OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team (16-4, 7-2 MAC) beat Eastern Michigan (10-10, 3-6 MAC) by a 63-58 margin on Wednesday. Levering led the RedHawks' offense with the first 20-point game of her career while
Lauren Dickerson and
Kendall McCoy also reached double figures.
Eastern Michigan took two early leads at 2-0 and 4-2 before Miami went on a 6-0 run to take an 8-4 lead with 6:06 to play in the first quarter. All three of Miami's first baskets were assisted.
EMU made it a 10-5 game with 5:26 to play in the first quarter before the RedHawks went on a 7-0 run over two minutes to take a 10-point lead. Eastern Michigan would go on an 11-0 run of its own to end the first quarter with a 16-15 lead.
EMU opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and
Leah Purvis followed with one of her own.
With just under seven minutes to play in the first half, Eastern Michigan took a 23-19 lead. Levering completed a three-point play to cut EMU's lead to one.
Alexis Straw gave the RedHawks their first lead with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter by a 24-23 margin. Eastern Michigan answered with seven-straight points and a 12-2 run to take a 35-26 lead with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Dickerson scored the final basket of the first half as the RedHawks trailed 28-35 going into the locker room.
Eastern Michigan scored first in the second half to extend its lead to 37-28 before Miami tightened its defense.
Miami scored the next six points, four coming from Levering, the first RedHawk to reach double figures in the game. The RedHawks trailed 34-40 with 5:41 to play in the third quarter. McCoy drove strong to the basket and completed a three-point play to close the gap to three.
Dickerson made a layup with 3:18 remaining in the quarter to take the lead back for the RedHawks by a 40-39 margin. After a basket by Eastern Michigan, Dickerson gave the lead back to Miami again, this time with a shot from behind the arc.
Dickerson scored nine points in the third quarter, the same total as Eastern Michigan as the RedHawks outscored EMU by a 20-9 margin in the third quarter. Miami had a 48-44 lead after 30 minutes of play.
McCoy reached double figures with Miami's first basket of the fourth quarter to give the RedHawks a 50-46 lead with 9:11 to play. Eastern Michigan scored six-straight points to take a 52-50 lead with seven minutes remaining.
The game was tied at 52, 54 and 56 points within the span of three minutes of play before Miami took a lead it would not relinquish. With 2:30 to play, Levering hit a free throw to break the 56-56 tie. At the other end of the court,
Baleigh Reid took a charge to force a turnover on Eastern Michigan.
Purvis hits a free throw on the RedHawks' next possession to give Miami a 58-56 lead with 1:23 remaining. Miami's defense forced a missed shot by Eastern Michigan with 1:06 to play. Two offensive rebounds on the RedHawks' next possession let Miami keep the ball as the clock ran down to five seconds.
McCoy and Levering each went to the line as there was a foul on the floor and a technical assessed to the Eastern Michigan bench. All four free throws fell through as Miami took a 62-56 lead with only four seconds remaining.
After an EMU timeout, its bench was assessed another technical foul that sent Levering to the line again, where she reached her 20-point game. Eastern Michigan drove down the floor for a layup that capped scoring at 63-58.
Miami travels to Bowling Green on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
