Sunday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 64, Milwaukee 62
Eastern Michigan 63, SMSU 49
Buffalo 87, Canisius 45
Akron 77, Dayton 74
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Bowling Green 64, Milwaukee 62
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Freshman Lexi Fleming hit two free throws with 17.3 seconds left, giving the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team the lead for good, and the Falcons went on to a 64-62 win over Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 6). The non-conference thriller was held at the Stroh Center.
With the victory, the Falcons are now 3-0 on the young season. The Panthers drop to 3-1.
Eastern Michigan 63, SMSU 49
Box Score
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (EMUEagles.com) – A nine-hour bus ride and sluggish start weren't nearly enough to keep the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team from earning its 600th win in program history today, Dec. 6, as it defeated Southeast Missouri State, 63-49, in a non-conference affair at the Show Me Center.
With the win, Eastern (3-1, 1-0 MAC) has its first back-to-back victories of the season (defeated Ball State, Dec. 2), and improves its overall record to 3-1, a mark which is tied for the best start to a season under fifth-year head coach Fred Castro (2018-19). The win is also historic in nature, as it is the 600th in program history. Now in its 45th season, EMU first fielded a team in the 1976-77 season and was led by Kathy Hart. The team posted its first-ever victory in just its third game, as it defeated the University of Michigan, 62-52, on Jan. 21, 1977. From there, the program has achieved impressive success, racking up eight 20+ win seasons, eight postseason appearances since 2003-04, including two NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2012), and four MAC Divisional titles.
The Eagles were led by a large contingent of players, but none were better than redshirt senior Areanna Combs (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Oklahoma State)), who put up 23 points on 9-of-23 shooting, including a career-best five three-pointers. The game marks her 28th consecutive contest with 10+ points. She has now led EMU in scoring in 18 of her 28 career games and has scored better than 20 points in 15 contests. Combs' fellow Oklahoma City native, redshirt sophomore Ce'Nara Skanes (Oklahoma City, Okla.-Putnam City West (Florida International)) was also impressive, putting up 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Nine of Skanes' points came in the second half. EMU's trio of double-digit scorers in the contest was completed by newcomer Kylee O'Hara (Ajax, Ontario-Henry Street (Florida International)), a junior transfer who donned the Green and White for the first time in today's contest. She was electric in the first half as she scored nine from behind the long line. O'Hara finished the contest with 12 points.
Neither team was particularly sharp in the early going as just 21 total points were exchanged between the two teams in the opening 10 minutes of play. Knotted at five-apiece with four minutes gone by, EMU went on an 8-3 run that was started when redshirt junior RayJon Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) flushed a mid-range jumper. From there, it was a set of triples by junior guard Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin, N.Y.-Baldwin) and Combs that pushed EMU's lead to five, 13-8, by the end of the frame. EMU finished the quarter with a 3-of-9 mark from deep, a number that matched a season-best for a single quarter this season to that point.
The pace picked up in the second period as Eastern was able to convert a season-best five three-pointers in the quarter. Three of those shots were hit by O'Hara, who went 3-for-4 from deep in the first half of her debut game with the Green and White. O'Hara's effort was good enough to help lift Eastern to a 35-22 lead as the game hit its intermission.
EMU remained hot out of the halftime break. Already up 13, 35-22, the Eagles wasted no time expanding the edge. Annecchiarico got the second half party started with a made jump shot just 50 ticks into the third quarter. Quickly after, Combs followed suit, hitting yet another EMU three-ball to put Eastern ahead by 18, 40-22, with 8:43 remaining in the quarter. Undeterred, Southeast Missouri worked to put together a 7-0 run of its own which cut it to 11 with five minutes left in the quarter. Needing a bucket to re-establish its edge, EMU went successfully into the paint on the back of Skanes, who made a nice move and finished her shot to tilt the lead back to a baker's dozen, 42-29, with 4:40 on the clock. The Eagles were able to add three points from the charity stripe and another bucket in the remaining minutes to take a comfortable 47-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
Although the home team continued to fight hard through the game's final minutes, there was no doubt that Eastern Michigan was the better-equipped team in the contest. The EMU lead peaked at an impressive 19 points when Skanes beat a pair of defenders to drop in a layup with just over eight minutes left in the contest. The Redhawks were able to hit a couple of late three-pointers to tighten the spread back to 11, 60-49, but with less than one minute left to go in the game, the effort was not enough. EMU added one more bucket to finish the game in a victorious fashion, 63-49.
Following its victory, EMU will enjoy nearly one week of rest before returning to Mid-American Conference action with a trip to Bowling Green State University on Friday, Dec. 11. That game is set for 6 p.m.
Buffalo 87, Canisius 45
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo women's basketball redshirt senior Summer Hemphill returned to the court for the first time in over a year to spark a dominant performance by the Bulls in an 87-45 win at Canisius on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Adebola Adyeye had a breakout game, scoring 15 points while pulling down nine rebounds. Hemphill added 11 points and six rebounds in her first game back and Elea Gaba also scored in double figures with 13 points.
Buffalo took an early 4-0 lead on two straight buckets by Adeyeye. The two teams would then trade baskets as the game would be knotted at nine at the first media timeout. Hemphill made an immediate impact, converting on back-to-back buckets to give UB a 13-9 lead at the 3:24 mark and the Bulls would close the quarter on a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead at the end of the first.
The Bulls would go to work in the paint to start the second quarter as Keowa Walters found Loren Christie for the easy high-low bucket and Adeyeye converted on an offensive rebound putback to put UB up 25-14 at the 7:14 mark. Cheyenne McEvans would get into the mix with back-to-back baskets to give the Bulls a 29-16 lead at the media timeout. The Southfield, MI native would continue to heat up as she went on a 5-0 run of her own to put UB up 39-20 and they would lead 40-22 at the half.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the third quarter before a three from Hanna Hall and a runner in the paint by Fair gave the Bulls a 25 point lead at the 6:21 mark. The offense would continue to click as the Bulls used a 9-0 run, capped by a transition three by Jessika Schiffer off of a great feed from Fair to put UB up 67-35 and force a Canisius timeout at the 2:18 mark and the Bulls would lead 69-35 through three quarters of play.
Gaba took over to start the fourth quarter as she scored the first 12 points of the quarter for the Bulls to put UB up 81-40 with four minutes to play in the game and put the game out of reach.
The Bulls shot just under 52% from the floor on the day, thanks in part to a dominating performance in the paint as the Bulls outscored the Griffs 50-12 inside. Buffalo also dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 54-20, including turning 21 offensive boards into 26 second chance points.
"What a fun day," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "It's been 14 months since Summer Hemphill touched the floor and to get her out there for 12-15 minutes just warmed my heart. I know how hard she has been working and to see her out there flying around, it did something special for the team. I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to coach these young people through the tough times and to see the blessings come before you.
The Bulls return to action on Wednesday, December 9 at Purdue.
Akron 77, Dayton 74
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team extended its season-opening win streak to three as the Zips (3-0) shot a season-high 47.4 percent from the field en route to earning a 77-74 triumph at Dayton (1-1) on Sunday, Dec. 6 at UD Arena.
After seeing the Flyers score the first basket of the game, junior F Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) connected on the first of 13 three-pointers for Akron on the afternoon as the Zips never trailed the balance of the contest to garner their first-ever victory past Dayton in program history.
Senior F Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.) directed a trio of Zips scoring in double figures with a 26-point, nine-rebound and five-assist performance. Dawson's 26-point afternoon equaled a career-best scoring effort, while Neitzel poured in a career-high 18 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore F Lonasia Brewer (Akron, Ohio) added her third double-figure scoring outing of the campaign with 11 points.
Erin Whalen highlighted Dayton's offensive production with a team-high 26 points, while Jenna Giacone added 16 points.
Akron was able to parlay a strong shooting performance into a win over the defending Atlantic-10 Conference champion Flyers. The Zips were 27-of-57 (.471) from the field, including hitting 13-of-25 shots (52 percent) from distance, while sealing the game away going 10-for-13 from the free throw line.
Dayton finished the afternoon shooting nearly 41 percent (.406) from the floor, while going 6-of-21 from downtown. The Flyers were 16-of-26 at the charity stripe.
The Zips jumped to a 16-8 lead in the opening stanza on the strength of a 16-6 run fueled by triples from Neitzel, Dawson and sophomore G Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
After Dayton cut Akron's advantage to four, 16-12, with 4:02 remaining in the quarter, the Zips followed with a 17-4 run to end the period, including scoring contributions from junior G Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio), Brewer, sophomore G Molly Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio), Martindale and Dawson, to hold a 33-16 edge.
The Zips were 12-of-18 (.667) from the field in the opening 10 minutes, while draining 7-of-8 (.875) shots from beyond the arc.
The Flyers shot more than 69 percent (.692) from the field in the second quarter, but sparked by eight and six points, respectively, from Dawson and Neitzel, Akron took a 52-37 lead into halftime.
The Zips finished the opening half shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and a 66.7 percent mark from distance led by 16 points from Dawson and 12 from Neitzel.
The Flyers cut their deficit to seven at the 3:49 mark of the third quarter before freshman Alexis Stewart (Hamilton, Ontario) made the second of two three-pointers on the afternoon to extend Akron's advantage to 10, 60-50, with 3:12 left in the quarter.
The Zips' margin was five, 62-57, entering the final period of play.
After Dayton inched to within three, 64-61, at the 7:33 mark, Akron went on a 9-2 run over the next 59 seconds led by a pair of triples from Neitzel to assume a 73-63 edge.
The Flyers twice cut the deficit to two with under a minute to play before Brewer hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining and junior G Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio) sealed the triumph with a free throw with one-tenth of a second remaining.
Akron's next scheduled contest is slated for Sunday, Dec. 13 as the Zips will open Mid-American Conference play traveling to Buffalo. Additional non-conference games as well as changes to the league schedule may be announced in the coming weeks. The contest against the Bulls can be heard on 640 WHLO-AM.
