Miami 75, Cincinnati Christian 53
Akron 82, Northern Iowa 73
Bowling Green 80, Iona 59
Buffalo 88, Saint Francis (Pa.) 80
Youngstown State 68, Kent State 49
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Miami 75, Cincinnati Christian 53
OXFORD, Ohio—Leading from start to finish, Miami University’s women’s basketball team opened its season with a decisive 75-53 win over Cincinnati Christian University (3-4) on Tuesday evening at Millett Hall.
Two RedHawks notched double-doubles with freshman guard Ana Richter pouring in 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds and junior forward Jessica Rupright tallying career highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Baleigh Reid was the other RedHawk to score in double figures with 14 points. Senior guard Courtney Larson handed out eight assists in the win, one off her career high. As a team, Miami had 21 assists on 29 made baskets.
Sparked by four points apiece from Richter and Rupright, the RedHawks used a 10-4 flurry to post a double-figure advantage by the 8:34 mark, 23-13, their largest lead of the opening half. CCU closed within three, but a three-point play from sophomore forward Tamira Ford and a jumper from junior forward Hannah McCue pushed the RedHawks ahead 30-22 with just under a minute to play. The Eagles’ Amand Baute sunk a jumper with 26 seconds remaining, but Miami countered with a Richter jumper six seconds later as Miami carried a 32-24 advantage into the half.
CCU closed within six in the early minutes of the second half and trailed by seven with 14:13 to play, but Miami quickly began extending its lead. The RedHawks pounded out a 23-4 run over a six-and-a-half-minute stretch to post a 28-point lead with 6:09 to play, 68-40. Reed tossed in six points during an 8-0 Miami spurt to ignite the 23-4 run. Richter chipped the last eight of the RedHawks’ 23 points during the stretch.
The Eagles were able to shrink the gap slightly over the final minutes, but Miami rolled to the 22-point season-opening win.
CCU was led by Baute with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Miami returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 22, hosting UIC in the first game of a doubleheader with the men’s team taking on Liberty at 3:30 p.m. One ticket gains fans entrance to both games.
Akron 82, Northern Iowa 73
AKRON, Ohio -- The University of Akron women's basketball team used a 17-3 second-half run to put away visiting Northern Iowa in an 82-73 victory Tuesday morning at James A. Rhodes Arena.
In front of a crowd of more than 1,200 for UA's second annual Education Day, three Zips scored in double figures to give Akron (3-0) the win.
Senior Sina King scored a career-high 27 points in 29 minutes to lead the Akron charge, including an 8-for-9 effort from the free throw line and five 3-pointers. Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week Anita Brown added 18 points, and Kerri McMahan posted a personal-best 14.
DiAndra Gibson registered her second-straight career-best rebounding mark, pulling down 11 boards on the day.
UNI (1-1) was led by Jen Keitel with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The two teams battled it out in the post, each scoring 34 points in the paint for the game, but perhaps the most telling statistic was the turnover margin. Akron posted just six miscues, while forcing UNI into 15 turnovers, which the Zips converted into 25 points.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, but King was ready with five of the Zips' first seven points to make it a one-point game at 8-7 by the first media timeout.
Northern Iowa stretched its lead to 16-9 on a jumper by Sharnae Lamar, but again King had an answer, finding her way to the bucket to pick up an old fashioned 3-point play and cut the margin to 16-12.
Trailing by 12 midway through the opening period Akron continued to chip away, as Greta Burry, Gibson and McMahan teamed up for three consecutive layups, making the score 26-20 at the 7:58 mark.
UA locked down defensively, holding the Panthers without a field goal over the final 4:48 of the first half. The defensive efforts resulted in an 8-0 Akron run to close the half, capped by a made free throw by King with two second left to send the Zips into the intermission with the game tied at 33.
McMahan gave the Zips their first lead of the game less than three minutes into the second half at 40-39 on a layup. The Panthers scored the next four points before King put Akron ahead 48-45 on back-to-back 3-pointers with 16 minutes remaining.
Brown put the finishing touches on the 8-0 run for the Zips with a jumper, pushing the margin to 50-45 with 15:34 on the clock. Megan Barilla and Hannah Plybon extended Akron's nearly four-minute run (3:56) to 17-3 with a pair of lay-ups and a 3-pointer, respectively.
In the midst of the run, the Zips held Northern Iowa without a field goal for just over four minutes (4:02), to maintain a 59-48 lead with 12:37 remaining in the game.
UNI's Keitel made it a two-point game at 72-70 with just under four minutes to go, but that is as close as the Panthers would get, as the Zips out-scored the visitors 10-3 over the last 3:39 to secure the win.
Akron will have a week off before it returns to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 25, when it hosts Valparaiso. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the JAR.
Bowling Green 80, Iona 59
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Redshirt junior Erica Donovan scored in double figures in each half as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team broke into the win column with an 80-59 win over Iona College Tuesday night (Nov. 18). The non-conference game was held at the Stroh Center.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 1-1 on the young season, while dropping the Gaels to 1-2.
Donovan scored 24 points to lead five double-digit scorers for the hosts, and paced the Brown and Orange with seven rebounds in the win. Sophomore Abby Siefker had 12 points on the night, while a trio of Falcons scored 10 points apiece. That group included junior Miriam Justinger and freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk.
Donovan's point total tied her career high, while both Myers and Puk hit double digits in the scoring column for the first time in their two-game BGSU careers.
Joy Adams led the Gaels with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Damika Martinez scored 18 points. Martinez is Iona's career scoring leader with 1,930 points entering the game, and was averaging 32.0 points on the young season. But, Justinger and the Falcons limited her to a 6-for-16 shooting performance at the Stroh.
"There were a lot of keys to tonight's win," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "I thought we had better tempo today. We came out in the first four minutes with a different energy than in the last game. We had fewer turnovers, we had more rebounds, we got on the floor more than we did in the first game, but the biggest key is that we scored the basketball. Bottom line, we scored the basketball.
"We shot 50 percent against a team that has a chance to win the Metro Atlantic."
The Falcons, after shooting only 29 percent from the floor in Friday's season-opening loss to Bucknell, shot 48.2% from the field vs. Iona, including a 50% rate in the second half. The hosts went 17-of-23 from the free-throw line, while the Gaels were 6-of-10 from the stripe.
BGSU led from wire to wire on Tuesday night. After scoring the first seven points of the evening, the Falcons saw the Gaels go on a 5-0 run, and BG's lead was cut to a single point on two occasions. With the score 13-12, however, the Brown and Orange proceeded to score 12-straight points while holding the Gaels scoreless for nearly three minutes. The lead never dropped below 10 points again.
The Falcons led by a 38-26 score at the intermission after a Justinger floater in the paint beat the halftime buzzer. Then, with BG holding an 11-point lead early in the second period, the home team went on a 13-0 run, holding Iona without a point for nearly five minutes and taking a 55-31 lead. The visitors got within 12 points on two occasions, but would draw no closer.
Justinger keyed that 7-0 run to begin the game, throwing the ball inside to Siefker for a pair of layups, and hitting a left-wing three-pointer in between the two assists. Adams scored five-straight points, and the game remained 7-5 for nearly two minutes.
Donovan, who was held scoreless against Bucknell, took a pass from senior Deborah Hoekstra and hit a straightaway triple at the 14:41 mark. Beginning with that bucket, Donovan would score 10 points over the next four-plus minutes.
Back-to-back jumpers by Adams made it a 10-9 game, before Myers hit a triple. Martinez answered with a three-pointer of her own, but Myers stole the ball from Marina Lizerazu and went coast-to-coast for a layup, sparking the Falcons' 12-0 run.
Donovan followed suit with a steal and length-of-the-floor drive for a layup of her own, and the Falcons had a 17-12 lead as IC used a timeout. The Falcons got a stop on defense, however, and Donovan took Myers' inbounds pass and hit an and-one layup, knocking down the free throw for a 20-12 lead.
Then, Myers kicked the ball out to senior Jasmine Matthews for a three, and another transition layup made it a 25-12 game as the Gaels used another timeout.
Hoekstra's corner three gave the Falcons a 28-14 lead, and moments later, the senior drove the paint and kicked the ball out to Myers for a triple and a 33-19 advantage. That try was followed by Puk's driving layup, but BG then went more than four minutes without scoring.
During that time, though, the Falcons only allowed five points, all coming from Aaliyah Robinson. A Myers free throw in the final minute of the half was answered by a Karynda DuPree layup, but Justinger took a pass from Matthews and knocked down a floater in the paint as the halftime buzzer sounded, giving the Brown and Orange a 38-26 advantage.
In the second period, the teams traded points in the first few minutes, as Donovan's free throws were answered by an Adams layup. Donovan fed Siefker for a bucket inside, but Martinez found Adams for a three-pointer. But, Matthews hit Donovan for a triple, sparking BG's 13-0 stretch. Sophomore Rachel Konieczki spotted an open Justinger beyond the arc, and the junior's trey made it a 48-31 lead.
That lead reached 20 points for the first time as Donovan got to the line on back-to-back BG possessions, hitting three of the four free throws. Justinger knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point line, and Hoekstra hit from the right side. Suddenly, the lead was 55-31 with just under 14 minutes left.
Moments later, Siefker's jumper in the lane gave BG a 25-point lead, the largest of the game. But, the visitors battled back. Five quick points by Martinez cut the lead to 20, and Puk's charity tosses were followed by a Martinez three-point play. When Adams scored midway through the half, BG's lead was 59-42.
Puk hit a corner three after Konieczki made the 'extra' pass, but Iona scored six of the game's next seven points. Donovan's three-point play with 6:30 to go made it a 66-48 game, and she drew the fourth foul on Martinez in the process. But, the visitors would put together a quick 7-1 run, capped by a Cassidee Ranger transition three, and the Falcons' lead was down to 12 points, 67-55, with just over five minutes remaining.
Donovan scored in the paint, but Adams hit a layup with 3:18 left. On the next possession, however, the Falcons got offensive rebounds by Justinger and Siefker, and Siefker followed up her offensive board with a layup at the 2:45 mark. BG forced a miss by Adams, and Hoekstra threw in a one-hander from the right side, giving BG a 73-57 advantage. After Martinez hit a pair of shots from the stripe with 2:08 to go, the Falcons scored the last seven points of the night, with the first five coming at the line, to seal the deal.
The Falcons had a 29-7 advantage in points off the bench, keyed by the freshmen duo of Myers and Puk. Hoekstra scored seven points off the bench for the home side.
Six different players made a three-pointer as the Falcons went 9-for-19 from long range. Donovan, Justinger and Myers each connected twice from beyond the arc.
In addition to Donovan's seven rebounds, Konieczki had six boards and Justinger, Myers and Siefker five apiece. No Falcon had more than three assists, but six BG players had at least two helpers apiece.
BGSU now hits the road for eight of the next nine games, beginning with a Saturday (Nov. 22) contest at Milwaukee. Tipoff is set for 11:00 a.m. local time (noon Eastern). The Falcons' next home game is Dec. 7 vs. Cincinnati.
Buffalo 88, Saint Francis (Pa.) 80
LORETTO, PA – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's basketball team put six in double figures and added four double-doubles to defeat host Saint Francis (PA), 88-80. UB secured its first victory of the 2014-15 campaign Tuesday evening at DeGol Arena and improved to 5-0 all-time against the Red Flash.
The Bulls held a 45-43 lead at the half before ousting the Red Flash, 43-37, in the second stint. Following five lead changes and three ties in the first, UB powered to a 54-45 gap four minutes into the latter half. Back-to-back SFU three-pointers brought the Flash within three, but the Bulls responded to pull ahead by double digits and lead by as many as 17. SFU gained some ground late with a 7-1 run to cut within nine, but the Bulls made good on 4-of-6 at the line to seal the win.
"It's exciting to see a team," praised head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "The message of the day was, 'We're here together. We can't promise you the outside shot, but we can promise the box out. We can promise the rebound. If we can do that, we can have a shot. I can't promise you a win, but I can promise you an opportunity to be in it.' They bought into it and that's the kind of team we have. If we can buy into it on a consistent basis, we can be pretty special as we continue on."
"The key of the day was that Camera Miley decided she was going to play like the point guard I recruited. She really, really did a special job out there today. Although we had six people in double figures, Camera Miley was the player of the day."
Miley, a sophomore, rewrote several career-high performances coming off the bench to post 10 points, five rebounds and a team-best five assists in 24 minutes of play. With the Bulls trailing by seven in the first, Miley subbed into the game and hit a jumper that sparked a 13-0 run. It resulted in UB's largest lead of the first half, 34-28.
The Bulls dominated the boards, pulling down 69 to the Flash's 46, 21 of which were offensive. Senior Kristen Sharkey and sophomore Alexus Malone grabbed 13 each to lead the game. Redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory added 11 and senior Christa Baccas 10.
Shooting 38.6 percent from the floor, UB was paced by junior Mackenzie Loesing's 26-point showing. She joined Sharkey and Gregory in making a trio of steals. Sharkey tallied 18 points and Gregory 11, while Malone and Baccas joined Miley with 10.
With SFU in foul trouble during both frames, UB capitalized hitting 29-of-41 from the charity stripe.
Saint Francis' Alexa Hayward put up 24 points and added 15 assists good for an offensive double-double. Maya Wynn, who hit 4 threes, added 13 points and a game-best five steals.
The Red Flash held the advantage in steals, 14-10, and committed 20 turnovers to the Bulls' 29.
The Bulls return to Alumni Arena to host local foe Niagara at 2 pm Saturday.
Youngstown State 68, Kent State 49
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (0-2) played a good first half but failed to close out the game in the second half, falling 68-49 in its home opener against Youngstown State (2-0) Tuesday night.
"We have to give a lot of credit to Youngstown State," Head Coach Danielle O'Banion said. "At the end of the day they were the better basketball team tonight. They were more physical. They obviously shot the ball better. They absolutely deserved to win."
Youngstown State took the lead out of the gate, but Kent State fought its way back, as Montia Johnson had the game-tying and lead-taking bucket to help put the Flashes up, also with the help of back-to-back threes by Larissa Lurken.
The Penguins showed they also had some fight, battling back to take a 31-27 at the half.
Youngstown State opened up the second with a small run to cushion its lead and was able to stay out in front for the remainder of the contest. Kent State shot just 25% in the closing twenty minutes.
"I thought in the second half we got just about any shot we wanted, "said O'Banion. "We did not, however, make those shots, and we got really frustrated."
The Golden Flashes outrebounded the Penguins 36-35 and had six steals to their five. Both teams had an equal amount of assists with 16.
Lurken and Krista White both finished with 11 points while White added in five rebounds. Johnson had ten points and eight rebounds in the contest. Jordan Korinek led the team on the boards with nine rebounds.
Kent State heads to Northwestern Friday night for a 7:30p.m. matchup. Live video, audio and stat links will be available via kentstatesports.com.
