CLEVELAND — Top-seeded Ohio will play No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Final on Saturday at 1 p.m., as the Eagles upset No. 2 Ball State, 75-65, Friday.
The Eagles’ Cha Sweeney led all scorers with 25 points and forward Jamaica Bucknor tallied a double-double (12 points and 14 rebounds) in Eastern’s fourth consecutive win of the tournament. Nathalie Fontaine led Ball State with 22 points.
“I’m really, really proud of our kids — tremendous effort. There were times where we faced adversity, were we on a roll and then things didn’t go our way and we didn’t fold, what we did was fight right back,” Eastern Michigan head coach Tory Verdi said. “That’s kinda been the story of this team.”
Eastern Michigan has momentum going into it’s third matchup with Ohio this season. The Eagles have beat all four of their tournament opponents by double digits and have won 10 of the previous 11 games.
The Eagles’ winning streak began just days after one of their forwards, Shannise Heady, was found dead involving a fatal head-on car crash in Yspilanti, Michigan. She was 21 years old.
“(Verdi) keeps reminding us that our teammate, Shannise, always wanted this and it just gives us the ambition of what we gotta do,” Sweeney said.
Verdi said the Eagles’ game plan against the Bobcats involves protecting the perimeter from their 3-point shooting and preventing easy drives into the paint.
In its 63-55 win against Buffalo, Ohio struggled to finish around the rim and knock down open looks until late in the second half. After shooting 32 percent from the field in the first half, the Bobcats shot 13-for-27 in the second — good enough for 48 percent from the field.
The Eagles could replicate a similar tactic the Bulls used on Friday. Buffalo’s size inside the paint caused some mismatches with Ohio forwards Lexie Baldwin, Jasmine Weatherspoon and Hannah Boesinger.
“Coming in, we had to win the points in the paint battle and we knew how (the Bulls) were gonna try to do it," Ohio coach Bob Boldon said. "They were going to throw it inside and post us up and use their size.”
Yet, going into their first MAC Tournament Final since 2008, momentum is also favoring the Bobcats.
Ohio has won 16 of its last 17 games and has held four of its previous opponents to 60 or less points. Its lone loss in the past two months was against Eastern Michigan.
The last time the two teams met, Eastern Michigan defeated Ohio, 73-61, inside The Convo despite the Eagles playing their second game in two nights.
“It would be nice to play (Eastern) because we lost to them and we can redeem ourselves,” junior guard Kiyanna Black said.
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