Saturday's Scoreboard
Kent State 75, Purdue Fort Wayne 67
Cincinnati 63, Ball State 56
Michigan 80, Akron 71
Youngstown State 79, Eastern Michigan 77
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Info.
Kent State 75, Purdue Fort Wayne 67
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio – Kent State was a perfect 14-for-14 at the charity stripe over the final 1:53 to stretch a four-point lead into a 75-67 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday in the team's final game of the Akron Classic.
Sophomore Asiah Dingle converted six of those shots and finished with a team-high 17 points to go with six rebounds and three assists in the victory. The Golden Flashes (3-1) turned in a 23-for-26 (88.5 percent) performance at the foul line for the game.
"Early in the season here, we're finding ways to win but definitely have a large margin for improvement," head coach Todd Starkey said. "This team is young, and we will be patient with it. I'm always happy to win, but we have to continue to grow in certain areas. We are a team that prides itself on getting to the free throw line and making them at a high percentage. They were trying to foul to cut the game and we took advantage of those opportunities."
Freshmen Nila Blackford and Katie Shumate scored 16 points apiece and helped Kent State to a 41-24 rebounding advantage. Blackford also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her second collegiate double-double while Shumate had seven boards.
Sophomore Hannah Young provided a lift off the bench during the third quarter, going for nine points on 4-for-4 shooting over a span of just over five minutes to extend the lead from four to 12.
"Hannah played really well coming off the bench," Starkey noted. "You never know when it's going to be your opportunity. It certainly was hers today and she took full advantage of it. She's been working hard, and we need to make sure we get that kind of effort from everybody all the way around so that we're getting consistency."
Sophomore Lindsey Thall totaled eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Redshirt senior Megan Carter added eight points and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw stripe.
Kent State will open the home schedule against Ohio State on Thursday, Nov. 21. The first matchup between the programs since 1981 will tip from the M.A.C. Center at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati 63, Ball State 56
Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Ball State women's basketball team (1-2) lost a gritty defensive, 63-56, battle Saturday afternoon at Cincinnati (2-2) in Fifth Third Arena.
For the second-straight contest, redshirt freshman Anna Clephane led the Cardinals in scoring with 15-points while teammates junior Oshlynn Brown and freshman Sydney Freeman each had 11-points apiece. Brown also led the Cardinals defensive with 11 rebounds for her 18th career double-double and 25th career double digit rebounding performance.
In a game that had 18 lead changes and five ties, you knew the outcome would come down to the final 10 minutes of action. Ball State entered the fourth frame trailing the Bearcats by eight (44-36). The Cardinals were resilient and would outscore Cincinnati 15-6 by the media timeout to take back the lead, 51-50, with just 4:06 left. Clephane scored eight of those points while also getting help from teammates Freeman, graduate senior Jasmin Samz and sophomore Blake Smith.
After the timeout, the Bearcats rallied back, closing the game with a 13-4 run to seal their victory over the Cardinals.
Sophomore Thelma Dis Agustsdottir got things started for Ball State after knocking down her fifth 3-point basket of the season at the 6:20 mark to give the Cardinals their first lead of the contest. Both teams struggled offensively throughout the first quarter of play. Just under the two-minute mark, Brown went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to give Ball State a slim, 9-8 edge heading into the second frame of action.
The Bearcats started the second quarter off with a 4-0 run to take a 12-9 advantage over Ball State at the 7:40 mark. Dis Agustsdottir broke the drought with a jumper followed by a layup from Brown and a 3-pointer from Freeman to take a 16-14 advantage with 4:49 remaining in the first half. After that, both teams traded baskets but a late jumper from Cincinnati's Angel Rizor put the Bearcats back up 24-21 at intermission.
Cincinnati held onto a slim lead over Ball State for the majority of the third quarter. At just under the two-minute mark, the Cardinals had turned up the aggressiveness in their post play and was able to put together a 7-0 run to tie the game for the fourth time at 36-36. The Bearcats quickly answered with an 8-0 scoring spree that would give them their largest lead of the contest, 44-36, heading into the final 10 minutes play.
After opening the season with three straight road games, Ball State will now open its home portion of its 2019-20 schedule with back-to-back home games against Xavier (Nov. 20) and Butler (Nov. 23). The game against Xavier on Wednesday will mark the Cardinals fourth annual Kids Day Event. Head Coach Brady Sallee started the tradition in 2016 for local elementary and middle-aged children to attend a basketball game during the day. The contest will begin at 11:30 a.m. in Worthen Arena.
Michigan 80, Akron 71
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio– The Akron women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 24 Michigan on day two of the 2019 Akron classic and led the Wolverines down the stretch of the third quarter before UM pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 80-71 decision on Saturday afternoon inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
Senior forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) led Akron in scoring for the second straight contest with 14 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) turned in 13 points to go along with a team-high four assists and three steals. Freshman guard Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded a career afternoon and tallied 12 points on four three-pointers (4-for-6) while sophomore guard Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio) added nine points.
In the contest, Akron shot a season-best 45.9-percent from the field (28-for-61) and an impressive 40.7-percent from long range (11-for-27). UA recorded 32 points in the paint, eight second-chance points, and the Zips bench played a large role in the contest posting 23 points.
UA used a big third quarter to work its way back into the game and eventually claimed its first lead of the contest. The Zips charged out of intermission with a 7-2 burst highlighted by an acrobatic and-1 layup by senior point guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who lofted the ball toward the basket while absorbing contact from Michigan's Hailey Brown and saw the ball drop through the hoop as she tumbled to the floor. Edmonds calmly sank the free throw to bring her team within four, 43-39.
Moments later, a three-pointer by Reinoehl pulled Akron to within one and a second triple by Reinoehl tied the contest at 47-all midway through the quarter. After the two teams traded big shots over the remainder of the period, the senior forward drilled yet another top-of-the-key triple to give Akron its first lead of the day, 56-55.
The Zips extended the margin to three on a Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) layup in the final minute of the period, setting the stage for the dramatic fourth quarter.
Despite Akron holding a 61-57 lead over Michigan with 9:05 left in the game, the Wolverines secured the win by outscoring the Zips 25-13 in the decisive fourth quarter.
It was a contest the Zips had to fight their way back into following a slow start that put them in a big hole in the early going.
After falling behind by as many as 15 points at the end of the first quarter, the Zips charged back into the game with a second-quarter blitz that saw them outscore the Wolverines 12-4 in the span of 3:03, capping the run with a pair of fast break three-pointers by Martindale and stout defense that forced two Michigan turnovers during that span. At the tail end of the Akron blitz, the Zips held the visitors scoreless for more than four minutes, allowing themselves to get back into the game.
Behind the strong first-half play of Miller, Harmon, and Martindale, Akron headed into the half down just seven, 41-34, playing its second game in as many days. Shooting from distance played a large part in the Zips hanging with their Big Ten foes, as they sank five three-pointers in the first two periods and held Michigan without a triple through 20 minutes.
Additionally, Akron battled the Wolverines to a near-draw on the boards, with the visitors holding a slim 16-14 rebounding edge in the half as seven different Zips secured a rebound, led by Reinoehl's four.
In the first contest of day two of the Akron Classic, Kent State defeated Purdue Fort Wayne, 75-67.
Akron returns to the court Wednesday night as it hosts Youngstown State at 7 p.m. in a non-conference contest. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and concludes a three-game homestand for the Zips.
Youngstown State 79, Eastern Michigan 77
Box Score
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team gave a strong first half performance, but could not overcome a second-half rally by Youngstown State University and ultimately fell, 79-77, Nov. 16 at the Beeghly Center. The Eagles move to 1-2 on the season, while the Penguins improve to 2-2.
Three Eagles finished in double-digit scoring as sophomore Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) ended with a season-best 19 points, freshman Aaliyah Stanley (Boynton Beach, Fla.-Oxbridge Academy) finished with a season-high 16 points, and redshirt junior Corrione Cardwell (Cleveland, Ohio-New Tech East) recorded 10 points on the afternoon.
Eastern Michigan doubled their three-point production through the first two games against Youngstown State, draining 10 three's on the afternoon after making nine in the first two games combined.
The Eagles separated themselves from the Penguins early on, going on a 7-0 scoring run in the first four minutes to lead 13-4 at the first timeout. From there, Stanley guided the Eagles to a 31-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, tallying 13 points over the first 10 minutes of play.
Youngstown State opened the second quarter on a 4-0 run to shorten EMU's lead to 13, but sophomore Kiara Johnson's (Buffalo, N.Y.-Cardinal O'Hara) six straight points and buckets from Annecchiarico and sophomore Natalia Pineda (Miami, Fla.-John A. Ferguson) kept the Eagles in front, leading the Penguins 45-30 at the half.
Through 20 minutes of play, Eastern Michigan shot 19-of-34 from the field, and held Youngstown State to 10-of-27. Eastern's bench also had a productive first half, tallying 20 points. Annecchiarico and Johnson led Eastern on the defensive end, each with five rebounds.
The Penguins once again started the new quarter on a run, this time opening the third with a 6-0 run to cut EMU's lead to nine. However, a pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore RayJon Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid), a reverse layup from Cardwell and jumper from Harris gave the Eagles a six-point scoring run response of their own. Youngstown State would go on to control the rest of the third quarter, eventually outscoring the Eagles 29-13 and hitting a three with four seconds left to take their first lead of the game, 59-58, to end the third.
In the final 10 minutes, the Eagles and Penguins traded points right down to the final second. Tied at 77, Youngstown State made two of their three awarded free throws to take a two-point lead with less than a second on the clock. After the Green and White got the ball to Stanley to attempt a three-pointer for the win, the Penguins managed to block her shot and take win, 79-77.
Eastern Michigan begins a three-game home stand Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. as they host Southeast Missouri State at the Convocation Center.
