KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan University women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference play Wednesday, Jan. 25, at home at University Arena. The Broncos will face in-state rivals, the Eagles, in a 7 pm contest.
WHERE TO WATCH
Wednesday's matchup between the Broncos and Bulls will be available for streaming via ESPN+. The link to the stream is listed above and can also be found
HERE.
LEADING THE MAC (*Nationally)
Lauren Ross
Field Goal Attempts (149 Ranked) - 4th (260) *84th
Field Goal Percentage (250 Ranked) - 4th (47.5) *99th
Field Goals (141 Ranked) - 1st (121) *60th
Free Throw Attempts (146 Ranked) - 2nd (112) *34th
Free Throw Percentage (249 Ranked) - 4th (83.9) *81st
Free Throws (145 Ranked) - 2nd (94) *18th
Points (197 Ranked) - 1st (371) *22nd
Points Per Game (248 Ranked) - 1st (21.8) *9
th
Three Point Percentage (174 Ranked) - 7th ( 34.3) *131st
Three Pointers Per Game (249 Ranked) - 6th (2.06) *140th
Taylor Williams
Blocks (141 Ranked) - 2nd (30) *52nd
Blocks Per Game (247 Ranked) - 1st (1.88) *31st
Field Goal Percentage (250 Ranked) - 4th (47.5) *99th
Free Throw Attempts (146 Ranked) - 6th (84) *122
Points Per Game (248 Ranked) - 10th (14.8) *173rd
Rebounds Per Game (250 Ranked) - 3rd (9.1) *47th
Hannah Spitzley
Steals Per Game (243 Ranked)- 5th (2.00) *129th
LAST TIME OUT
Last time out, Western Michigan came up victorious over the Buffalo Bulls, 68-56. WMU's win was a collective effort by the Broncos, with six Bronco players scoring in the contest. Leading the scorers on the night was redshirt duo, sophomore
Lauren Ross and junior
Taylor Williams. Ross and Williams each registered 20 points,
Hannah Spitzley added 10 points, while
Maddie Watters,
Alli Carlson, and
Gabi Saxman contributed 18 points collectively.
Williams registered 20 points on the night and pulled down 16 rebounds, to make her the first WMU player since the 2016-17 season to earn 20+ points and 15+ rebounds twice in a single season.
The Broncos moved to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the MAC, extending their win streak to four. WMU shot 43.5 percent from the floor, 28 percent from deep, and 50 percent from the line. Western Michigan pulled 43 boards and added nine steals on the night. The Broncos outshot Buffalo by a total of 5.8 percent from the field and 18 percent from beyond the arch.
THE SERIES
The Eagle and the Broncos will meet for the 93
rd matchup in the series. Eastern Michigan leads the all-time series, 51-54, while the Broncos hold the most recent win (2/2/2022), 68-52.
WESTERN MICHIGAN (9-8, 4-2 MAC)
As a unit, Western Michigan averages 67.4 PPG on 39.8 percent shooting from the field. The Broncos also average 32.9 rebounds per contest, for a -4.2 rebound margin per game over their opponents. The Broncos average 11.6 free throws per game and knock down 66.8 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe. Additionally, WMU dishes out 12.4 assists per contest, while also averaging 10 steals per game.
The Broncos are coming off a 68-56 victory over Buffalo on Jan. 21, which extended WMU's win streak to four. A win on Wednesday would continue the win streak and potentially move Western Michigan up one spot in the rankings, as three teams sit with the same (4-2) record in MAC standings.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES (10-7, 2-4 MAC)
Eastern Michigan defeated the Huskies of Northern Illinois in overtime, 66-61, their last time out. The contest marked EMU's first overtime game since February of 2020 where they fell to Akron, 88-81. The victory over NIU hallmarks the first overtime win since their 2018 competition against Western Michigan.
The Eagles had three players score in double figures, led by sophomore Lachelle Austin with 23 points, Ce'Nara Skanes with 17 points, and Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu with 11 points. The defense proved to be a problem for Northern Illinois, as the Eagles forced 29 NIU turnovers to capitalize for 20 total points. EMU defeated Northern Illinois 66-61, outshooting the Huskies by 2.8 percent from the field, 5.0 percent from beyond the arch, and went a perfect 9-of-9 from the line.
As a unit, Eastern Michigan averages 64.5 PPG on 40.2 percent shooting from the field. The Eagles also average 38.9 rebounds per contest, for a +3.0 rebound margin per game over their opponents. The Eagles average 11.8 free throws per game and knock down 66.8 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe. Additionally, EMU dishes out 11.6 assists per contest, while also averaging 7.1 steals per game. Offensively Eastern Michigan is led by Lachelle Austin, who averages 13.0 PPG on 34.6 percent shooting. Burch also averages 5.0 rebounds per game and totals 29 steals on the season.
UP NEXT
Western Michigan heads on the road for a tilt against the Golden Flashes of Kent State. The weekend matchup is scheduled for 2 pm on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the M.A.C Center.
