Sunday's Scoreboard
Ohio 81, American 69
Akron 63, St. Bonaventure 54
Northern Illinois 74, North Dakota State 68
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Ohio 81, American 69
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – Behind the first triple-double in Ohio women's basketball (1-1) history, the Bobcats defeated American (0-1), 81-69, on Sunday afternoon at The Convocation Center. Redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the victory.
"She's just a really talented kid and she loves playing basketball," head coach Bob Boldon said on Johnson. "She's smart and understands the game. She constantly makes the right play. I'm very proud of her. I also know when you talk to her, the fact the we won is going to be the most important thing for her. That's what makes her so special."
Johnson's triple-double was the first in Ohio history and the 13th in Mid-American Conference history. A player has not recorded a triple-double in the MAC since 2016, when Crystal Bradford from Central Michigan recorded the feat.
Johnson's 11 assists was a career-high, while she was two points shy of her career best. Johnson was 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from the three-point line in 35 minutes of play.
"It means a lot to me and I try to being everything I can to the team," Johnson said. "Rebounds, assists, energy, whatever they need from me. It meant a lot and it came with a win."
Akron 63, St. Bonaventure 54
Box Score
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y.– Trailing by seven points heading into the fourth quarter, the Akron women's basketball team mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback outscoring St. Bonaventure, 20-4, as the Zips picked up its first win of the 2019-20 season, 63-54, over the Bonnies on Sunday afternoon inside the Reilly Center.
The Zips took complete control of the fourth quarter en route to earning the victory. On the offensive end, Akron shot just 23.5-percent from the floor but connected on 12 free throws. Senior Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) took over in the fourth quarter scoring seven of her game-high 20 points. In the final six minutes of the contest, Akron scored 17 unanswered points, including nine at the free-throw line.
Defensively, UA limited St. Bonaventure to a game-low four points in the quarter as the Bonnies shot 1-for-13, committed seven turnovers, and Edmonds single-handedly ripped five steals.
Edmonds, the Zips MVP of the contest, turned in her first career double-double on the afternoon scoring a game-high 20 points and tallied a career-high 10 steals while adding two assists and pulled in three rebounds. Three additional Akron players recorded double-figures in the scoring column as senior Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio), senior Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), and junior Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) scored 13, 12, and 10 points, respectively. Reinoehl picked up her first double-double of the season and the 11th of her career adding a game-high 11 rebounds to her 12 points.
As a unit, Akron shot 31.6-percent from the floor (18-of-57) and just 2-for-13 from long range. A big reason the Zips came out with the win was the relentlessness and poise Akron showed at the charity stripe going 25-for-31 (80.6-percent) from the line totaling nearly 40-percent of the Zips' points.
On the glass, the Zips outrebounded the Bonnies, 39-to-37, including a 13-to-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. Akron forced 20 turnovers on the defensive end of the floor, 12 steals and blocked five shots.
The Akron Zips showed some season-opening rust in the first two and a half minutes of the contest while St. Bonaventure came out on fire. The Bonnies went a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor in their first four possessions of the ballgame while Akron struggled from the offensive end of the floor going 0-for-4 forcing the Zips to call a timeout trailing 10-0.
Following the timeout, the Zips shook off the rust and took off offensively in the final 6:30 of the first quarter. UA closed out the first stanza on an 11-8 run including a 9-5 advantage over the course of the six-minute span.
While Akron picked up its offensive game, the Zips defense picked up its intensity forcing four turnovers, including a pair of shot clock violations.
Edmonds and Dawson provided the spark for Akron in the first quarter scoring a combined nine points.
The Zips offense flowed into the second quarter as UA opened the ensuing stanza on an 11-5 run en route to the team's first lead of the contest, 22-21, after Edmonds knocked down a pair of free throws from the charity stripe.
However, UA would not hold onto the lead for long as St. Bonaventure came back strong with a 16-8 scoring burst to conclude the first half to reclaim its lead and head into the locker room with a 39-30 advantage.
In the opening five and a half minutes of the second half, UA turned in an 11-5 advantage to close within five points of SBU, 44-39. The quartet of Edmonds, Reinoehl, Dawson, and Vari combined to score the Zips 11 points with each player making one bucket and Reinoehl sinking a free throw.
From that point on (4:27), the Zips and Bonnies went back-and-forth in the closing four minutes of play with St. Bonaventure slightly edging Akron 6-4 to keep its lead at +7 heading into the final quarter.
In the first 1:45 of the fourth quarter, the contest remained deadlocked at 50-43. The first point of the period was scored at the 8:16 mark courtesy of a free throw by Vari and the first four points combined came at the charity stripe.
The first field goal was scored at the six-minute mark by St. Bonaventure, which marked the final field goal the Bonnies would make in the contest.
From that point on, Akron scored 17 unanswered points and walked away from the Reilly Center with a 63-54 win.
Akron returns to Northeast Ohio for games two and three of the 2019-20 season as the Zips host the 2019 Akron Classic at James A. Rhodes Arena. Akron is slated to compete against Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday, Nov. 15, at 4:30 p.m., before going head-to-head with Big10 opponent, #25 Michigan, on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois 74, North Dakota State 68
Box Score
FARGO, N.D. – Northern Illinois University junior Gabby Nikitinaite tied the game with three seconds left and hit a layup to give NIU its first lead in overtime to give the Huskies to a 74-68 victory over North Dakota State Sunday at the Scheel Center in Fargo.
Courtney Woods led a group of four Huskies in double figures with a team-high 20 points, while Nikitinaite scored 18. Riley Blackwell added 13 and senior Abby Woollacott, starting in place of an injured Ally May, contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
"I think the experience of this group puts us in position to have success in these situations," said NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen. "Anytime you play on the road in the non-conference, you're hoping to get better and learn lessons. We've been in situations in our two games where we've had to deal with adversity, deal with situations that are uncomfortable and I think those things are what help you as the season progresses."
NIU evened its record to 1-1 on the year, while the Bison fell to 0-2.
North Dakota State led by seven points, 62-55, with 4:38 to play in the fourth quarter before Blackwell converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull NIU within four. After NDSU's Emily Dietz, who led all players with 21 points in the game, hit a jumper to put the Bison ahead by six with four minutes to play, NDSU would not score again in regulation. Woods connected on two free throws and Myia Starks and Blackwell each made one of two to pull the Huskies within two at 64-62 with a minute left on the clock.
Starks missed a jumper with 12 seconds left and NIU was down by two, but NDSU's Raquel Terrer van Gool missed a pair of free throws, and Nikitinaite took advantage to send the game to overtime.
"I was really happy with the way Gabby went about her business today," Carlsen said. "There was never a time when she wasn't locked in and when she plays like that it makes us a much better basketball team. She did a great job not only offensively, but defensively, she made things difficult [for NDSU]."
Dietz put NDSU up again at the start of the extra period with a jumper before NIU took over. Woollacott hit a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a Nikitinaite layup to give the Huskies a 70-66 advantage. The Bison narrowed the margin to two on a pair of Dietz free throws at the 1:12 mark before Starks extended the lead back to four with 50 seconds to play.
NDSU went one-of-eight from the field, scored only four points and missed its last seven field goals in overtime while the Huskies made four of their last five field goal tries and grabbed eight rebounds in the extra frame.
"Abby's experience really put her in a position to help us and she got more and more comfortable as the game went on and did some great things down the stretch," Carlsen said. "We knew we had to force them to take a tough shot and more importantly, rebound the basketball and we were able to do that especially late."
NIU finished the game with a 41 percent shooting percentage and went 10-of-19 in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Huskies overcame 19 turnovers, but forced NDSU into 23 with 13 steals, four by Nikitinaite.
The Bison led by four points after the first, second and third quarters. They led by as many as eight in the first period as they took advantage of seven early turnovers by NIU, before the Huskies came back late in the quarter to cut the lead to four, 21-17.
The lead held up through the next two quarters. Each team put up 10 points in the second quarter. The Huskies tied the score at 27 with 1:02 to play in the half on a pair of Woods free throws but a pair of jumpers by Dietz in the final minute gave the Bison a 31-27 lead heading into the locker room.
NIU shot 31 percent from the floor in the half and were two-of-nine on three-pointers, while NDSU was at 38 percent for the half and 20 percent on threes.
The Bison led 47-43 after the third quarter, again extending the lead to as many as nine at 45-36 at the 4:13 mark before the Huskies narrowed the margin on a Woods three with 1:12 left in the third.
A three by Nikitinaite brought NIU within one at the 8:17 mark of the fourth quarter and Blackwell hit a three to tie the score at 51 with 7:07 on the clock. NDSU once again pulled ahead with an 11-4 run over the next 2:29 to give the Bison a 62-55 lead.
The Huskies' November road trip continues next Sunday when NIU travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on Colorado State. NIU's next home game is December 19 in the Compass Challenge versus Eastern lllinois.
