Mid-American Conference

Rachel Tecca continued to make history last week in leading the Zips to a pair of victories and extending Akron's winning streak to seven games. The senior posted an identical 23 points, eight rebounds, and two assists in two wins over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, becoming the first UA player to reach the 1,000 rebound milestone. Tecca is now the second player in Mid-American Conference history to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career, joining Caroline Mast (Ohio, 1983-86) in that category. Tecca shot 50% from the field and scored 14 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to propel Akron past NIU on the road. She also had three steals against the Huskies, including a takeaway with eight seconds remaining that led to two free throws to secure the final margin. Against WMU, Tecca posted 15 points and six boards in the first half to give Akron a 21-point halftime lead.

 

Central Michigan junior became the first player in Mid-American Conference to record multiple triple-doubles in a season and career Thursday with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in an 84-81 overtime victory at Ball State. The junior was limited to just two first-half points but scored 12 of the Chippewas' final 16 points in regulation to help them erase a 19-point second-half deficit and force overtime. Bradford is just the 40th player in NCAA history to record multiple triple doubles in a season and is one of two players in the country this season to do so. The Detroit, Mich., product capped her week with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists in a 74-63 win over Buffalo, helping CMU improve to 11-0 in conference play. Bradford averaged 22.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 3.5 steals over the two contests, helping CMU match the second-longest winning streak in program history.

 

 

Fontaine led the Cardinals in scoring this week.  After scoring 23 points against Central Michigan and then an 18-point performance in a win at Northern Illinois, Fontaine has now scored in double digits 47 times out of 54 career games.  Fontaine has 798 points for her career as a sophomore and needs two to reach 800.  Fontaine helped the Cardinals to a near win over Central Michigan but suffered a loss in overtime.  She then led all scorers in a win at Northern Illinois with 18 points.  Fontaine shot 75 percent from the free throw line for the week, she was 2-of-3 from behind the arc and shot .626 from the field (15-of-24).

 

Bowling Green senior guard Jillian Halfhill led the Falcons in scoring and shot better than 72% from the field as BGSU went 2-0 on the week.  Halfhill averaged 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in wins over Western Michigan and Miami. She had a game-high 22 points, including a career-best six three-point field goals, in the Falcons’ 72-50 victory over WMU on Wednesday.  Then, she was perfect from the field and had a game-high 17 points in BG’s 91-45 win against Miami Sunday.  Halfhill shot 72.2% from the floor, going 13-of-18 in the two games.  She averaged five three-point field goals made per game and shot a blistering 76.9% from beyond the arc, going 10-of-13 from long range. She went 6-of-9 from three-point land vs. WMU and a perfect 4-of-4 vs. Miami. In that Miami game, Halfhill was 5-for-5 from the field overall, and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, after shooting 8-of-13 from the field vs. Western.  She had three assists in each game, adding six rebounds vs. the Broncos and three steals vs. the RedHawks.  Halfhill has scored in double digits in 18 of BGSU’s 23 games this year, including in each of the last 10. On the season, Halfhill  is averaging 13.0 points, along with 3.9 rebounds and a team-leading 3.1 assists.  She is shooting 44.6% from three-point range (45-of-101), leading the Falcons and ranking second in the MAC in that category.  In MAC games only, she has 14.9 points and is shooting an eye-popping 53.2% (25-of-47) to lead the entire conference.  The Falcons are 20-3 overall and 10-1 in the MAC heading into a Saturday (Feb. 15) game at Eastern Michigan.

 

Averaged 9.0 points, 11 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game over a pair of games in the week, averaging 31.5 minutes per game… scored eight points with a career-high 16 rebounds in the team's 55-43 win over Ohio, recording the most rebounds by any UB player since Jan. 22, 2012… scored 10 points with six rebounds and two steals at Central Michigan… shot 61.5 percent from the floor over the week (8-13). 

 

Freshman Cha Sweeney had a another strong offense week, averaging a team-best 15.5 points to go along with 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds a contest. With her 31 points on the week, she has moved into sixth place on the list of most points scored by an EMU freshman with 351. For the week, she was 10-of-32 from the floor, including going 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Against Kent State, Sweeney poured in 12 points while dishing out four assists as EMU snapped a five-game losing skid. The Toledo, Ohio, native followed it up with a 19 point effort at Ohio in which she was 7-of-18 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.

 

Junior Jenna Thorp was a force in the post for the Huskies versus Akron and Ball State at the NIU Convocation Center, shooting 9-of-15 (.600) from the field and an average of four offensive rebounds per game. Against the Zips, Thorp recorded her second double-double of the season, leading NIU in scoring and rebounding at 13 points and 11 rebounds in the game. She was one rebound shy of a double-double in the first half, scoring 10 points in the frame. She pulled down five offensive rebounds in the Huskies near win against Akron. Versus Ball State, Thorp continued her presence under the boards as she pulled down seven boards and added eight points to her effort. Thorp averaged 31.5 minutes over the week, including a season-high 37 minutes against the Cardinals.

 

Black led the Ohio University women's basketball team (8-14, 3-8 MAC) last week, averaging 11.5 points. She has reached double digits a team-high 14 times this season -- including five straight games. Black tallied 12 points last Thursday (Feb. 6) in a 55-43 loss to Buffalo and followed it up with 11 points on Sunday (Feb. 9) in a 68-55 loss to Eastern Michigan. Black leads Ohio in scoring in 2013-14 with 13.3 points per game. 

 

Sophomore Ana Capotosto contributed a team-high 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in a pair of Toledo victories last week. Capotosto shot 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from the field, including a squad-best 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from three-point land, and 50.0 percent (1-of-2)  from the free throw line in 32.5 minutes per contest. She scored in double figures in both matchups and played a key role in helping the Rockets win back-to-back road games for the first time since November. The Saugatuck, MI native opened the week with a game-high and a career-tying best 21 points with eight rebounds and two helpers in 35 minutes at Miami on Thursday. She knocked down a collegiate-tying best four triples in the cross-division matchup and propelled Toledo to sweep the regular-season series with the RedHawks. Three days later against Kent State, Capotosto tallied 11 points, a team-high eight caroms and two dimes in 30 minutes. She was once again deadly with her outside shot and buried a game-high three treys to vault Toledo into sole possession of second place in the MAC West Division standings.  

 

In an all-around effort, Western Michigan junior forward Marquisha Harris averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and a block per game over WMU's two games this past week. She shot 54.5% from the floor, connecting on 12 of 22 field goals. At Akron Saturday, she totaled 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting and a 7-for-7 effort from the free throw line. She also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and had three assists, two steals and a block. She had eight points, three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal on the road at Bowling Green Wednesday.