The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team traveled north to face the Central Michigan University Chippewas, but they lost 73-64 on Saturday afternoon, their 10 straight defeat.
EMU falls to 1-15 on the season, and 0-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
The Eagles hung in with Central Michigan at points for the rest of the contest. The game started with Eastern Michigan holding a three-point lead, 13-10, despite Central making shots early.
From that point, Central Michigan went on a 9-0 run to gain a comfortable advantage over Eastern Michigan, 19-13, and led the game 21-17 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, things started to go the other way for Eastern Michigan. After trailing by only seven, 38-31, with just over three minutes left, Central Michigan finished the first half on a 13-1 run and led by 19 at the break.
One of the contest's highlights and even Eastern Michigan’s season is the third quarter. The Green and White held Central Michigan to just seven points, outscoring the Chippewas 20-7 in the quarter. With 1:52 to play in the third quarter, Eastern Michigan was only trailing by four, 56-52, before it trailing by six entering the fourth quarter.
Even in the fourth quarter, Eastern Michigan was able to get to within three, 67-64, with 1:19 to go before Central shut them out after that. A couple of missed shots late and a turnover cost Eastern Michigan the game.
Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania/Blackhawk/Canisius) led the offense for Eastern Michigan as she finished with 19 points. The 19 points are a season-high for Amalia. Two other players finished in double figures for EMU: Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pennsylvania/Bethel Park/Duquesne) and Olivia Smith (Fort Wayne, Indiana/South Side), who had 14 points and 12 points.
Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy) struggled for Eastern Michigan. Scoring six points and only making three shots from the field. The game was the first time in her career with EMU that she had not topped the double-digit mark. Eleko again led the team in rebounds, recording five rebounds for the afternoon.
As a team, the Eagles struggled to get rebounds. Central Michigan had 38 rebounds, in contrast to EMU’s 18. Moreover, CMU outrebounded Eastern 15-3 on the offensive side of the glass. They did force 13 Central Michigan turnovers, and the Green and White scored 19 points off of turnovers.
Up Next, Eastern Michigan is now 0-6 in Mid-American Conference play. They will next play Northern Illinois on Wednesday, January 22, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and listened to on WEMU 89.1 FM.
For more information on the Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team, visit The Echo’s website.
