It was a special night for Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius), regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard.
The true junior was honored during the pregame festivities for scoring her 1,000th career point against Ball State last week and continued her incredible run of form by dropping 16 points and 11 rebounds - her ninth double-double of the campaign - while also leading the team in assists with a career-high of five.
Despite this, while the Eagles only trailed conference favorites Buffalo by eight at the half, the Bulls went on a 25-8 third-quarter run to pull away down the stretch, securing a 22-point victory on the road to bolster their record to 14-2 (3-2 MAC) while the Eagles fell to 1-14 (0-5 MAC).
“A lot of [unforced errors],” head coach Sahar Nusseibeh described as the main reason why Buffalo was able to pull away from Eastern Michigan to start the second half.
“I think it’s really hard to generate momentum when you’re turning the ball over in those types of ways; and then defensively, we just let them go,” she added.
While Eleko stole the show again as the only Eagles player to score double figures, Mackenzie Amalia (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania/Blackhawk/Canisius) added nine points thanks to two late three-pointers. In contrast, Brooklyn Thrash (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood/Canisius) and Kyndal Lewis (Belton, Missouri/Belton) added eight points.
Eastern Michigan as a team shot 35.2% from the floor (19/54) and 25% from behind the arc (9/36), paling in comparison to the 47.6% (30/63) that Buffalo put up on the court despite shooting only 35.3% (6/17) from downtown.
The Eagles will return to action on the road this Saturday afternoon, facing off against Central Michigan on Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. Viewers can catch the game broadcast live on ESPN+.
