Eastern Michigan’s women’s basketball team fell short 70-60 against Mid-American Conference rival Northern Illinois in Dekalb, Illinois on Feb. 27.
After back-to-back losses, the Eagles are sitting with a 12-14 record and a 5-10 conference record, while the Huskies added another win to their 17-10 record, including a 9-6 record in the MAC. Road games have been difficult for the Eagles this season, as they are now 3-11 away from the Convocation Center.
Just as Courtnie Lewis had done in the previous game, she led the way in scoring for the Eagles with 18 points. Corrione Cardwell and Natalia Pineda added 11 points each. The Huskies jumped out to an early 8-0 lead to start the game, with the Eagles missing their first eight shots before Cardwell scored the first points on a layup with 3:38 left in the first quarter.
The end of the first quarter also saw the largest lead of the game for the Huskies as they led 13-2 over the Eagles. Once the second quarter began, it was a reversal of fortunes as EMU would outscore the Huskies 18-9, but still found themselves trailing by two at the half. Neither team had a player score in double digits in the first half.
Despite the slow start in the first quarter, the Eagles offense came alive in the second half, scoring 20 points in the third and fourth quarter. Eastern Michigan only took the lead once, which came at the start of the third quarter after Lewis hit a 3-point shot with 9:43 left in the third to put the Eagles up 23-22.
After Northern Illinois took back the lead, 24-23, due to a jumper by Ally May with 9:26 left in the third, the Huskies would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game. The Eagles would cut into the lead late in the fourth quarter, cutting it to 52-50, but could never get all the way back.
The Eagles were able to keep things close thanks in part to their performance in the paint as 30 of their 60 points came from inside the paint. However, it was too little, too late as the Huskies offense was able to keep the Eagles at bay thanks to a second-half scoring performance, which saw four players end their night in double figures.
Mikayla Voigt was the catalyst for the Huskies as she scored 27 points. 21 of her points came during the second half. May added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Myia Starks and Gabby Nikitinaite also added to the scoring with 16 and 11, respectively.
Coach Fred Castro and his team were not made available for comment after the game.
The Eagles’ next game is Saturday, March 2 in the Convocation Center against rival Central Michigan.
