The Eastern Michigan women's basketball team (4-8, 1-4 MAC) fell short to Western Michigan (9-4, 3-1 MAC), 62-57, last Wednesday inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
This marked the 91st all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Broncos, with EMU leading the all-time series, 51-40.
Early in the matchup, the Eagles and Broncos traded baskets with one another until the Eagles went on an 8-0 run with 3:54 left in the first quarter, taking a 15-7 lead. EMU would enter the quarter break with a 16-10 lead. The Eagles were dominating the paint, with 8 of their 16 points coming from baskets in the paint.
In a turn around, the second quarter was all WMU. The Broncos would outscore EMU, 24-16, with Western Michigan’s Megan Wagner scoring eight points on 3-6 shooting in the quarter. The Eagles would enter halftime trailing 34-32.
In the third quarter, the Eagles came out and outscored Western Michigan 6-4 to tie things up at 38-38 heading into the fourth quarter. Western Michigan would go on an 8-0 run to get separation but the Eagles kept fighting. EMU would fire away from deep, accounting for nine of their 19 points but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles fell to the Broncos, 62-57.
The Eagles were led by redshirt junior Juanita Agosto and redshirt sophomore Ce’Nara Skanes. Agosto produced her second career double-double, scoring 14 points and adding 10 rebounds, while Skanes put up 13 points and two assists. Redshirt senior Areanna Combs added 8 points.
Defensively, EMU held WMU shooters to only 39.6 percent from the field. The Eagles also attacked the glass, outrebounding the Broncos 42-33.
In a post-game interview held by EMU Athletics, head coach Fred Castro shared his thoughts about the loss.
“We got some really good shots, we just didn’t knock them down and that's disappointing because I thought we had positioned ourselves to get a really good win at home,” Castro said.
Coach Castro also shared his thoughts on the Juanita Agosto’s play.
“Juanita’s effort was phenomenal,” Castro said. “14 points, 10 rebounds, shot 7-11 from the field, played defense, she never let up. We need that consistently from our top seven in order to win in this league,” he added.
For more information on everything Eastern Michigan women's hoops, you can visit EMUEagles.com.
