Saturday's Scoreboard
Akron 81, Detroit Mercy 60
Southern Illinois 85, Eastern Michigan 54
Ball State 74, Butler 70
Ohio 78, Incarnate Word 41
Bradley 79, Miami 68
Story Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Akron 81, Detroit Mercy 60
Box Score
DETROIT, Mich. – The Akron women's basketball team was lights out in the second half outscoring Detroit, 46-27, as the Zips late charge earned UA an 81-60 victory over the Titans on Saturday afternoon inside Calihan Hall.
Holding on to just a two-point lead (35-33) heading into the second half, the Zips came out of the locker room locked in and turned a small advantage (+2) into a 60-47 lead. Senior guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) controlled the pace of the Zips offense in the stanza scoring six points, dished out four assists, and ripped two steals in the third quarter alone. As a team, Akron shot 50-percent (10-for-20) from the floor, hit two three-pointers, and went 3-for-4 from the line. The Zips defense forced 10 turnovers which turned into 11 points.
Akron did not hold back in the fourth quarter and continued to push the ball up the court. The Zips ran away with the contest outscoring the Titans, 21-13, and coasted to its second straight win, improved to 2-0 on the road and captured its fourth victory on the season.
Due in large part to the third quarter, Edmonds turned in an all-around stellar performance on the afternoon totaling 14 points, a team-best five assists, two steals, and two rebounds. Senior Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) posted a team-high 16 points, team-best eight rebounds, including four on both the offensive and defensive glass. While Edmonds and Reinoehl were the two Zips in double figures, 11 of the 12 Zips that checked into the game recorded at least one point, including nine points from junior Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) and seven points each by senior Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio), sophomore Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio), and freshman Lonasia Brewer (Akron, Ohio), which is a career-high.
As a unit, Akron shot 42.9-percent from the field (30-for-70), 35-percent from long range, and 66.7-percent (14-for-21) from the charity stripe. Akron's bench played a large role in the contest scoring 31 points in a combined 89 minutes played.
The Zips forced 23 Titan turnovers which led to 20 points. While Akron scored 21 points from long range, UA was a force to be reckoned with inside the paint scoring 40 of its 81 total points, just under 50 percent. UA pushed the ball up the court quickly and scored 30 fast-break points.
After a back and forth battle in the opening two minutes between Akron and Detroit (3-3), the Zips went cold from the floor and the Titans took advantage of its opportunity. Detroit went on a 10-0 run in a 2:20 span and claimed an early 13-5 lead into the first media timeout.
Reinoehl broke the cold spell for the Zips out of the timeout as the junior buried a triple from the right-wing. Reinoehl's three-pointer broke the ice for the Zips and opened up the Akron offense as UA went 3-for-5 in the final 4:21 to cut the deficit to 20-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Much like the opening minutes of the first, Akron and Detroit traded buckets as each side scored four points in the first three and a half minutes of the second stanza. At the 4:40 mark of the period, the Zips tied the game up for the first time since the score read 5-5 in the first quarter. Akron used a 6-2 scoring run from 7:24-4:40 as three of the Zips forwards in Vari (three points), Reinoehl (two points), and Brewer (one point) tallied all six for Akron.
In the closing five and a half minutes of the first half, Akron outscored Detroit 13-7. Four players collaborated to tally the Zips 13 points including a run-high five points.
At the midway point of the contest, the Zips were shooting 40-percent (12-for-30), made three triples, connected on eight free throws, scored 18 points in the paint, 13 points on fast breaks, and seven points off turnovers.
The Zips continue their road trip with a trip up Route 77 north to Cleveland, Ohio, where a non-conference tilt awaits the Akron women's basketball team against Cleveland State on Wednesday, Nov. 27, against Cleveland State at 7 p.m.
Southern Illinois 85, Eastern Michigan 54
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell at home against Southern Illinois University, 85-54, Saturday, Nov. 23, inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles (2-3) out-scored the Salukis (3-2) in the first quarter, 16-14, but were unable to keep pace with their Missouri Valley Conference opposition for the remainder of the contest.
Sophomore Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) led the Green and White with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and dished out a team-best two helpers. Freshman Aaliyah Stanley (Boynton Beach, Fla.-Oxbridge Academy) reached double-figures for the third consecutive game, tallying 15 points while contributing four rebounds and a pair of steals. Redshirt sophomore Juanita Agosto (Seattle, Wash.-Garfield) added six points off the bench along with three boards and two swipes, while sophomore Kiara Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.-Cardinal O'Hara) logged five points to go with a team-best six rebounds.
The Eagles had a frustrating afternoon on the offensive end, finishing 30.4 percent (21-of-69) from the floor, as the Salukis shot at a 55 percent (33-of-60) efficiency. Although the Eagles were out-rebounded by a 43-34 count, the Eagles managed to pull down 14 offensive boards, and collected seven steals compared to SIU's total of five.
Stanley knocked down a corner three to put the Eagles on the board, before burying another triple on EMU's next possession to knot the score at six with 7:03 left in the first quarter. She tacked on another three-pointer to give the Green and White a two-point lead at the end of the first period, but the Eagles were overmatched throughout the second quarter and trailed at the intermission, 42-25. The Salukis continued to shoot the lights out during the second half, as they became the first visiting team to win at the Convocation Center this season.
Eastern wraps up its three-game homestand Wednesday, Nov. 27, against Michigan at the Convocation Center. The game is set to tip off at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Ball State 74, Butler 70
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - As you would expect in any in-state rivalry game, the contest would come down to the very end. The Cardinals (3-2) succeeded in a lot of areas in today's game but the one that stuck out the most was free throws. Ball State went 23-of-30 (.767) from the charity stripe helping the Cardinals to a 74-70 win over Butler (4-1) Saturday afternoon in Worthen Arena.
Both teams played stellar defense in the final frame but the Cardinals fought a little harder towards the end. Freshman Sydney Freeman knocked down two free throws to give Ball State back the 67-65 lead at the 3:36 mark. After that, graduate senior Jasmin Samz connected from the charity stripe and some crucial rebounds from freshman Annie Rauch and sophomore Thelma Dis Agustsdottir allowed Ball State to pave its way to victory.
Ball State took ownership of the contest early on in the opening minutes of action. The Cardinals' aggressive style of play showed as Butler sent Ball State to the line 12 times in the first frame alone. Ball State outscored Butler 21-14 in the first period while shooting a staggering 92 percent (11-12) from the charity stripe.
Butler would answer in the second quarter with a 28-13 scoring spree that left Ball State trailing the Bulldogs 42-34 at intermission.
The Cardinals opened the third period with an 13-2 run to knot the game 47-47 with 6:20 on the clock. Dis Agustsdottir scored eight of those 13 points while junior Oshlynn Brown and Samz also helped in Ball State's comeback. Butler rallied following the media timeout, with back-to-back field goals from Kristen Spoylar and Genesis Parker, the Bulldogs continued to control possession and would take a 10-point (59-49) advantage over Ball State into the final stanza.
Ohio 78, Incarnate Word 41
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (4-1) took down Incarnate Word (2-2), 78-41, on Saturday afternoon at The Convocation Center.
"I think we got better and we try to get better (every game)," head coach Bob Boldon said. "We knew we wanted to play a lot of kids and I thought the kids did a good job of trying to do things correctly when they were on the floor. That's a good sign and that's what we're going to try to do next weekend. It was nice to see it today."
Eleven players saw the floor for at least 12 minutes. Ohio shot 29-of-59 overall (49.2 percent) from the floor and 6-of-25 (24.0 percent) from behind the three-point line. OU held UIW to 15-of-48 (31.3 percent) from the field and 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from behind the arc. The Bobcats did not trail the entire game.
Ohio had 19 steals in the win, which is the 10th most in school history for a single game. Senior guard Amani Burke (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore forward Deesh Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) each had four steals while redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) and junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) had three swipes each. The Bobcats forced 27 total turnovers in the win.
Junior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) had a game-high 18 points one 6-of-7 shooting. Hooks knocked down one three pointer, had three assists, two rebounds and one steal. Hooks now has 225 career steals, four behind the all-time record of 229. She was a game best +38.
Johnson had 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting day, where she hit one three pointer. Johnson added six rebounds and five assists in 16:50 minutes of play. Burris also recorded 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting with one made three. Burris was +33 and added four rebounds and two assists.
Redshirt sophomore guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds for Ohio. Two of those rebounds came on the offensive end. Redshirt freshman forward Abby Garnett (Golden, Colo.) had seven points off the bench with her first points as a Bobcat.
Bradley 79, Miami 68
Box Score
PEORIA, Ill. – The Miami University women's basketball team (3-2) fell to Bradley by a 79-68 margin on Saturday to wrap up its road trip.
Lauren Dickerson led all players with 28 points while Peyton Scott and Kelly McLaughlin each scored in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Miami got off to a slow start as Bradley scored the first nine points of the game, building a lead that would not be relinquished. Kelly McLaughlin got Miami on the board after three-and-a-half minutes of play.
The teams traded baskets before back-to-back three-pointers by Dickerson brought Miami within three points with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
