The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Basketball Tripped Up By Bobcats
February 21 | Women's Basketball
Poor shooting and a host of turnovers proved to be too much for
the University of Akron women's basketball team to overcome in an
86-58 defeat by Ohio University Wednesday night at Rhodes Arena. It
was the fourth straight loss for the Zips, who fell to 7-19 overall
and 2-10 in the Mid-American Conference.
Akron was paced by freshman Kara
Murphy (Hartville, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary), who matched a
game high with 20 points. It was the 21st double-digit performance
of the year for Murphy, who shot 5-for-7 from the field. Keyla
Snowden (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) joined Murphy in
double figures with 11 points.
Akron led 17-15 with 9:52 to go in the first half, behind seven
quick points from Murphy. But Ohio went on a 27-3 run over the
final 10 minutes to take a 42-20 lead into the intermission. Before
that outburst, the game was closely contested with the lead
changing hands five times in the first 11 minutes of action.
UA turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, which led to 15
Ohio points.
"That was the worst half we've played since I've been here," said
UA head coach Jodi Kest. "Ohio got good pressure on the ball at
half court and kept us from getting into our offensive set. They
had very good defensive intensity."
Akron struggled offensively for the game, shooting just 36.2
percent (17-of-47) from the floor. However, UA did turn in an
impressive showing from the charity stripe, connecting on 21-of-25
(84 percent) free throws, led by Murphy (9-of-10). Senior Jessica
Deville (Leetonia, Ohio/Leetonia) added a season-high nine
points off the bench.
In all, Akron committed 19 turnovers with just four miscues coming
in the second half. The Bobcats finished with a 44-20 advantage
inside, scoring over half of their points in the paint.
Ohio (15-9, 8-3) won for the eighth time in its last nine games on
the strength of a 32-of-62 (51.6 percent) shooting performance, one
that included the Bobcats connecting on 19 of its 34 attempts (55.9
percent) from the floor in the first half. Chandra Myers led all
scorers with a career-high 20 points as three players reached
double figures for the visitors. Simone Redd chipped in 14 points,
while Lauren Hmiel added 12.
The Akron women return to action this Saturday when they travel to
Kent State. Tip time for that game is set for 2 p.m. EST.
Zips Notebook: Keyla
Snowden added to her MAC-leading 3-point total and now has 72
on the season. The 5-foot, 7-inch freshman came into the contest
ranked 9th in the nation with an average of 2.8 triples per game
... Riana Miller increased her season blocked shots
total to 40 in the first half and is now one away from tying Laura
Braaten (1998-99) for fifth on the school's single-season blocks
list. She came into the game leading the MAC in that category with
an average 1.56 rejections per game.
