zips found themselves being down by double-digits going into halftime
After an impressive first half shooting performance, the Eagles came out of halftime with a 41-31 lead.
Once the third quarter started, the Eagles began to struggle on offense. After sophomore Cardwell scored a quick layup to start the third quarter, EMU just fell short of a four-minute scoring drought that saw them miss their next five shots. However, the defensive effort put forward by the Eagles was more than enough to carry the load.
The Eagles defense held Akron to seven points in the third quarter, which also saw a nearly six-minute scoring drought by Akron. The defense was able to hold off Akron long enough for the offense to find its feet and allowed the Eagles to extend the lead to 19 points heading into the fourth quarter.
Eastern continued the rout and extended the lead to 21 points with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter, then the offense stalled and allowed Akron to mount a comeback.
Akron made it close late cutting the lead down to eight points with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter, spearheaded by Akron senior Megan Sefcik three 3-point shots. The Eagles got a key layup from Cardwell with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter and Annecchiarico followed that up with two made free throws that extended the lead back to double digits and put the game out of reach.
After a big conference win, the Eagles have a short turnaround as they go back on the road to face Ohio on Jan. 19.
