Ball State University
Eastern Michigan University
Women's Basketball Returns To The Floor Saturday At Eastern Michigan
January 22, 2021 | Women's Basketball
Ball State (5-5, 3-3 MAC) vs. Eastern Michigan (8-5, 5-3 MAC)
Ypsilanti, Mich. | Convocation Center
Watch: ESPN+Â | Listen:Â Muncie Sports Station (102.9 FM/1340 AM)Â | Live Stats
Game Notes: Â Ball State | Eastern Michigan
Opening Tip: Â
• The Cardinals are coming off of an impressive performance at Ohio on Jan. 13 in the Convocation Center. Ball State defeated the Bobcats 88-85 in overtime. It was the first time the Cardinals had defeated Ohio since the 2013-14 season. Prior to Wednesday night's contest, Ohio had won eight-straight over the Cardinals.
• Ball State has missed its last two Mid-American Conference games due to the guidelines and safety protocols of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
• Fourth year head coach Fred Castro owns a 4-6 record against the Cardinals. Ball State swept the home and away series in Castro's first and second seasons with the Eagles. BSU split the series with EMU last year as both teams won on their respective home courts. The Cardinals fell to the Eagles in their first contest this season falling to the Eagles, 58-77, in Worthen Arena on Dec. 2.
• Saturday's game against Eastern Michigan will mark the 85th time in program history the two schools have met with the Eagles leading the all-time series, 44-40.Â
• Head coach Brady Sallee holds an overall record of 11-9 against Eastern Michigan from 2012-13 to present.
• Eastern Michigan enters Saturday's contest on a four-game winning streak, including a 70-67 road win at Central Michigan on Wednesday. It was the first win over CMU for the Eagles since March 7, 2015. Three Eagles put up double-figure performances, Areanna Combs and Corrione Cardwell, along with redshirt sophomore Ce'Nara Skanes put up 23, 20, and 19 points, respectively.
Threading The Needle:
Against Toledo, the Cardinals dished out 20 assists for a well rounded scoring spree against the Rockets on Jan. 6 with five Ball State players reaching double figures. The Cardinals have not lost a game where we have had more than 15 assists since Feb. 9, 2019. The last time Ball State had 20 or more assists in a contest was last season at Purdue Fort Wayne that game BSU dished out 22 assists in an 83-52 win over the Mastodons on Nov. 12, 2019.
Hot In January:
It may be cold outside but the Cardinals tend to get hot in the month of January under ninth-year head coach Brady Sallee. Sallee owns an overall record of 44-24 (.647) in the month of January dating back to his first season in 2012-13.Â
Last Timeout:
Redshirt sophomore Anna Clephane led the Cardinals charge with a career best 24-points. Clephane made some key baskets at some crucial times to give Ball State the 88-85 overtime road win at Ohio Wednesday night in the Convocation Center. Rebounds were the name of this game, Ball State out-rebounded Ohio +20 (51-31) with senior forward Oshlynn Brown leading the charge with a personal best 19 rebounds, including 15 defensive boards. Brown also was the second highest scorer on the team with 21 points. She now has 911 rebounds for her career, 1,184 points and 38 double-doubles.
Consistent Clephane:
Red-shirt sophomore Anna Clephane has averaged 17.3 points per contest in her last three games and 5.7 rebounds including a 24- point career best performance at Ohio (1/13/21) while shooting 75 percent (9-12) from the field. She has helped the Cardinals to a 2-1 record in their last three contests with wins over Toledo (93-78) and Ohio (88-85) in overtime. Currently, Clephane ranks fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.6 points per contest and second on the squad in field goal percentage at 50 percent (29-58).
1,000 Points, 1,000 Rebounds:
Senior Oshlynn Brown currently has 1,184 career points and 911 rebounds. Brown needs 89 rebounds to hit 1,000. Brown will become only the second player in Ball State women's basketball history to reach 1,000 points and rebounds. Former Cardinal Emma Jones (1984-87) so far is the lone player in program history to get 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Scouting Eastern Michigan:
• The Eagle defense has giving Ball State troubles in the past. Currently, EMU has been holding its opponents under 50 points in consecutive games including, holding Miami to a season-low 41 points on Jan. 13. The Eagles allowed Akron to score just 46 points on Jan. 16. The 41-point game is the lowest by any MAC team this season. Eastern Michigan held Ball State to 58 in its first meeting.
• Fred Castro is in his fifth season at the helm of the Eagles. Last season, Castro led the Eagles to their first winning season during his tenure, patrolling the squad that finished with a 16-15 overall record, including a 9-9 mark in conference play. Castro's best win to date came in the team's final appearance during the 2019-20 campaign, when it bested the No. 2 overall seed, Ball State, in the MAC Tournament quarterfinal round. Unfortunately, the team's semifinal game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Eagles have three players averaging double digits with redshirt senior guard Arena Combs leading the squad with 20.1 points per game. Behind Combs is forward Ce'Nara Skanes who scores 17.2 points per contest while leading EMU defensively with 10.5 rebounds per game. Rounding out the double figure scoring is guard Jenna Annecchiarico with 10.2 ppg.
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