Friday's Scoreboard
Miami 76, South Alabama 73
Buffalo 82, Columbia 75
Akron 64, Fort Wayne 53
Michigan 88, Kent State 53
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Miami 76, South Alabama 73
Box Score
MOBILE, Ala. – The Miami University women's basketball team (2-1) wrapped up play in the Preseason WNIT with a 76-73 comeback win at South Alabama after trailing by 13 points at halftime.
Lauren Dickerson led Miami's offense with 21 points, the 40th 20-point game of her career. Savannah Kluesner recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Peyton Scott and Abbey Hoff both scored in double figures with 17 and 12 points, respectively.
The first quarter saw three ties and three lead changes as the teams went back and forth. South Alabama sunk the first two baskets of the game before Scott got the RedHawks on the board with a pair from the line. Three-pointers by Scott and Hoff tied the game at eight with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter.
USA took another four-point lead before a three-point play by Kennedy Taylor and a three-pointer from Dickerson gave Miami its first lead of the game, 14-12, midway through the first quarter. A layup from Kelly McLaughlin gave the Red and White its largest lead of the first half as the RedHawks were on an 8-0 run.
The teams were tied again at 16 and 18 before South Alabama scored the final four points of the first quarter to hold a 22-18 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Miami tied the game at 22 in the first minute of the second quarter and trailed 24-26 with 7:19 left in the half before facing a scoring drought. USA went on an 11-0 run over three-and-a-half minutes to take a 37-24 lead with 3:40 remaining in the second quarter.
South Alabama took a 43-30 lead into the locker room as the RedHawks shot just 9-of-38 from the field and 4-of-19 from long range during the first half.
Miami stormed back in the third quarter, outscoring South Alabama 20-7. The teams exchanged five points aside before the RedHawks began their 15-4 run to end the quarter. Five different Miami players contributed points to the run. The RedHawks trailed 52-50 after 30 minutes of play.
Kluesner tied the game at 54 with 8:39 remaining, the first tie since one minute into the second quarter. Miami went from a 54-50 deficit to a 60-54 lead over two minutes with 10-straight points.
South Alabama ended its scoring drought and Miami's lead would stay between two and six points over the next three minutes before a three-pointer from Dickerson opened up an eight-point lead with four minutes to play. A 7-0 run by USA cut Miami's lead down to 69-68 with 1:16 remaining.
Free throws from Dickerson, Hoff and Kennedy Taylor sealed the victory down the stretch.
The RedHawks continue road play on Wednesday at Eastern Kentucky. The scheduled tip time is 7 p.m.
Buffalo 82, Columbia 75
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – On a big night inside Alumni Arena on Friday night, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team rallied to defeat Columbia 82-75 in front of 1,502 fans to stay unbeaten and start the season 4-0 for the fourth time in the last five years. Prior to the game, the Bulls honored their stellar 2018-19 campaign and team by unveiling a MAC Championship banner on the wall inside Alumni Arena.
Four Bulls recorded double-digit scoring efforts on the night, led by freshman Dyaisha Fair who scored 25 points while adding five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Junior Hanna Hall added 14 points, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
Freshman Loren Christie had a breakthrough performance, recording a career-high 13 points, including 3-of-7 from deep, and senior Theresa Onwuka scored 14 points while grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out three assists and creating four turnovers. Sophomore Keowa Walters added nine points and pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Bulls were hot from deep to start, hitting three of their first seven shots from beyond the arc, but Columbia would have an answer with buckets of their own as the Lions held the narrow 15-14 lead at the first media timeout. Fair danced around her defender and scored to put UB up 18-15 but Columbia would answer with back-to-back three's to take a 24-18 lead and they would lead 28-20 after one quarter of play.
Buffalo would start the second quarter on a 5-0 run courtesy of a second chance layup by Walters and a triple by Fair to cut the lead to 30-25 at the 8:47 mark. Columbia would go back up by eight on a second chance layup by Sienna Durr layup but Fair drilled a three to cut the lead to 34-29 at the media timeout. Columbia hit a three coming out of the media, but Christie responded with a 5-0 run of her own to cut the lead to 37-34 at the 3:04 mark. Later, Fair found Christie at the top of the key for another triple and two possessions later Hall found Onwuka for a layup to cut the Lions' lead to 43-42 at the half.
After a back-and-forth start to the third quarter, Hall tied the game at 51 on a triple off the assist from Aireal Dickson. Later, Fair got the pass from Hall and drilled a triple to give UB its first lead since the 3:19 mark of the first quarter, 54-52. Christie continued to impress with a beautiful drive to the basket and Fair returned the favor to Hall by finding the junior for three to give UB a 61-57 lead at the end of the third.
Abbey Hsu hit a three on the Lions' opening possession of the fourth quarter to cut the UB lead 61-60 but Walters responded with back-to-back second chance buckets to extend the UB lead to 65-60 with 8:40 to play. Fair took over from there as she scored Buffalo's next 10 points to five the Bulls a 77-65 lead at the 3:53 mark. Later, Christie dished a perfect pass to Adebola Adeyeye who laid it in to give the Bulls their largest lead of the game, 81-67, and that would be all the Bulls would need to secure the victory.
The Bulls held the narrow edge in rebounding, 44-43, and turned 23 offensive boards into 27 second chance points, while scoring 17 points off 24 Columbia turnovers. Buffalo also outscored the Lions 36-28 in the paint.
The Bulls will now travel to California for two games, starting with a contest at San Jose State on Thursday, November 21, at 10pm (EST).
Akron 64, Fort Wayne 53
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio– Behind the strength of a pair of double-doubles from senior Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) and junior Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.), the Akron women's basketball team battled to a 64-53 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the 2019-20 home opener and first contest of the 2019 Akron Classic inside James A. Rhodes Arena on Friday afternoon.
Reinoehl and Dawson combined to score 37 points and pulled down 24 of the Zips game-high 41 team rebounds. Reineohl led all players with a game-high 19 points, 10 defensive rebounds, and three offensive caroms on her way to her second straight double-double performance. Dawson notched a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds to record her first career double-double in an Akron uniform.
As an offense, the Zips shot at a 42.3-percent clip from the field (22-of-52) and went 4-for-17 from long range. UA shot a game-high 53.8-percent from the floor in the fourth quarter, while recording a 75-percent clip (3-for-4) from distance in the second quarter and knocked down 13-of-15 free-throw attempts in the fourth.
Senior Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) turned in a game- and season-high five assists, while as a unit, Akron assisted on 10 of its 22 field goals. Defensively, the Zips forced 19 turnovers, recorded eight steals, scored 20 points off turnovers, and 12 points on a fast break.
The contest between Akron and the Mastodons was a battle of quarters with PFW owning the third quarter, but the Zips winning the first quarter (13-12), second quarter (15-6), and the team's best period of the contest, the fourth (27-18).
It was a tight first quarter with Akron taking the slight +1 advantage following 10 minutes of play. After the Zips shrugged off a slow start to the game, UA used a 6-0 run and shot 5-for-12 from the floor to win the quarter. Dawson entered the contest off the bench for the Zips and provided a physical spark on the offensive end of the floor scoring five points.
Akron went to work around the perimeter in the second quarter shooting a season-high 75-percent in the stanza. Senior Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) splashed a pair of triples while Reinoehl went 1-for-2 from distance that highlighted a 13-3 run in the final five minutes of the first half to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room.
While the Zips went to work on offense, Fort Wayne struggled from the floor as the Zips tightened its defensive grasp. The Mastodons shot just 2-for-13 from the field and turned the ball over five times.
Fort Wayne used the halftime break to regroup offensively which turned into a 6-0 run in favor of the Mastodons in the first two minutes. The Zips truly never found a rhythm in the period allowing PFW to work its way back into the contest, tie the game back up at 33-33 with 2:31 left in the contest, and pulled within two points (37-35) heading into the fourth quarter.
For the second consecutive contest, the Akron Zips played their best basketball in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Mastodons grabbed its first lead of the game since the first quarter with 8:52 left to play in the fourth before the Zips put their foot on the gas pedal and sped away with the game. UA outscored PFW 25-11 in the final 8:23 of the quarter with Dawson and Reinoehl scoring 16 of Akron's 25 points.
In game one of the Akron Classic between No. 24 Michigan and Kent State, the Wolverines defeated the Golden Flashes, 88-53. Kent State and Purdue Fort Wayne square off on day two of the Classic starting at 12 p.m.
In less than 24 hours, Akron returns to the court inside James A. Rhodes Arena for game two of the 2019 Akron Classic. The Zips square-off in a BIG contest against Big Ten opponent, No. 24 Michigan, on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2:30 p.m.
Michigan 88, Kent State 53
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio – The Kent State women's basketball team (2-1) suffered its first loss of the 2019 season at the hands of No. 24 Michigan (3-0) in the opening game of the Akron Classic.
"We just got beat by a bigger and better team," said head coach Todd Starkey. "Our youth showed up and when you play against teams that big and that good, your mistakes are magnified. Our quick shots, careless turnovers and lack of communication in transition was really exposed in a big way in the second half. We just have to continue to grow and learn. We have to have a short-term memory because we turn around and play tomorrow."
The Golden Flashes jumped out to a 16-12 lead after one quarter behind six points from Asiah Dingle, who led Kent State with 12 points in the contest.
Michigan started the second quarter on a 14-3 run and took a 31-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Wolverines never looked back and outscored the Flashes 57-28 in the second half to come away with an 88-53 victory.
Freshman Katie Shumate recorded her third-straight double-digit effort to start her Golden Flashes career. She scored 10 points on 4-for-9 from the field and grabbed four boards. Fellow freshman Nila Blackford dropped in eight points and led the Flashes with six rebounds.
Kent State is back in action at 12 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, against Purdue Fort Wayne to continue the Akron Classic at James A. Rhodes Arena.
