The rough start to the season continued for the Eastern Michigan women’s basketball team, dropping to 1-10 on the first day of 2025 with a 65-51 defeat at home to the hands of conference foe Western Michigan despite another stunning effort from rising Eagles star Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius).
Eleko once again shined for the team, leading the way with a game-high 23 points and 15 rebounds for her eighth double-double in the first 11 games of the campaign.
The junior leads the MAC (Mid-American Conference) in double-doubles thus far in 2024-25, along with being inside the top 10 for that stat nationally, and head coach Sahar Nusseibeh believes she still has room to improve and become even better.
“She’s a heck of a player, and she knows that. She puts in a lot of work, so I’m proud of the work she puts in for her development,” Nusseibeh said.
“I’m excited for her to go from operating at, you know, 85 percent to operating at 90 and eventually operating at 100 [percent]. Because once we see that girl at 100 [percent], there’s no one stopping her, and I do think it will contribute to some wins,” she added.
Outside of Eleko, no other player on the Eagles contributed more than eight points.
Elena Cabello (Malaga, Spain/IED Mediterraneo) matched her career high with that mark along with 10 rebounds, and Brooklyn Thrash (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood/Canisius) posted that number as well; the team as a whole only shooting 35.1% from the floor (20/57) and 12.5% from behind the arc (2/16).
Next time out Eastern Michigan will continue conference play on the road against Bowling Green, their first road MAC test of the year on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. Viewers can catch all the action live on ESPN+.
