The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team ended its 2010-11 season with a 72-63 loss Thursday to host Syracuse University in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
The Orange (25-8) advanced to the quarter-finals of the WNIT and played the University of Toledo on Sunday in its first trip to the WNIT’s Elite Eight.
The Eagles finished their season 24-13, posting the longest season and most wins in program history along with garnering the program’s first ever post-season wins.
The Eagles had four players in double digits. Paige Redditt led the team with 22 and added seven rebounds. Sydney Huntley-Rodgers and Tavelyn James combined for 24 while De’Ja Wills scored 11, shooting 3-of-5 on three-pointers. Kristin Thomas had eight rebounds and Cassie Schrock had six rebounds and seven assists.
For the Orange, Iasia Hemingway’s 29 points led all scorers, and her 10 rebounds made it a double-double. Kayla Alexandar scored 16 points, and Elashier Hall had 13 rebounds.
The Eagles took the first stab with a layup from Huntley-Rodgers but Hall answered with a triple for the Orange. Syracuse got off to a 9-2 lead before the Eagles snapped the run with a layup from Redditt. On their next possession, Wills connected on a triple, her first of three in three minutes.
EMU pulled within two points of the Orange with 9:07 left in the first half, but a layup and a pair of free-throws for Syracuse gave it a quick six-point lead.
With 2:27 remaining before the break, Tasha Harris connected on a three-point field goal that gave the Orange a 34-27 lead. Redditt responded on the other end with a three-point play and a layup by James on the next possession sent the Eagles into the locker room trailing 34-32.
The Eagles finished the game 22-for-59, 37.3 percent, from the field while connecting on eight of their 24 three-point attempts for 33.3 percent. They made 73.3 percent of their free-throws with most of those coming from Redditt’s 10-of-13 shooting. The Eagles committed 14 turnovers while the Orange recorded 19, nine of which were forced by steals.
The Orange shot 44.1 percent from the field on 26-of-59 shooting while connecting on 15 of their 17 free-throw attempts for 88 percent. The Orange were held to 31.3 percent from the perimeter (5-for-16), however, they outrebounded the Eagles 44-30 on the night.
Coming into the second half, the teams exchanged baskets for the opening minutes and the Eagles slowly chipped away at the Orange’s lead. A triple by Schrock brought them within three, 40-37, with 16 minutes to go. A pair of free throws by Alexandar expanded the lead back to five, but Thomas connected on a free-throw followed by back-to-back triples by James and Huntley-Rodgers tied the teams at 46 with 12:17 to play.
With 5:16 left, the Orange found themselves ahead of the Eagles by 60-59 and a foul by Alexandar sent Redditt to the line. Redditt made both free throws, giving the Eagles their first lead since the first shot of the game.
However, on the following play Thomas sent Hemmingway to the line where she made 1-of-2 free throws and a second-chance shot completed the three-point play which put the Orange back in the lead, this time for good. The Eagles scored just one last layup from Huntley-Rodgers with 1:05 to play.