The tie has been broken. Decisively.

The Eastern Michigan women’s basketball team - deadlocked atop the Mid-American Conference West Division standings with Toledo for nearly a month - shut down the Rockets at the Convocation Center on Tuesday night.

Senior guard Tavelyn James scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half of the 54-33 win.

Eastern Michigan (20-7, 11-2) extended its winning streak to eight games and ended Toledo’s at 10. The Rockets (18-8, 10-3) hadn’t lost since EMU won 70-66 at Savage Arena on Jan. 11.

While the Rockets kept James under wraps in the first half, the Eagles’ other senior starter, Paige Redditt, contributed all 11 of her points to help EMU lead 28-18 at halftime.

James, the nation’s second leading scorer with a 24.7-point scoring average, made 3-of-9 shots in the first half. She went 5-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the second half., including a stretch of six straight points that put the Eagles up 42-28 with 11:10 left to play

Sophomore guard Natachia Watkins added 10 points and five steals for EMU.

Yolanda Richardon led Toledo with 18 points.

The Eagles have now won 20 games in six out of the last nine seasons. Prior to 2003-04, EMU had never won more than 18 games in a single season.