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VIDEO
Ball State Press Conference
Eastern Michigan Press Conference
2020 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 11
No. 7. Eastern Michigan 64, No. 2 Ball State 63
Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – A fourth quarter deficit couldn't phase the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team as it used one final surge of momentum to stun the No. 2-seeded Ball State Cardinals in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament today, 64-63, inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Despite the result being an upset on paper, No. 7-seeded Eastern's fourth-year Head Coach Fred Castro sees the outcome in a different light. "We earned this win," said a jubilated Castro postgame. "We fought and made the right plays down the stretch."
Eastern (16-15) will now face the winner of the evening's last quarterfinal matchup, which pits the No. 3-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes against the No. 6-seeded Buffalo Bulls. The semifinal appearance will be Eastern's first since the 2015-16 season. Additionally, the win guarantees that the Eagles will finish with no worse than a .500 record on the season, which will officially be the best finish to a season since Castro's arrival in 2016-17.
The Eagles were led by the upperclassmen pair of Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)) and Courtnie Lewis (Belton, Mo-Belton), who put up 23 and 20 points, respectively. The duo were the first and second leading scores in the game. The 23-point effort extends Combs' double-digit scoring streak to an impressive 24 games.
Down, 52-47, at the start of the fourth quarter, the Eagles put together an impressive run that saw the Green and White score nine unanswered points and totally shift the momentum of the contest. The run was started by redshirt junior and Cleveland native Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East), who hit a pull up jumper. Lewis followed with a triple before sophomore standout Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) and Combs scored back-to-back layups.
Up, 56-52, Eastern faced a Ball State counter-run. The Cardinals knotted the game at 59-all before Eastern again took a lead, 64-59, with 4:42 remaining. Up one, 64-63, with 15 ticks remaining, Ball State got one more possession with a chance to win. The stout EMU defense, however, ended all hopes of a Cardinal comeback as it stopped BSU from scoring while the final buzzer sounded. Passionate screams of joy and excitement ensued as the Eagles flooded the half-court MAC logo in celebration.
The first quarter saw Ball State put Eastern down early, 15-8 at the first media timeout. As is customary for the Green and White, Eastern came storming back with a 10-6 run of its own over the final 4:53 of the quarterfinal-opening frame. Second Team All-MAC selection and team scoring leader, Combs, paced the team with eight points in the quarter, while Lewis added a pair of buckets and two free throws to notch six points of her own. All-in-all, the opening period was one that saw five lead changes and one tie en route to a one-point Cardinal lead, 19-18, upon its conclusion.
The back-and-forth continued in the second quarter as the two squads continued to trade buckets. Annecchiarico got in on the action with a six points of her own in the frame to pace EMU in the quarter. Although Eastern was able to knot the game at 29-apiece with just over two minutes remaining before the break, it was the Cardinals who put together a two-bucket run to take a lead, 33-31, at the intermission. Ball State continued its momentum in the third quarter, building a 53-47 advantage before Eastern came roaring back in the final 10 minutes of play.
The Eagles will enjoy a day of rest before they take the court in the second-of-two MAC semifinal games Friday, March 13, in Cleveland. The game is slated for 1:30 p.m. inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. For the most up-to-date information on all things EMU women's basketball, visit EMUEagles.com or follow the team on social media at @EMUWBB.
Courtesy of Eastern Michigan Sport Info
