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Cha Sweeney scored 12 of EMU's first 14 second half points and the Eastern Michigan Eagles (20-11) beat the Toledo Rockets (18-13) 74-57 to book a trip to the quarterfinals of the MAC women's tournament for the first time since 2012.
Sweeney led what would be a game changing 18-6 EMU run to begin the second half. EMU also held the MAC's eighth-leading scorer, Inma Zanoguera, to just eight points on 36 minutes of play. Actually, the only Rockets' player to get going was MAC Freshman of the Year Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, who scored a career high 30 points; all other Toledo players were held to single digits.
Sweeney would finish with 29 points on 10-22 shooting to lead Eastern. She would be joined by Brianna Puni and Janay Morton, who led EMU in first half scoring, as three Eagles scored 10 or more points.
Zanoguera shot just 3-for-14 on the game, and didn't score her first points until there was under four minutes to play in the first frame. In the first half, EMU claimed the lead on the game's first possession, and the game was only tied once, at 3-3 in the very early going. Toledo found themselves down by ten within the first seven minutes, and were able to pull as close to three by the end of the half.
Sweeney and the Eagles will play third-seeded Akron tomorrow at around 2:00 p.m., with the official time depending on when the noon game between Western Michigan and Buffalo ends.
Game Leaders
| Player | Eastern Michigan | Toledo |
|---|---|---|
| Points | C. Sweeney (29) | J. Bravo-Harriott (30) |
| Rebounds | P. Webb (9) | S. Reecher (16) |
| Assists | J. Morton (4) | B. Harris (6) |
| Blocks | B. Puni (2) | B. Harris and I. Zanoguera (1) |
| Steals | J. Morton (3) | I. Zanoguera (3) |