The RedHawks swarm to the shooter during Tuesday night's 81-70 victory over the Eastern Michigan Eagles. With the win, the RedHawks are 4-3 in MAC games.
With 22 points Tuesday night in Miami University women's basketball's 81-70 victory over Eastern Michigan University, senior guard Amanda Jackson became Miami's all-time leading scorer.
Jackson has now accumulated 1,731 points, passing 2003 graduate Heather Cusick's 1,728 points for first place in the Miami record books. With 2:32 left in the game, Jackson knocked down the shot that moved her into first place.
"It's an honor; it's just great," Jackson said. "To be mentioned with some of the great people that have come through the program is really just an honor."
Miami Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa praised Jackson after the game.
"She is so talented on both ends of the court," Fantanarosa said. "She's right now playing with a sense of urgency. But at no time does that interfere with her being a great team player. She not only has the ability to be great, but she also has the character."
The RedHawks did not need to rely on Jackson's scoring in the first half. They built a 41-26 lead at the half, due in large part to the scoring of sophomore guard Courtney Reed and junior guard Jenna Schone. Reed came off the bench to score 15 points in just 11 minutes, going 3-4 on 3-point shots. Schone managed 14 points at the half, going 5-6 overall and made all four of her 3-point shots in the half.
Miami's red hot 3-point shooting helped amass the big first half lead. The 'Hawks went into the break shooting 50 percent from the field, including 7-14 from 3-point land.
Miami went on a 14-4 run to end the half, due in part to three 3-points by Schone, a 3-pointer by Reed and a floater by Jackson.
Jackson was held to just six points at the half, but did not credit that to Eastern Michigan's defense.
"I wasn't as aggressive as I usually am, but I didn't feel that I needed to be," Jackson said. "We had Courtney Reed coming off the bench scoring, and she did a good job of leading the offense."
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Early in the second half, Miami built its lead up to 20 points, but Eastern Michigan went on a 13-0 run to cut the Miami lead to seven with just 10:59 remaining in the game. At this point, Jackson took it upon herself to keep the RedHawks in the lead. Behind Jackson's solid play, Miami was able to hold off the charging Eagles.
"Our defense kept fighting, but we needed some offense," Fantanarosa said. "AJ (Jackson) had several 3-point plays towards the end. She just took over."
Jackson knew she needed to be more aggressive at the end to keep her team in control of the game.
"It's just my aggressive mentality," Jackson said. "I hate to lose, and if I can do anything to make sure we win the game then that's what I'm going to do."
A key focus of Miami's defense was slowing down Eastern Michigan's sophomore guard Alyssa Pittman.
"We just kept shifting our defense to keep her from getting in a rhythm," Fantanarosa said. "We played some man and we played some zone. We had different players guard her, and we made sure our zone shifted to take away the 3-point shot."
Pittman was held to just seven points on 27 percent shooting.
Eastern Michigan was instead led in scoring by senior center Colleen Russell with 18 points. Senior guard Kivilcim Yamanoglu wound up with nine points, keying the late run for the Eagles.
The win puts the RedHawks at 4-3 in the MAC East, just a half game out of first place. Overall, Miami now has a record of 12-9.
Fantanarosa stressed how big of a victory this game was for the 'Hawks.
"This (Eastern Michigan) is one of the hardest places to play," Fantanarosa said. "They're in contention to win the West, so they are still among the best teams in the MAC."
Jackson also was emphatic about how important this game was for the RedHawks.
"We really needed this win," Jackson said. "This was a big conference game for us, and we had to win this one."
The RedHawks next play Feb. 2 at Central Michigan University. They return to Millet Hall for a game against Western Michigan University Feb. 9.
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