YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team travels to Ypsilanti, Michigan to face in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, January 31, at 7:00 PM. WMU enters the contest against the Green and White as winners of three of their last four contests. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
EMU carries a 5-13 record into Wednesday's tilt, with wins over SIUE, IUPUI, Saginaw Valley, Northern Illinois, and Miami (OH.). The Eagles lost to Ball State 75-50 in their previous game at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti. In the loss, junior forward Treasure Thompson led the Eagles with a season-high 14 points after shooting 7-12 from the field. On the glass, junior center Tayra Eke grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and is now 76 boards away from 500 in her career. Amongst all Eagles that have played 17 games or more this season, Eke paces the team in total points (176 PTS), scoring average (9.8 PPG), blocks per game (2.3 BLKS), free throws (29 FTM), and field goal percentage (54.5%). 

Last time out in WMU's defeat to Central Michigan, senior Hannah Spitzley knocked down two three-pointers to extend her streak to an eighth straight game with a three-pointer made. Spitzley is now eight three-pointers from tying Sarah Hurrle (2000-01) for a share of the 21st most career threes made in program history (76 3 PM). 

Additionally, graduate student guard Kaitlyn Zarycki moved inside of the top 15 in scoring amongst active NCAA Division I, II, and III women's basketball athletes with 2,054 total points across NCAA Division I and II levels against CMU. Through 18 games played this season, Zarycki has totaled 336 points and trails Lauren Ross (2022-23) by 35 points for a share of the 23rd most points scored in a single season in program history. The guard from Niles, Michigan, is averaging 18.7 PPG, which currently ranks as the ninth-best single-season scoring average in program history.  

Tomorrow, the Brown and Gold are looking to win their fourth game in five matchups for the second time this season and climb within one game of the .500 mark. The last time the Broncos posted a .500 record this season was on December 21, 2023, when the team held a 5-5 record entering conference play.  

For all things WMU women's basketball, make sure to follow the team on Instagram @wmu_wbb, Twitter @wmu_wbb, and Facebook @westernmichiganwomensbasketball.