Akron 65, Eastern Michigan 48
Ball State 54, Western Michigan 36
Central Michigan 56, Northern Illinois 43
Kent State 55, Bowling Green 48
Ohio 65, Toledo 58
Buffalo 71, Miami 51
Courtesy of home MAC Athletic Communications departments
Akron 65, Eastern Michigan 48
AKRON, Ohio – Akron sophomore Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) netted six three-pointers en route to picking up a career-high 25 points to lead the Akron women's basketball team to a 65-48 victory over Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Plybon ended the first half shooting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for 17 points, just one point shy of her previous career-high mark set versus Ohio Christian on Dec. 18. She eclipsed the career-best at the 19:30 mark of the second half connecting on her sixth and final triple of the afternoon. The sophomore issued a 9-of-13 performance from the field including a 6-of-10 showing from long range.
Plybon's six three-pointers represented the sixth-best single-game effort in program history.
Senior Sina King (Waterford, Ohio) followed Plybon with 15 points to round out the Zips' double-figure scoring, while junior Anita Brown (Warren, Ohio) put together a complete game with a career-best 11 boards, eight points and six assists.
Junior Megan Barilla (Fairview Park, Ohio) tied her career-high in assists (7) without posting a turnover, while also registering a team-high four steals.
Junior DiAndra Gibson (Ravenna, Ohio) played a key role in the Akron's victory registering five points, while pulling down five rebounds and notching a team- and game-high two blocks.
The Zips (12-2, 2-1 MAC) were out-rebounded by the Eagles (7-6, 0-2 MAC), 42-32, including 20-8 on the offensive glass. However, Akron out-rebounded Eastern Michigan on the defensive glass, 24-22, and held the Eagles to only 10 second-chance points, despite being dominated on the offensive glass.
Sera Ozelci led Eastern Michigan with 11 points.
The Zips finished the contest shooting 48 percent from the field, including an 8-for-15 mark from beyond the arc for 53.3 percent. Akron limited the Eagles to a 29.7 percent shooting afternoon, including just 4-of-25 from downtown (16.0 percent).
After a five-all tie to start the game, Akron used outside shooting to get out to a 10-point lead connecting on 5-of-6 triples in the opening seven minutes, led by Plybon with three. Plybon's third triple put the Zips ahead 17-7 at the 13:19 mark of the first half.
Akron held the Eagles to one field goal over seven minutes to increase its lead to 22-9 with 8:50 left in the initial stanza as Eastern Michigan struggled to connect from the field.
The Eagles ended the half shooting 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) including 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc, while Akron shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from the field and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from three-point range.
Akron forced 14 first-half turnovers to thwart the Eagles' offense and lead 36-18 at halftime.
Five different Zips found the bottom of the net en route to scoring 10 uninterrupted points in the second half. Three of the five field goals were assisted by Barilla as the Zips led 53-27 after freshman Alli Ball (St. Louis, Mo.) delivered a layup with 14:03 remaining.
The run helped Akron to a game-high 28-point lead at the 12:29 mark that came when Barilla dished the ball to King for an easy layup.
King's layup was Akron's last field goal for eight minutes as Eastern Michigan responded quickly, matching Akron's 10-0 run and forcing a turnover on five-straight Zips' possessions to chip away at the deficit.
Akron still remained in control and held a 57-39 advantage following the run with 6:14 on the clock to keep the game out of reach.
The Zips' lead never dipped below 16 throughout the second half.
Akron returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14, when it travels to take on Toledo for a 7 p.m. tip. The contest is set to air on ESPN3.
Ball State 54, Western Michigan 36
Shelbie Justice couldn’t hide the battle scar she picked up Saturday during the Ball State women’s basketball game. The shiner under her left eye was a telltale sign of the physical nature with which the Cardinals are playing early in the Mid-American Conference season.
“Coach said coming into this game that it was going to be tough, and we had to show that toughness and heart to win this game,” she said. “Our team showed that today.”
The Cardinals again displayed their aggressive style and used it to wear down Western Michigan for a 54-36 victory in Worthen Arena.
Ball State (7-7, 3-0 MAC West) has made an impact with its defense early in the conference season.
“We’re trying to pressure the ball more and play harder,” Cardinals coach Brady Sallee said. “We’re extending our defense into the full court and we’re seeing our offense flow out of our defense now.
“We’re establishing an identity. There’s no question who our warrior is. Shelbie has taken that role and is thriving in it.”
Western Michigan (9-5, 2-1 MAC West) shot just 26.8 percent from the field against the Cardinals. The Broncos made only 1-of-15 3-point field goals and turned the ball over 20 times.
Sallee said his preferred way of playing defense is sticking with man-to-man, but he recognizes how effective his team has been when switching up its looks.
“We’ve gotten very good at changing defenses,” Cardinals center Renee Bennett said. “It makes it more fun for us to play with something different. Everyone always talks with each other, and when we switch to all these defenses it keeps us on our toes. That works better for us than focusing on one thing all the time.”
The Cardinals put the game out of reach early in the second half, perhaps surprisingly with top player Nathalie Fontaine on the bench for a long stretch.
Fontaine was out for about five minutes, and the Cardinals turned an eight-point lead into a 14-point cushion when she was on the bench.
“Nathalie was getting a lot of attention from (Western Michigan),” Sallee said. “Funny as it sounds, when we took her out, I don’t know if they relaxed a little bit or now they had to play us straight up … (but) our stuff seemed to work a little better.
“You can credit (Justice) a little bit because she got to the rim and was finishing in that stretch.”
Justice led the Cardinals with 18 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the field. Fontaine added 12 points. Bennett collected seven rebounds, one shy of her career high.
Ball State will play at home again at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Kent State.
Central Michigan 56, Northern Illinois 43
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Another Mid-American Conference game, another grinder, another win.
Crystal Bradford scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team came away with a 56-43 victory at McGuirk Arena over Northern Illinois.
The win lifted CMU to 8-6, 3-0 MAC. Northern Illinois, 5-7, 1-1, entered the game as the MAC's stingiest defense, allowing just 53.9 points per game.
The Huskies held the Chippewas to almost 14 points below their season average.
"We know going in that they're a scrappy team," said CMU senior Jas'Mine Bracey, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. "They play the pack-line defense well which stops our offense a lot. We like to get inside, we like to drive the ball. It's (about) being disciplined, inside and out. That's what we went over all week in practice."
Lorreal Jones added 11 points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 26 minutes as the Chippewas held a 50-36 advantage on the boards. CMU collected 14 offensive rebounds, held a 13-5 edge in second-chance points, and outscored the Huskies, 26-16, in the paint."I thought this was the most consistent that she has been," CMU coach Sue Guevara said of Jones, a senior in her first season as a Chippewa after transferring from Saint Louis. "She was zoned in today. I'm going to talk to her about what she ate at breakfast today and make sure she eats it again. She is a senior and that should be an expectation every game."
As expected, the game unfolded as a defensive struggle. The Chippewas led 25-21 at halftime, then slowly pulled away and took control in the second half, when they limited the Huskies to just nine field goals on 30 attempts.
"I tell (NIU) coach (Kathi) Bennett, all the time when I see her, I hate playing that team," Guevara said. "I just have a lot of respect for what Kathi does with that team, with that pack-line defense. They take away the penetration lanes. It's tough to run your dribble-drive (offense).
"Then the frustration sets in so it's just kind of playing through that frustration and I say `Take your frustration out on the defensive end of the floor.'"
The Chippewas, who employ the same defense, overcame their second consecutive poor shooting day by clamping down on defense themselves.
CMU made just three of its 22 three-point tries and was 23-for-61 overall from the floor (37.7 percent). The Chippewas held the Huskies to 3-of-15 from three-point range and 31 percent shooting overall.
"Defensively I was OK," Guevara said. "We're a zone team, we are a zone basketball team, and we have to do different things out of it. As a coach, it's like we should be able to play man-to-man (defense), but you know what, we're not a good man-to-man team. We work on the fundamentals of man-to-man defense, and we use all of that in the zone and I thought today it was pretty good."
The Chippewas are a combined 4-for-39 from three-point range in their last two games.
But in both cases - they defeated Buffalo, 65-62, in a similarly played game on Wednesday - they have been able to adjust and get production in the paint from the likes of Bracey and Jones.
Those two were a combined 9-for-12 from the floor against the Huskies. Bracey has made 15 of her 18 field goal attempts over the past two games.
"The threes weren't hitting, but when we have Jas'Mine Bracey going 5-for-7 and Lorreal Jones going 4-for-5, that's really impressive for our bigs," Bradford said. "I think it's really impressive that we can change it and our team can be a paint-scoring team. Either way, I think we're finding it."
Bracey became the 26th player in CMU history to surpass 1,000 career points in the game. She is the sixth Chippewa to reach the milestone in the last three seasons, and the 10th since Guevara took over the program before the 2007-08 season.
"It's definitely an honor," Bracey said. "Proud of myself, and my teammates for helping me get there. Hopefully we can get some more people in there before we leave."
Amanda Corral led NIU with 12 points, nine of which came in the first half.
The Chippewas go on the road for two MAC games next week. On Wednesday, they play at Miami (Ohio), and on Saturday, they will play at Ohio.
Kent State 55, Bowling Green 48
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (3-11, 1-2) fought hard on Saturday afternoon to win its first conference game of the season in a 55-48 victory over visiting Bowling Green (7-7, 0-3).
CiCi Shannon was a huge factor in the game, grabbing a career-high twenty rebounds while landing a point short of a career-high in scoring with 16. She also contributed with three blocks.
The Golden Flashes grabbed the opening tip and Jordan Korinek connected on back-to-back buckets to give the home team an early lead. The Falcons used their three-point game to make that lead short-lived, making three prior to the game's first media break.
Kent State stuck in it, though, not allowing Bowling Green to take more than a five-point lead and then coming back to get in front and lead 22-16 at the break.
Later in the second half after the Falcons brought the Flashes' lead to within three points, Naddiyah Cross drained a three to raise the advantage back to six. After the final media break in the game, Bowling Green hit a three to bring the score to 47-44 with 1:57 remaining.
CiCi Shannon then made a layup, missed a foul shot, she was able to grab her own rebound and put it back in to put the Bowling Green deficit back to two field goals.
With less than a minute remaining, the Falcons were forced to foul to put the game on the line. Kent State, leading by four, missed a shot and Bowling Green drove down the court, laid in a basket and made it a 50-48 game with 51 seconds left.
Bowling Green missed two late three-point shots and Shannon rebounded and made free throws to enable Kent State to come away with the victory.
The Flashes had success in the paint thanks to Shannon and Korinek with 22 points, a 12-point advantage over Bowling Green. They also outrebounded 39-29. While Kent State shot 51% in the game, its defense held Bowling Green to just shooting 31%.
Korinek finished with 13 points to match her career-high. She added in six rebounds.
Kent State will take to the road for its next two games. They play Ball State on Wednesday and Northern Illinois on Saturday before returning home on Jan. 24 after a bye.
Ohio 65, Toledo 58
Athens, Ohio - The Short Story: A double-double by Quiera Lampkins and a 19-point game by Kiyanna Black lead the Ohio women’s basketball team (11-3, 2-1 MAC) to a 65-58 win against the Toledo Rockets (9-5, 2-1 MAC) on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. The victory was the first win against Toledo since 2008.
OHIO STARTERS: #2 Mariah Byard, #4 Kiyanna Black, #5 Quiera Lampkins, #10 Lexie Baldwin, #14 Kat Yelle
TOLEDO STARTERS: #1 Brenae Harris, #12 Janice Monakana, #23 Inami Zanoguera, #24 Michaela Rasmussen, #32 Ana Capotosto
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Bobcats held a 10-point lead over Toledo following the first half.
- Black went 3-of-5 on three-point attempts and grabbed three rebounds in the first half.
- Lampkins was 5-of-5 on field goal attempts in the first half along with two rebounds.
- Ohio earned a field goal percentage of 46.7% in the first half, outshooting the Rockets, who hit 26.9% of their field goal attempts.
- Toledo responded form the three-point line in the second half, hitting 28.6% of its shots.
- Overall on the game, Black was 4-of-10 from the three-point line for Ohio and grabbed five rebounds. She also went 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
- Lampkin’s 23-point game, along with 10 rebounds, earned a double-double on the outing.
- With the game tied at 56-56 with 1:34 left in the game, Black made two important free throws that sealed the deal for Ohio.
- Toledo’s Janice Monakana recorded 12 rebounds overall, a game-high.
- Ohio forced 10 turnovers and scored 14 points off of them.
- Ohio’s largest lead of the day was 16 at 5:47 in the first half.
- Ohio led for 34:05 while Toledo led for a total of 2:32.
- The game was tied for 3:16.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- This was the first time that the Bobcats have defeated Toledo since Feb. 13, 2008.
- Lampkin’s double-double marks her fifth of the season. This is also the 13th time this season she has scored double-figures.
- The score was tied six times over the period of the game, with the lead also changing six times.
- The win gives Ohio its 11th of the season. The last time Ohio won 11 games in a season was in 2011-12, where they won 14.
- This is the 12th game of the season that Ohio has scored at least 60 points.
- Lampkins’ 23 points was a season-high.
QUOTABLE
Junior guard Kiyanna Black:
On having 11 wins at this point in the season:
“Yeah, it’s nice, but it really doesn’t excite me because we’re 2-1 right now. That’s our real record. Yeah, we had 11 wins and all that stuff, but it really doesn’t matter right now.”
COMING UP
Ohio will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., on Jan. 14 to take on Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
Buffalo 71, Miami 51
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women’s basketball team held Buffalo scoreless over an eight and a half minute period during the second half to get back into the game, but its offense went cold late as the Bulls pulled away to take a 71-51 victory on Saturday afternoon. The RedHawks fall to 3-11 overall and 0-3 in the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo improves to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the MAC.
The RedHawks were led offensively by freshman guard Baleigh Reid. She finished with a team-high 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting. She also brought in four rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
Reid and junior forward Jessica Rupright each hit jumpers, but the Bulls jumped to a 10-7 lead to begin the contest. Buffalo eventually pushed the advantage to 19-9 with 11:03 left in the half before the Miami offense got on track.
Rupright drained a three, while junior forward Hannah McCue and senior point guard Courtney Larson followed with layups. An old-fashioned three-point play by Reid pulled the ‘Hawks to within six at 25-19 with 8:57 to go. Trailing 34-27, freshman guard Ana Richter got behind the defense and scored a layup to put Miami down five. UB closed the half on an 8-1 run to take a 42-30 lead into halftime.
McCue, Reid and Richter each had baskets but the Bulls pushed the lead to 18 at 54-36 with 14:26 to go. That is when the RedHawk defense took over, allowing them to begin a comeback attempt.
Over the next 8:33, Miami held Buffalo without a point. McCue had a pair of buckets, while Reid also scored as the ‘Hawks finished off an 11-0 run over the period to close the deficit to within seven at 54-47. Unfortunately, the Red and White went on a scoring slump of their own at that point as UB closed the game on a 17-3 run to take a 71-51 victory.
In addition to Reid’s 14, Larson scored 11 while McCue and Richter each finished with eight. Richter also had a team-high six rebounds. Miami had 19 offensive rebounds, but lost the overall rebound battle to the Bulls, 45-34. Buffalo was led by Christa Baccas with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The RedHawks continue a three-game home stand on Wednesday when they host Central Michigan at 7 p.m.
