Wednesday's Scoreboard
Western Michigan 74, Akron 66
Central Michigan 81, Miami 78
Buffalo 82, Toledo 73
Bowling Green 80, Kent State 79 OT
Ohio 88, Ball State 66
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 74, Akron 66
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Redshirt freshman Taylor Williams matched a single-game program history with 21 rebounds to go along with a career-high 30 points in Western Michigan women's basketball's 74-66 victory over Akron on Wednesday afternoon inside University Arena.
Williams' 21 rebounds against Akron is tied for the most in a single-game in school history with Megan Boguslawski. Boguslawski also recorded 21 rebounds against Valparaiso back in 1995. Of Williams' 21 rebounds, an astounding 10 came on the offensive glass. The New Baltimore, Mich., native also made her way into the Mid-American Conference record book with her 21 rebounds marking the fourth most in a single-game in conference history.
Taylor Williams also registered a career-high 30 points, tied for the 10th most points scored in a single-game in school history. Williams was 14-of-23 from the field and 1-of-3 from long distance. Her 14 made field goal's is tied with seven others for the
third most in a single-game in school history.
The redshirt freshman forward in 36 minutes also had two assists, two blocks and three steals. The 30 point, 21 rebound performance marked the third straight game Williams has recorded a double-double.
Western Michigan had two score in double figures behind Williams with sophomore Sydney Shafer scoring 22 points and redshirt senior Reilly Jacobson earning 12. Shafer was 6-of-19 from the field, 4-of-10 from behind the three-point line and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. It's the fourth game this season Shafer has scored over 20 points.
Jacobson rounded out the trio of double digit scorers with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. The redshirt senior forward knocked down one three-pointer and was 2-of-3 from the charity stripe. Jacobson corralled just one rebound in 31 minutes of action and had two blocks and two steals.
The trio of Williams, Jacobson and Shafer combined to score 64 of WMU's 74 points against Akron. Also contributing was freshman Megan Wagner with four points followed by Maddie Watters with three and Ashley Konkle with two.
As a team the Broncos shot 43.8 percent from the field and was 7-of-20 from long distance. Western Michigan narrowly outrebounded Akron, 38-36 but held a 15-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
Western Michigan's defense forced Akron to commit 25 turnovers on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in 27 points for the Broncos. WMU dominated near the basket, outscoring Akron in the paint 42-32.
The win improves WMU's overall record to 3-12 and 2-11 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU hits the road this weekend for a match-up at Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Broncos return home on Wednesday, Feb. 17 against Kent State.
Akron grabbed an early lead on the Broncos, making five of their first seven field goals to take a 11-4 lead at the halfway point of the first quarter. Out of the media timeout the WMU offense came to life, embarking on an 11-0 run to pull ahead 15-11 with 3:18 remaining in the first. The Bronco run was highlighted by four Akron turnovers. Western Michigan ended the first quarter on a 16-5 run to earn a 20-16 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Zips began the second quarter strong and knocked down its first five field goals including three straight three-pointers to propel back in from 29-24 with seven minutes to go. Western Michigan responded with four straight field goals to inch back ahead. To end the half WMU held Akron scoreless the final two minutes as the Broncos took a 41-37 lead into the locker room.
Out of halftime it was all Western Michigan through the first five minutes of the third quarter as WMU went on an 8-0 run with six points coming from Taylor Williams. Leading 56-42 with four minutes remaining in the third the Zips clawed their way back as WMU was held scoreless from the field the final 3:18 of the third.
Akron ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run as the Broncos had four turnovers during the three-minutes of play. Despite being held scoreless Western Michigan led 58-52 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Zips cut their deficit down to three with nine minutes remaining before two Reilly Jacobson free-throws extended the Bronco lead to 60-55 at the six-minute mark. Leading by four, Sydney Shafer knocked down one of her fourth three-pointers on the night to give WMU a 63-56 lead at the halfway mark.
Akron cut its deficit down to 70-63 with 1:45 remaining and continued to battle before WMU iced the game with a pair of free-throws from Shafer with under 20 seconds remaining. The 74-66 win for WMU marked the third win of the year for the Broncos and second in Mid-American Conference play.
Central Michigan 81, Miami 78
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Central Michigan got everything it could have wanted and more from the last-place team in the Mid-American Conference.
And the Chippewas gave it right back.
Micaela Kelly scored 37 points and the Chippewas outscored Miami (Ohio), 34-18, in the fourth quarter on Wednesday to pull out a dramatic 81-78 women's basketball MAC victory at Miami's Millett Hall.
It was the Chippewas' second-straight come-from-behind three-point victory on the road after their 74-71 win on Saturday at Western Michigan. CMU improved to 12-6, 10-4 MAC.
Buffalo 82, Toledo 73
Box Score
TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team scored 52 points in the second half to grind out an 82-73 win over Toledo at Savage Arena on Wednesday night. With the win the Bulls improve to 11-5 on the year and 8-3 in league play.
The Bulls were led by sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair who scored a game-high 29 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, to go along with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Sophomore center Elea Gaba just missed out on a double-double, tying a career-high with 17 points and nine rebounds, and freshman Cheyenne McEvans recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
After a slow start to the game for both teams, Gaba got things going with a hook shot in the paint and would later slice to the basket for two to give UB an early 6-2 lead and force a Toledo timeout at the 5:58 mark. The Bulls would extend the lead to 11-6 before the Rockets heated up from beyond the arc, knocking down a pair of triples to cut the UB lead to 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulls and Rockets would trade baskets early in the second quarter before Hanna Hall knocked down a spot up triple to give UB a 22-20 lead at the media timeout. Back-to-back baskets by Keowa Walters would spark an 8-2 run to give Buffalo a 30-22 lead but Mali Morgan-Elliot hit a three in the final seconds to cut the UB lead to 30-25 at the half.
McEvans knocked down a corner triple and Gaba got the bucket and the foul to spark a 6-0 run and give UB a 36-25 lead early in the third quarter. Later, Fair would drain a spot up three and McEvans would follow with a strong take off glass for two to cap a 5-0 UB run and give Buffalo a 43-30 lead at the media timeout. The Rockets used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 47-39 at the 2:03 mark before Fair found Zena Elias on the block for the easy two to limit the damage and later Fair would take it coast-to-coast in the final seconds of the quarter to give the Bulls a 55-42 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
The Rockets hit back-to-back triples to cut the UB lead to 57-52 early in the fourth quarter but Fair answered with a bucket through contact in transition to give UB a 60-52 lead at the 7:59 mark. The game would remain close as Buffalo would maintain a 64-54 lead at the five minute mark. A three from Morgan-Elliot cut the UB lead to 68-62 but Fair answered with a pull up jumper in the lane to give the Bulls a 70-62 lead at the 2:58 mark. Back-to-back three's by the Rockets cut the lead to 71-68 but Schiffer answered with a big three on the other end to give UB a 74-68 lead with one minute to play and that would be all they would need
as the Bulls went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the victory.
"It's a collective unit," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "We have Dyaisha who is going to do her thing but other players had to know that their role is just as valued. I thought Hanna did a great job of managing the game at the beginning and getting people in the right spots. Elea just said come through me and that light of hers is really flickering and then Dyaisha did Dyaisha stuff in the fourth quarter scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter. I'm not seeing a lot of people doing that in the country. Really proud of this group effort."
Bowling Green 80, Kent State 79 OT
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – Senior Angela Perry's layup with just 2.0 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to an 80-79 victory at Kent State University on Wednesday night (Feb. 10). The Mid-American Conference thriller was held at the M.A.C. Center.
Perry's putback, combined with the efforts of her teammates, also lifted the Falcons into first place in the MAC standings. BGSU (15-4, 11-3 MAC) entered the game in second place in the 12-team conference, but leapfrogged the Golden Flashes (7-4, 6-2 MAC) with Wednesday's win.
Freshmen Lexi Fleming and Nyla Hampton each had 15 points to tie for team honors. Fleming had the first double-double of her young career with a BG-leading 10 rebounds, while Hampton sealed the win, swooping in and blocking a shot by KSU's Nila Blackford as the final horn sounded.
The game featured no fewer than 17 ties and 20 lead changes, and neither team led by more than six points during the entire 45-minute contest.
Junior Kadie Hempfling and senior Madisen Parker scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, as all nine players who saw action for the Falcons scored at least four points.
For the Flashes, Blackford had game-high totals of 23 points and 13 boards to pace four double-figure scorers. Lindsey Thall added 18 points, Katie Shumate 15 and Clare Kelly 11 for the hosts, who lost at home for the first time in 2020-21.
Ohio 88, Ball State 66
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Senior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) became the program's second 2,000-point scorer as the Ohio women's basketball team (11-6, 9-5 MAC) rolled over Ball State (9-8, 7-6 MAC), 88-66, on Wednesday (February 10) evening at Worthen Arena.
"Scoring 2,000 points is an incredible feat, and I've never been a part of something like that," head coach Bob Boldon said. "To be able to see all 2,000 points is amazing. You look back game after game where you think she can't be better, and she is. She has 30-point games and then she has a 40-point game. She had a stretch where she averaged 30 this season. We will look back on this and see how amazing it is. She did not get to finish her junior year and got some non-conference games taken away from her this season and still hit 2,000. It's truly an amazing feat."
Hooks finished with 22 points in the victory over the Cardinals and now has 2,002 points in her career. She is second in career scoring at Ohio, trailing only Caroline Mast, who scored 2,449 career points. Hooks was 6-of-14 from the field and 2-of-6 from three. Hooks' 2,000th point was a three-pointer with 1:51 left in the third quarter. She added five rebounds, four rebounds and three steals.
"Cece's energy from the start of the game was fantastic," Boldon added. "She's coming off a bad turnover day, and she came out tonight with zero. That really speaks to her maturity and growth as a player. You really like to see her continue to get better. That was the most impressive number of the night for me."
From behind the three-point line, Ohio was 17-of-43 (39.5 percent), while shooting 29-of-65 (44.6 percent) overall. Senior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) made a season-high five from behind the arc and was 7-of-11 overall for 19 points while going +28 on the floor.
"This was the epitome of a bounce-back game," said Boldon. "Gabby was frustrated with how she shot at Bowling Green. She came in early to practice and got shots up. She looked really good today. Gabby had zero turnovers today as well. Our seniors combined for 14 turnovers against Bowling Green and had zero today. That says a lot about how good our senior leadership is."
Redshirt freshman guard Madi Mace (Parkersburg, W. Va.) had 15 points and knocked down three from deep while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
"Madi is getting more comfortable and got us off to a good start," Boldon added. "She made threes, rebounded well, shot well and got some steals. That's what Madi is capable of, and we are starting to expect that. That's pretty impressive for a freshman."
Redshirt junior guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) also added 15 points and was 4-of-8 from deep.
"Caitlyn (Kroll) was fantastic and filled the stat sheet," Boldon said. "Caitlyn did a great job of shooting when she was open. She didn't take bad shots and was patient."
Senior forward Abby Garnett (Golden, Colo.) had a career-high with nine points and career-high six rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
The Bobcats forced 22 Ball State turnovers and posted 12 steals. Burris, Hooks and Mace all had one swipe. OU only had 10 turnovers and allowed just seven points off turnovers.
Ohio will return home to continue Mid-American Conference play on Saturday (February 13). OU will face Western Michigan at 1 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center.
