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Eastern Michigan 67, Michigan 59 — It's a little tough to understand the dynamic of Eastern Michigan vs. Michigan. Both are in Washtenaw County, separated by a mere six miles. But the competition gap was much wider. Six planets apart, really. They lucked out with this WNIT draw, since not only did EMU and Michigan get selected for the tournament, but they were pitted together, and the venue was the Convocation Center, not Crisler Arena. Call it "EMU is better," or that "Crisler is undergoing renovations," and believe any truth that you will.
But Eastern Michigan beat Michigan in a sports competition, and that's pretty darn sweet.
Tavelyn James led the way with 21 points, Sydney Huntley punched in with 17 and Cassie Shrock had a career-best 13 assists.
After making a sensible run to the MAC Tournament championship game, EMU now travels much farther for the second round. They'll face UNC-Wilmington on Monday.
Illinois State 72, Central Michigan 59 — There's no joy for the Chippewas breakthrough season, whose offense accumulated more than 80 a game, who couldn't keep up with the Redbirds, the Missouri Valley Conference regular season champions. They shot 29 percenty from the field and had 23 turnovers (although ISU had 22 of their own). Taylor Johnson led CMU with 17 points, 15 of those on free throws.
Duquesne 64, Kent State 56 — They're dropping like flies in the women's ranks. The Lady Flashes dug themselves a 13-point halftime hole, and that was just too deep. Jamilah Humes led the team with 23 points but also seven turnovers.
All that's going on today? Yep, Akron-Notre Dame. Seems like a thing we'll discuss later today.