YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team faces its other in-state rival this weekend in Eastern Michigan.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos kept things close through 30 minutes of action but did not find the last push in a 64-44 loss to the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, Jan. 24. WMU had its best game behind the arc in a month on Saturday afternoon. But 10 three-pointers were not enough to make up for a 28.8% overall shooting performance from the Brown and Gold in the 64-44 defeat to Central Michigan.

Senior forward De'Ahna Richardson led Western Michigan on offense with 17 points while adding two rebounds, two steals and an assist. The only other Bronco in double figures was senior Alli Carlson with 12 points, three rebounds, and six assists. Under the glass, WMU was led by senior forward Ariana Wilkes with six boards. 

ATTENDANCE MAC-TION
While the result on the floor against Central Michigan wasn't what the Brown and Gold wanted, it was the best attended game of the season for Western Michigan at home. An engaged crowd of 1,547 was the best attended MAC game for Bronco women's basketball in almost 15 years.

The last conference game to have a bigger crowd inside University Arena came on Jan. 8, 2012 against Ball State. In 2012, 1,794 fans watched WMU defeat the Cardinals 76-64 to have a crowd with just over 200 more spectators than Saturday's doubleheader with Central Michigan. The men's team also had one of their best attended game in almost a decade with a nearly full University Arena of 4,776 fans.

MORE THREE'S PLEASE
The Brown and Gold had their second game this season making 10 three point shots against the Chippewas, tying their season high. Of Western Michigan's 44 points against CMU, 68% were scored from behind the arc with 30 points off the three ball. The Broncos were led in three point shooting by redshirt senior De'Ahna Richardson, who went 80% behind the arc, making three of her four tries. Richardson was only a three away from tying her career-high of five made triples set at Kent State on Feb. 7, 2024.

WMU has had one other game this season where the team has made double figure three point buckets. The Brown and Gold also had 30 points from behind the arc against Buffalo back on Jan. 3, going 10-of-24 for 41.7%. On Saturday, Western Michigan was 10-of-29 from three point range at a clip of 34.5%. Among MAC teams, the Broncos are sixth in the conference in made three pointers, averaging 6.4 a game. But Eastern Michigan is right behind WMU in three point shooting, averaging 5.9 through 40 minutes.

ONE OF ONE
Saturday will be the only time the Brown and Gold see the Eastern Michigan Eagles this season. EMU is one of six MAC teams that Western Michigan will play only once during the regular season in 2025-26. It will be the Bronco's first road trip of the season to compete against a team they will not play in University Arena.

The other five teams that WMU will only play once this season include Akron, Ball State, Kent State, Miami, and Ohio. The Brown and Gold have already hosted Akron and Ball State while having a home game against Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 11. While Western Michigan still has trips to make to Ohio on Feb. 4 and Kent State on March 7.

SERIES HISTORY
The Broncos visits their other in-state rival this weekend for the 98th meeting between them and the EMU Eagles. Eastern Michigan leads WMU by nine games in the series with a record of 53-44. But the Brown and Gold are currently on a three-game winning streak over the Eagles.

In the team's last meeting to begin the calendar year of 2025, Western Michigan earned a 65-51 victory over Eastern Michigan inside Gervin GameAbove Center. In the win, junior Marina Asenio supplied a game-high 22 points to lead the Broncos. During the game graduate guard Hannah Spitzley had five steals to pass current assistant coach Aurielle Anderson (2009-13) for the 14th most steals accumulated as a Bronco.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Eastern Michigan is on a three-game win streak coming into Saturday afternoon's game. The Eagles have recently picked up wins over Toledo on Jan. 20, Northern Illinois on Jan. 24, and Buffalo on Jan. 28. It's the first time since the 2020-21 season that EMU has earned three wins in a row in conference play. Eastern Michigan currently sit at eighth in the conference with a MAC record of 4-5 while being just above .500 overall with a record of 10-9.

The Eagles are led by the second most prolific scorer in the conference in senior forward Sisi Eleko. Now in her second season with EMU, Eleko is averaging 18.1 points a game to be ranked 52nd in the nation. Eleko is also a dominating presence under the glass, leading Eastern Michigan with 10.2 rebounds a game for first in the conference and 22nd in the nation. Two other EMU players average in double figures, freshman guard Peyton Hill at 13.7 points a game and junior guard Fernanda Ovlle at 13.4 points a game.