Mid-American Conference

Monday, Dec. 15th
Akron 81, Bethune-Cookman 63
UT Martin 90, Miami 57
James Madison 69, Ohio 62
Ball State 76, North Carolina-Charlotte 66
Buffalo 51, St. Bonaventure 44

Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments


Akron 81, Bethune-Cookman 63
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Led by a 23-point, 11-rebound performance from senior Sina King (Waterford, Ohio), the Akron women's basketball team registered its eighth-consecutive victory to open the 2014-15 campaign with an 81-63 road triumph over Bethune-Cookman (3-7) on Monday, Dec. 15.

The win established a new school-record start (8-0) for the Zips, surpassing the 7-0 mark by the 1974-75 squad.

"I was very pleased with the win, anytime you can win on the road it is a good day," Akron head coach Jodi Kest commented. "We got great bench support from a lot of players, Alex (Ricketts), Hannah (Scipio) and Alli (Ball). Alli started today and I thought she gave us quality minutes, so it was a great team effort."

King led three Akron players scoring in double figures recording her team-leading fifth double-double of the season. Sophomore Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) and junior Anita Brown (Warren, Ohio) added 17- and 16-point performances for the Zips.

Making her first career start, freshman Alli Ball (St. Louis, Mo.) turned in a three-point, four-rebound outing.

Akron connected on a season-best 54.5 percent from the field, while limiting the Lady Wildcats to a 34.3 percent shooting night.

Akron dominated the glass outrebounding Bethune-Cookman, 45-33, including 32-16 on the offensive end. The Zips parlayed the rebounds into a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Akron distributed 20 assists, including eight apiece from freshman Kerri McMahan (Novi, Mich.) and Plybon. The eight assists for Plybon established a new career-best mark.

After the Lady Wildcats scored the game's first two points, the Zips went on an 8-0 run to assume an 8-2 advantage after a jumper by King at the 16:23 mark.

Following a basket by Bethune-Cookman's Terrenisha Hollis, Akron outscored the Lady Wildcats, 18-4, over the next 3:46 to take a 26-8 lead following a three-pointer from Plybon with 11:53 left in the half.

The Zips extended their lead to as many as 18 points in the initial stanza before entering the intermission holding a 43-32 lead.

Akron registered a 53.1 percent shooting mark in the first half, while limiting Bethune-Cookman to 34.2 percent shooting.

The Zips began the second half on an 8-2 run and never looked back en route to claiming the victory.

Akron returns to action visiting Central Florida in a 4:30 p.m. tilt on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

UT Martin 90, Miami 57
OXFORD, Ohio – Junior forward Jessica Rupright and freshman guard Baleigh Reid combined for 31 points, but UT Martin shot 56.7 percent from the field to top the Miami women's basketball team 90-57 on Monday night. The RedHawks fall to 2-5 on the season, while UTM improves to 4-7.

The Skyhawks scored on their first two possessions and opened the game on a 7-0 run. Freshman forward Ana Richter ended the RedHawks’ scoring drought 3:20 into the contest to cut the gap to 7-2. Miami battled back to within two points at 14-12 after Rupright hit a pair of free throws with 13:40 to go in the opening stanza. UT Martin’s Katie Schubert made it a two-score game once again on the following possession when she hit a three-pointer from the corner.

After a junior forward Hannah McCue layup and freshman guard Kayla Brown free throw pulled the Red and White to within two points, the Skyhawks rattled off the next eight points to open up a 25-15 lead with 7:28. Miami cut the deficit to four on two occasions, the latest being two Rupright free throws that made it a 31-27 game with 4:33 remaining. UTM got the last scoring run of the half, scoring eight of the last 10 points to take a 39-29 edge into the locker room at the break.

Reid made a layup and Rupright drained a three to pull the RedHawks within five in the first minute of the second half. That brief surge was quelled when Jessy Ward got a friendly bounce on a three and Ashia Jones got a steal off a UTM press before setting up Tiara Caldwell’s layup that made it 44-34 with 18:24 to go. That started an 11-0 Skyhawk run that dug the RedHawks into a 50-34 hole with 16:14 remaining.

Free throws from Rupright pulled Miami to within 13 at 51-38 with 14:52 to play, but that was as close as the game would get the rest of the way. The final score matched the Skyhawks’ largest lead of the night.

The Skyhawks shot 56.7 percent from the floor and held the RedHawks to 32 percent shooting for the night. Neither team shot well from long range as UTM made 4-of-16 (25 percent) three-pointers compared to MU’s 3-of-15 (20 percent mark). UT Martin also finished with a 38-32 edge in rebounding and forced 25 Miami turnovers while getting 17 steals and only committing 15 miscues.

Reid (16 points) and Rupright (15) both scored in double figures to lead the Red and White. The Skyhawks had three players in double figures, led by Jones’ 35. She also posted 11 steals and nine rebounds.

Miami returns to the court on Dec. 20 when it faces Old Dominion in the Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. (EST). Tim Bray has the call and it can be heard live on Miami All-Access for those who have a subscription.


James Madison 69, Ohio 62
Athens, Ohio -- The Bobcats dropped a close one at the Convo on Monday, falling to James Madison 69-62. Despite trailing by as much as 17 at one point in the game, Ohio rallied back to cut the deficit to one with 1:12 remaining. However, he comeback effort was not enough as a game-high 23 points from Precious Hall and a 13-point and 18 rebound performance by Lauren Okafor propelled the Dukes to victory.

Ohio's Quiera Lampkins scored the first six points for the Bobcats and Ohio took a 9-7 lead at the 15:56 mark of the first half when Mariah Byard connected on a three-pointer.  Ohio continued to get great contributions throughout the half by Lampkins, who scored a game-high 15 points in the opening half.

The Bobcats held the Dukes to 37.5 percent shooting in the first half but trailed the Dukes after 20 minutes by a 32-24 margin.

Two baskets by Ohio to open the second half trimmed the James Madison advantage to 4, but an 8-1 run by the Dukes expanded their lead to 40-29 with at the 15:22 mark.

After falling behind by 17 with 11:56 remaining in the game Ohio strung together an 11-2 run and cut the lead to eight with help from the defense, which held the Dukes scoreless for ten consecutive possessions.

After making just one shot in the first half, Ohio's Kiyanna Black caught fire in the second half with a stretch of 14 points in five minutes to pull the Bobcats within three at the 2:33 mark.

The Bobcats would cut the lead to one with 1:12 remaining on a layup by Lexie Baldwin, but that’s as close as they’d get.

Ohio had two players in double figures, with Lampkins and Black each scoring 17 points.  With her 17-point performance, Lampkins scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and is averaging 13.6 points per game.  

Guard Mariah Harris scored two points while hauling in three rebounds in her Ohio debut.  Black reached double figures in points for the 39th time in her Ohio career.  Ohio has scored at least 60 points in each of its eight games this season.

“I thought (our team) showed a lot of character and a lot of toughness," said Bobcats head coach Bob Boldon.  "I thought we did things the right way. We got stops, we took good shots, we took care of the basketball and we just hung in there and hung in there.”

“Kiyanna is just gifted. She’s good. And she’s worked at it to be good. It’s not just like she sits around on the couch all day playing Playstation. She has to make buckets on game day. I mean, she works on her game.”

Ohio travels to Atlanta, Ga., for the Georgia State Tournament, opening up with La Salle on Friday, December 19 at 7 p.m.


Ball State 76, North Carolina-Charlotte 66
MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State had four players score in double figures, including an 18-point effort from junior Nathalie Fontaine in the Cardinals’ 76-66 victory over Charlotte Monday night in Worthen Arena.

With the win Ball State evens its overall record at 4-4, while the 49ers fall to 2-7 on the season.

Ball State took its largest lead up to that point of the game at the 4:06 mark when the Cardinals tallied an 11-point advantage (68-57) after Fontaine scored six straight points.  After that, the Cardinals went up by 13 (73-60) with just under two minutes to play before Charlotte would cut Ball State’s lead to eight (74-66) with 57 seconds left.  But that was as close as the 49ers would get as the Cardinals went on to win the game by 10.

In the first half, Charlotte would register its largest lead of the game by a 36-23 margin.  But the Cardinals answered back with a 19-4 scoring spree to end the half trailing by only two (42-40) to the 49ers, which was capped off by a half- court shot at the buzzer from Calyn Hosea.

Both teams were close statistically, with Ball State shooting 49.0 percent from the field, while holding Charlotte to a 41.4 percent mark from the floor.  The 49ers out-rebounded the Cardinals by only one 32-to-31.  The Cardinals did shoot 47.4 behind the arc while Charlotte only shot 28.0 from the three-point line.

Fontaine led the Cardinals with 18 points, while Hosea scored 14 and led the team with nine rebounds.  Shelby Merder added 12 in the win and Candyce Ussery ended the night with 10.

Ball State closes out non-conference action with a three-game road swing when it travels to Pittsburgh Thursday, Western Kentucky Saturday and will close out the year with a trip to Saint Louis (12/30).


Buffalo 51, St. Bonaventure 44
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team snapped St. Bonaventure's 22-game winning streak against Big 4 opponents Monday night at Alumni Arena. UB (5-3) capitalized on the Bonnies' (7-3) season-high 27 turnovers to earn the 51-44 victory.

The Bulls picked up their first win over the Bonnies since 2006-07, ending their six-game run. The 69-57 UB win doubled as the last time St. Bonaventure fell to a Big 4 opponent.

Despite a lethargic start in which the Bulls trailed 13-0 eight minutes into the game, UB and SBU were knotted 18-18 at intermission. Sophomore Alexus Malone got UB on the board, scoring her first of seven straight at 11:50. UB pieced together an 18-5 run to deadlock the game for the first of five times with 1:43 lingering in the half. The Bulls held the Bonnies scoreless, while forcing eight turnovers, during the final 5:33 of action.

"Our defense really sustained us – we knew that our offense was going to come eventually," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack of the win. "We knew that if we held them under a certain number of points, we could continue to chip away."

UB's first lead of the game came on a pair of Malone free throws 11 seconds into the second stint – the Bulls' first foul shots of the game. SBU's Katie Healy answered with four of her game-best 21 points to put the Bonnies back in front for more than eight minutes. Bona led by as many as seven, 32-25, at the 15-minute mark, but UB surged to edge SBU, 35-34, on a 10-2 run. The lead bounced back-and-forth twice more before senior Kristen Sharkey cracked a 40-40 stalemate with two at the charity stripe. The ensuing play, Malone snagged a defensive rebound and drained a deep three on a Christa Baccas assist that energized the arena.

Held without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the game, the Bonnies snuck within 45-42 at 2:16, but the Bulls scored six of the game's final eight points to earn their third consecutive win.

Malone, who picked up her fifth double-double of the season in just 25 minutes of play, posted team-bests of 15 points and 10 boards. Baccas and redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory added 10 points each. Junior Karin Moss dished out a career-high five assists, while Baccas added a season-best four steals and three blocks. Baccas surpassed a pair of career milestones during the win to tallying 201 blocks (second all-time) and 702 rebounds (11th all-time).

Healy also picked up a double-double. She grabbed 10 rebounds to go with her 21 points and four steals. Gabby Richmond had a contest-best 11 boards and Hannah Little added 10 points for SBU.

SBU shot marginally better than the Bulls, converting 34.0 percent to UB's 30.8 percent from the floor. UB made good on 14-of-21 second-half free throws, a 66.7 percent conversion rate. Bonaventure hit a season-low 62.5 percent (10-of-16). SBU led the rebound count, 43-33.

The Bulls, who played their lone home game of December tonight, will again hit the road for back-to-back games in New York City. UB will face Manhattan Friday at 7 pm and travel to LIU-Brooklyn Sunday at 1 pm.