Akron 100, Valparaiso 65
Eastern Michigan 73, Hillsdale 56
Kent State 58, Belmont 55
Ohio 77, Northern Kentucky 38
#7/8 Duke 88, Buffalo 54
Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 100, Valparaiso 65
AKRON, Ohio – The Akron women's basketball team increased its season-opening win streak to four games as five Zips scored in double figures to cruise to a 100-65 victory over Valparaiso (3-2) Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The victory marked the 350th in the head-coaching career of ninth-year Akron head coach Jodi Kest, while also representing the best start to a season for the Zips since Akron (4-0) opened the 1974-75 campaign with seven-straight wins.
Junior guard Anita Brown (Warren, Ohio) led all players in scoring with 21 points in 20 minutes of play. Brown connected on 10-of-12 from the field to go with four assists.
Senior forward Sina King (Waterford, Ohio) followed, notching a double-double posting 19 points and a career-best 17 boards, including pulling down 10 caroms on the defensive glass, in 25 minutes of action. She recorded her double-double by the 6:46 mark of the first half when she registered her 10th rebound.
Freshman guard Kerri McMahan (Novi, Michigan) came within one assist of a double-double posting 13 points while dishing out a game- and career-high nine assists.
Freshman guard Lauren Hung (Waterford, Mich.) went 4-of-8 from three-point range for 12 points off the bench in just 10 minutes, while junior forward DiAndra Gibson (Ravenna, Ohio) recorded 11 to round out the Zips' double-figure scoring.
Akron also benefitted from six assists by junior guard Megan Barilla (Fairview Park, Ohio) and a six-rebound effort courtesy of junior forward Katie Nunan (Fairmont, W. Va.)
Akron's bench was responsible for 28 of its total points.
The Zips shot 50.0 percent (39-of-78) from the field and 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from behind the arc en route to the victory while also converting 19 Valparaiso turnovers into 26 points.
Akron outrebounded the Crusaders on the glass, 54-46, including 41-30 on the defensive end. The Zips also notched five blocks in the affair, while distributing 28 assists.
The teams opened the game by trading buckets. Following a King lay-up at the 16:46 mark, the Zips forced three Valparaiso turnovers over the next four Crusader possessions and rode a 15-3 run to take a 19-10 lead with 13:01 left in the half. Four different Zips contributed to the run as Gibson connected on a triple to keep the scoring momentum high.
A three-ball from King and three-straight buckets from McMahan helped the Zips to score nine uninterrupted points and hold a 37-19 advantage with 5:29 remaining in the first half.
The Crusaders took advantage of three Akron miscues to chip away at the deficit, making it 41-29 in Akron's favor at the intermission.
The Zips returned to the floor and outscored Valparaiso 28-5 for a 69-34 lead at the 13:24 mark. Akron connected on 14-of-18 shots during the run and did not allow a Crusader field goal for nearly five minutes.
Akron kept the game out of reach for Valparaiso, as its lead did not drop below 29 points following the early second-half run.
The 100-point effort marked the sixth time under Kest's tenure that the Zips have scored at least 100 points.
Akron faces a quick turnaround as it travels to Denver, Colo. for the Denver Thanksgiving Tournament. The Zips will take on Belmont at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 29 before battling either Denver or Siena on Saturday.
Eastern Michigan 73, Hillsdale 56
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team grabbed its second victory of the season, defeating Hillsdale College, 73-56, in a mid-week non-conference contest Tuesday, Nov. 25, inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles improved to 2-2, while the Chargers dropped to 2-1.
Sophomore Janay Morton (Brooklyn, Minn.-Osseo) led the EMU scoring effort with a season-best 20 points, going 7-for-14 from the field and 4-for-11 from three-point range, while three other Eagles notched double-digit points. Sophomore Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) matched a season-best 15 points, while Phillis Webb (Brooklyn, Minn.-Osseo) and Jamaica Bucknor (New Haven, Conn.-Weaver) scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. As a team, the Green and White shot 40.3 from the floor, making 31 shots. Bucknor recorded her second career double-double, adding a team-best 10 rebounds to her 11-point night. Webb notched seven rebounds for EMU.
For Hillsdale, Kayla Geffert drained 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the floor and 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Kelsey Cromer added nine points and Borowski had eight for the Chargers. The Eagles kept HC All-American Megan Fogt to her lowest point total of the season with seven. The Chargers shot just 31.3 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. Fogt and Allie Dittmer led the Chargers on the boards, grabbing eight apiece, while Geffert had six.
On defense, the Eagles forced Hillsdale to turn the ball over on 30 occasions, while also stealing 16 balls. In comparison, he Green and White had just 18 turnovers. EMU also added a season-best seven blocks, with 17 points off of fastbreaks and 34 points off of Charger miscues.
Neither team was able to find a basket until two minutes into the first half when Fogt made a move to the hoop to give the Chargers the first points of the contest. The Eagles answered back a minute later when Morton made two free throws and Webb followed them up with a jump shot on the Green and White's next trip down the floor. Eastern made four straight baskets when Sweeney made a layup before dishing a pass to Bucknor for a trey to put EMU up, 15-12. Eastern capped off the 8-0 run with a Sweeney steal and layup in the backcourt before Morton drained a shot from beyond the arc, again off a pass from Sweeney.
Hillsdale surged to within five until Geffert notched a layup and made her free throw after a foul to knot the score, 34-34, with 2:28 remaining in the first half. The teams continued to exchange baskets to close out the half with Morton draining a trey at the buzzer to give the Eagles a slight 39-35 advantage heading into the locker room.
EMU was led by Morton, who notched 15 points in the first half, while Webb added six and Shannise Heady (Hazel Crest, Ill.-Hillcrest), Sweeney, and KaBria Walker (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) each contributed four points to the Eagles' scoring effort. On the defensive side of the ball, Webb pulled down a team-best four rebounds in the first half, while the Eagles were out-rebounded, 23-21, by HC.
As a team, EMU shot 37.5 percent from the floor, while Hillsdale shot 41.7 percent. The Eagles grabbed seven steals and had four blocks, while the Chargers turned the ball over 14 times. Geffert led the Hillsdale scoring effort with 14 points, with Cromer adding seven points for the Chargers. Both Allie Dittmer and Fogt pulling down five rebounds apiece.
Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, EMU went on an 11-3 run to take a 50-38 lead with just over 14 minutes to play. After a quick start to the half, the Eagles saw a three minute scoring drought, while Hillsdale cut the EMU lead to four points going on an eight-point run of its own. A Bucknor jumper from the elbow ended the drought, bringing the score to 52-46 in favor of Eastern with 11:13 left to play.
A second jumper from Bucknor, a steal in the backcourt from Sweeney with a layup, and a fastbreak layup from Morton quickly put the Eagles up, 58-46, forcing Hillsdale Head Coach Claudette Charney to call a timeout. Despite the Chargers attempt at a comeback, with each basket Hillsdale made, the Eagles answered right back with a basket of their own to keep at least a 10-point lead.
Eastern continued its fast pace game, notching six-straight points to extend its lead to 69-52 heading into the final four minutes of action, while its tight defense kept Hillsdale from finding any easy shots inside the arc. With time dwindling on the clock, each team tacked on four final points as Eastern secured its second win of the season with a 73-56 victory over Hillsdale.
The Eagles will be back in action Friday, Nov. 28, when they head to La Cruces, N.M. for the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic. The Green and White will take on Cal State Fullerton in a Friday in an 11 a.m. MT contest.
Kent State 58, Belmont 55
KENT, Ohio – With hustle and heart, Kent State (1-3) refused to give up Tuesday afternoon, resulting in a 58-55 win over Belmont (0-4) on home court.
Despite a ten-point lead with 15 minutes left in the game, the Golden Flashes battled back from a seven-point deficit with six minutes to play to take the victory from the Bruins. Larissa Lurken led the charge with three huge three-point shots to get the game within a field goal down the stretch. With nine seconds remaining, CiCi Shannon sunk a foul shot to tie the game. The miss on her second attempt ended up in the hands of Montia Johnson, who hustled to get the offensive rebound and the put back to hand the home team the victory.
In the opening half, the lead switched hands before Kent State took a 23-20 advantage into the locker room at the break. The Golden Flashes started the second half strong, increasing their lead to ten before the Bruins were able to sneak back in and set up the exciting finish.
Kent State was outrebounded 41-33 but only turned the ball over a season-low 12 times, including just five times in the opening half, while its defense forced 18 turnovers that resulted in ten points.
Career numbers were set as Larissa Lurken logged a career-high 20 points on 4-for-5 three-point field goal shooting, also a matching a career high. Mikell Chinn set a career mark with ten assists in the game.
Kent State had a lot of success in the paint with 33 total points, including 17 and 11 from Shannon and Johnson, respectively. They also led the team in rebounds with seven each.
The two teams were relatively even in field goals as Kent State shot 38.2% and Belmont was slightly better at 38.8% in the game.
The Golden Flashes will spend the Thanksgiving break on the West Coast as part of the Cal Poly/ShareSLO Holiday Tournament. They will take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi Friday and Dartmouth College Saturday; both games will start at 6:00p.m. EST.
Ohio 77, Northern Kentucky 38
The Short Story: Ohio women’s basketball guard Kiyanna Black scored 21 points and led the Bobcats to a 77-38 victory against Northern Kentucky Tuesday night, giving the Bobcats their first 4-0 start to a season since 2006.
OHIO STARTERS: #2 Mariah Byard, #4 Kiyanna Black, #5 Quiera Lampkins, #10 Lexie Baldwin, #14 Kat Yelle
WOFFORD STARTERS: #0 Shar’Rae Davis, #10 Christine Roush, #22 Kelley Wiegman, #31 Melody Doss, #32 Kaitlyn Gerrety
How It Happened:
-The Bobcats opened the game on a 13-2 run into the 13th minute of the game to take an early 13-2 lead.
- Black (21), Lexie Baldwin (14), Quiera Lampkins (12) and Kat Yelle (11) all scored in double figured.
-After only scoring five points in the first half, Kiyanna Black scored 16 in the second half to finish with 21 total, her third 20-plus point game of the season.
-Black finished 8-of-19 from field goal range and 5-of-11 from the three-point line.
-The Bobcats closed out the first half with a 36-14 lead.
-Ohio forced 16 turnovers in the first half and finished with 29.
-Ohio scored 31 points off turnovers.
-The Bobcats shot 45.3% from field goal range.
-Yelle scored a season high 11 points, going five-of-eight from field goal range.
-The Bobcat defense held the Norse to 24 points in the second half.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
-It is the second time this season that the Bobcats held an opponent under 20-points in the first half.
-This is the second time this season that the Bobcats have held an opponent to under 40 points (Wofford, 37).
-The Bobcats have now started the season 4-0 for the first time since 2006.
-The last time the Bobcats won four games in the row was Feb. 17-28 of 2009.
-Black has now scored in double figures in every game this season and it was the 35th time in her career.
-Black now has 14 career 20-plus point games.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Bob Boldon:
“I’m happy a lot with the defense. I think we had a good defensive effort. The turnovers were a big part of that and allowed us to get some shots off. If I wanted to clean anything up, I would say we fouled too much.”
COMING UP
After the Thanksgiving holiday, the Bobcats return to action against Manhattan College Sunday, Nov. 30 at the Convocation Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
#7/8 Duke 88, Buffalo 54
DURHAM, NC – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's basketball team fell to No. 7/8 Duke, 88-54, Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Bulls (2-2) battled in the first half, holding the Blue Devils (4-0) to a season-low 36 first-half points, and trailed by 11 at intermission. UB forced Duke to commit 12 first-frame turnovers and 20 for the game. The host Blue Devils used an 8-0 run to open the latter half which they built upon for an indefinite 20-point gap.
Duke was in foul trouble in the first, resulting in UB hitting 10-of-14 free throws, though the opposite was true in the second. The Blue Devils drained 17-of-29 in the second. For the game, UB shot 69.6 percent at the charity stripe to Duke's 54.8 percent showing.
"I thought we did a pretty good job against an unbelievable team," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "My ladies did a tremendous job in the first half, understanding that each possession mattered. We took advantage of certain opportunities."
With seven players 6'3'' or taller, Duke owned the rebounding margin, 69-31. It tallied 28 offensive boards good for 27 second-chance points. Forty-six Duke points were scored in the paint.
The Blue Devils edged UB in steals, 12-9, though UB had four blocks to Duke's three.
Duke got out to a 4-0 lead, but sophomore Alexus Malone answered with her first of a career-high-tying three threes. After the Blue Devils went inside for an 8-3 edge, sophomore Camera Miley made good on an and-one before senior Kristen Sharkey tied the game at 16:11. A Rebecca Greenwell trey 15 seconds later sparked eight straight points to secure an infinite Duke advantage.
Trailing by 13 at 5:48, UB responded with a pair of Malone free throws and a Miley jumper pulling the Bulls within nine, while holding Duke scoreless for over three minutes. The Blue Devils scored four straight points, but a Sharkey layup and redshirt-sophomore Rachel Gregory drawing a charge resulted in just an 11-point halftime deficit for the Bulls, 36-25.
Duke's 8-0 streak that tipped off the second grew to a 56-33 cushion at the 12-minute mark. The Blue Devils continued to dictate play en route to putting up a season-high 52 second-half points to the Bulls' 29.
Miley had team-highs of 15 points and six rebounds, rewriting her career-high points total by five. Malone scored 14 and grabbed five boards. Sharkey drained eight to go with game-bests of three blocks and three steals. Malone also swiped away a trio of steals. Junior Karin Moss had three assists in five minutes on the floor. Junior Mackenzie Loesing was 2-for-3 from three-point land scoring seven pints in 17 minutes of play.
The Blue Devils had five in double figures with two picking up double-doubles. Sierra Calhoun scored a contest-best 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Elizabeth Williams added 14 points and 10 boards and Greenwell chipped in 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The game's head coaches were former colleagues at Michigan State as Legette-Jack worked under Joanne P. McCallie from 2000-02.
The Bulls return to action Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28-29 at the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. UB will face Tulsa Friday at 3 pm and either the host Hurricanes or Illinois State Saturday at 1 or 3 pm.
