The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Hoops Opens Season on the Road
November 16 | Women's Basketball
After two exhibition games at JAR Arena, the Univeristy of Akron women's basketball squad will open regular season play Friday night at Maryland- Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland. The two-game road trip will conclude with an afternoon game on Sunday, Nov. 19 at Loyola College in Baltimore. In four seasons under head coach Roxanne Allen, the Zips have opened the year on the road three times. Last year they opened the season at home against Syracuse, an 85-76 loss.
About Maryland-Eastern Shore
The Lady Hawks welcome a new coach this year as Surina Dixon takes over a program that was 9-19 overall in 1999-00, 7-11 in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference. This will be the first time the Zips and Lady Hawks have matched up. In a tune up game, the Lady Hawks lost to Michigan Express, 75-62.
Leading a young returning group is sophomore forward Trishia
Johnson. Johnson is the leading returning scorer for the Lady
Hawks, averaging 6.7 points per game in starting 14 of 18 contests.
UMES has just three juniors and one senior on its roster, along
with six sophomores and three freshmen. In addition, two of the
juniors are junior college transfers in their first season with the
Lady Hawks.
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The lone returning senior for the Lady Hawks is guard Nykesha Thompson. Thompson played in all 18 contests last season, starting 13, and averaged 6.6 points per game. She led the team with 17 points against Michigan Express. Thompson was also second on the team in steals with 25, and third in assists with 30. Thompson led the team with seven rebounds in a 95-85 loss to Morgan State on Jan. 15.
About Loyola College
Loyola College heads into its season opener against Akron with a win in its only preseason game of the year, 64-53 over Asker. The Greyhounds had four players scoring in double digits, led by sophomore center Katie Netherton with 16 points. Netherton also added 12 rebounds.
The Greyhounds finished 1999-00 with an overall record of 12-17, 8-10 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Head coach Cindy Anderson is set to begin her third season at Loyola with a record of 29-23. She returns 11 letterwinners and four of five starters.
Forward Erica Rath returns as the team's leading scorer, averaging 11.9 ppg as a junior. Starting all 29 games, Rath hit 47% of her shots from the floor and was a 71% free throw shooter, hitting 79 in 111 attempts.
Sophomore guard Shontrese Smith started 21 of 27 contests, averaging 7.3 ppg. She also finished among the top five on the team in assists and steals.
Preseason Predictions
Coming off an 11-17 campaign in 1999-2000, many have high hopes for this year's young Zip squad with the Mid-American Conference News Media Association picking Akron to finish third in the East Division. Kent State is picked to repeat as division champs, receiving 254 points and 33 of 37 first-place votes. Miami was second with 178 points and two first-place votes, followed by the Zips with 166 points and two first-place votes. Akron also received one vote to win the MAC Tournament.
In the West, defending champion Western Michigan is also favored to repeat with 202 points and 21 first-place votes. Right on its heels is Eastern Michigan with 163 points and 12 first-place votes. Rounding out the top three is Ball State with 144 points.
Bowles Preseason All-MAC
For the second season in a row, senior center Cheryl Bowles (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) has been named to the Mid-American Conference's five-woman preseason All-MAC team. Last year Bowles lived up to the billing by becoming Akron's first-ever First-Team All-MAC selection. In 1999-2000 she led the team in scoring (17.8 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg), field goal percentage (194-351, .553) and blocked shots (28). As a sophomore she was a second-team All-MAC pick and was named to the All-Freshman squad in her first season.
Exhibition Roundup
The Akron women played two exhibitio games this season, defeating WBC Ilirija, 91-64, and falling to Ohio Legends, 100-91. In both games the Zips exhibited a high-scoring offense that should provide excitment at the JAR this season. In a continuation of her play over the last three seasons, senior center Cheryl Bowles led the team in scoring both nights with 26 points against WBC Ilirija, and 27 against Legends. Bowles is currently the MAC's all-time leading scorer among active players and is just 199 points shy of the school scoring record.
A pleasant surprise for the Zips has been the return of senior forward Jamie Scott. Missing the last year and a half with a knee injury, Scott contributed 24 points (11-of-17) and five rebounds in the loss to Legends. Prior to her injury in February of 1999, Scott was a leading rebounder for the Zips and her presence on the court this year will be an added bonus for Akron.
Welcome Back, Jamie (and Jamie)
Akron welcomes two Jamie's back into the fold as senior guard Jamie Krivak and senior forward Jamie Scott return to action in 2000-01. Both missed the 1999-2000 season with injuries.
Krivak started seven games and was second on the team in scoring before going down for the season with an ACL injury against Marist in December. Prior to that she was averaging 11.1 points per game and was the top three-point threat. A starter in 28 of 61 games, Krivak's leadership will be an asset with a young backcourt.
Scott is a surprise returnee after not having played a game since a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 6, 1999 at Miami. During her three years with the Zips, Scott was force on the boards with a 7.0 rpg career average. She should provide some much-needed relief for Cheryl Bowles under the basket.
With the parade of injuries that defined 1999-2000, Akron will also have junior guard Hollie Stephenson available for the first time in over a year. Stephenson missed last season with Reflex Distrophy Syndrome.
All-America Honors
In addition to being the first Zip to earn first-team all-conference honors, Cheryl Bowles went one step further by becoming Akron's first All-America honoree, earning Kodak All-America Honorable Mention notice. She was one of four MAC players to earn the honor.
Zips Excel in the Classroom
Akron was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Academic Top-25 team for the 1999-2000 season. The Zips came in at No. 16 with a team GPA of 3.267. Only two other MAC schools were among the top 25 with Toledo at No. 3 and Kent State in 18th.
Across the board the Zips have always taken pride in their academic performance. Senior Cheryl Bowles graduated in three years and is now spending her fourth year as a graduate student. Nine women posted a 3.0 or better for the Spring 2000 semester and Felecia Bell, Bowles, Sierra Cooper, Amanda Croston, Erica Glover, Katie Hank, and Kimberly Larson earned Academic All-MAC honors.
New Kids on the Block
As the Zips open play there will be two new faces on the court. Taking over duties at point guard will be freshman Katrina Carter. Hailing from Nashville, Tenn., Carter avereged 14.3 ppg and 7.0 apg at Hillsboro High School. In four years she amassed 1,896 points, 762 rebounds, 771 assists and 291 steals.
In the post Akron will be receiving help from 6-1 forward Kristy Booms. A product of Canfield High School, Booms was an all-league selection and led her team to a No. 6 ranking in the state as she averaged16.2 ppg and 8.7 rpg as a senior. Her father, Charles Booms, played for the Akron men's squad in the 1970's.
- Akron also welcomes a new coach to the floor. Marla Cleveland begins her first season at Akron after two seasons as an assistant at Ashland University. Prior to that she spent three seasons as an assistant at her alma mater, Illinois State. From 1986-88 she was head coach of NCAA Division III Illinois Wesleyan University. She replaces Deana Bahhur who returned to her alma mater, John Carroll.
About Head Coach Roxanne Allen
Now entering her fourth year at the helm of the Akron women's basketball program, head coach Roxanne Allen is beginning to see the fruits of her labor. Her first recruiting class is about to embark on its senior year and still carries the memory of what is was like to record a winning season and advance to the WNIT. With a rash of unexpected and debilitating injuries during the '99-'00 season behind them, the Zips are ready to reclaim that success that tasted so sweet the season before. In 2000-01, the Zips boast a returning cast that includes All-America candidate Cheryl Bowles, and six players with 87 starts among them.
In 1998-99, UA earned the program's first-ever postseason national tournament bid by landing a spot in the WNIT. The Zips also set two school records by reaching the Mid-American Conference semifinals and for Division I victories with 16. Hoping to build upon that momentum in '99-'00, the Zips saw the loss of two starters, and a host of injuries to several of the other players turn the year into a frustrating 11-17 campaign, including a mark of 7-9 in the MAC. Despite the disappointment, Allen has the program miles ahead of where it was just three seasons ago.
Last year should have been a key year for us, but we got taken out of it early with all the injury problems, Allen said. Regardless, we have the core nucleus, and with the inexperienced players getting experience last year we are going to have some stability and scoring power.
A native of Elton, La., Allen was a two-sport athlete at Northeast Louisiana University, playing volleyball and being a pioneer member of the women's basketball program from 1972-74. After two seasons at NLU, she transferred to McNeese State, where she concentrated on basketball and earned her B.S. degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation in 1976.
Allen completed her master's degree at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, in 1988, while serving as an assistant volleyball coach.
MAC Moves to Gund
The Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament has a new home for 2001 as the women will join the men's teams in playing at Gund Arena, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season the women played their tournament at Public Hall in downtown Cleveland. Kent State won the championship with a 71-60 win over Toledo.
Quarterfinal games will be held on March 6, with semifinal action on March 9 and the championship game set for 1 p.m. on March 10. This will mark the second year that all 13 MAC schools participate in the tournament, after just eight teams qualified from 1992-99.
Also, the Mid-American Conference has announced that Kraft is the title sponsor of the 2001 tournament. The partnership, which is a two-year deal, is a fully integrated sponsorship consisting of television and print ads, signage and sampling opportunities. Additionally, Kraft will present two $1,000 educational scholarships to students currently enrolled at a MAC institution during halftime of the women's championship game.
1999-2000 Recap...
Hoy Sets Career Mark
Senior forward/guard Abby Hoy became Akron's all-time assist leader against Toledo on Jan. 19, 2000 breaking the career mark of 392 set by Diane Hollish from 1984-88. Hoy finished with eight assists against Toledo to break the mark. She had a season-high 11 assists against Kent, just one off her career best, and totaled 456 assists in 110 career games.
1,000-Point Club
Junior center Cheryl Bowles became just the seventh player in school history to go over 1,000 points for her career. Bowles now occupies the No. 2 spot as she has 1,346 points in 86 games. She needs just 199 points over the remainder of her career to reach the top spot.
Abby Hoy joined Bowles in the club on Feb. 12 against Central Michigan as her 11 points gave her 1,007 in her career. Hoy was now the eighth Zip to reach the 1,000-point mark and was the first to top 1,000 points/400 assists in a career.
