The University of Akron Athletics
Zips' Road Trip Continues at Wright State Sunday
November 21 | Women's Basketball
Ervin J. Nutter Center • Dayton, Ohio • Sun., Nov. 22, 2009 • 3 p.m. (EST)
On The Web
An audio stream of Sunday's broadcast will be available on
www.GoZips.com as part of the Zips Zone subscription package. UA
play-by-play veteran Bill Morgan will have the call.
Series Breakdown
Series: UA leads,12-7, since 1978-80
UA Series Streak: 1L
Last 10 Meetings: 7-3
Notes: The Zips and Raiders will be meeting for the 20th time
Sunday ... Akron has won seven of its last 10 games versus Wright
State, including its last five meetings on the road ... In all, UA
is 6-3 vs. WSU on the road ... Sunday's meeting will be Akron's
first against Wright State since 2004 ... Both UA and WSU were
members of the North Star Conference from 1990-92 ... The Zips are
51-97 (.345) all-time versus the Horizon League.
Coaches
• Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock,
'84) is in her fourth season at Akron and 18th season overall as a
head coach. She is 29-64 (.312) at UA and 255-217 (.540) for her
career. She led the Zips to an 11-19 record, Including a 6-10 mark
in MAC play, last winter.
• Bridgett Williams (Southern Illinois-Carbondale, '93) is in her ninth season at Wright State and her 11th season as a head coach. Williams led the Raiders to a 15-16 record, including 10-8 mark in the Horizon League last winter.
The Opening TipThe University of Akron women's basketball team heads to Wright State to take on the Raiders Sunday at 3 p.m.
Road Warriors
The Zips are on the third leg of a five-game road swing
after playing at St. Bonaventure and Robert Morris last week. In
fact, UA has just four home games from Nov. 15 to Jan. 9 and will
play nine of 13 contests on the road during that time.
Moreover, with trips as far east as New York, as far south as
Florida and as far west as Illinois, Akron will seeming span much
of the midwest and beyond. The Zips were 2-12 in road games and 1-1
at neutral sites last season.
About The Raiders
Wright State (1-1) picked up its first win of the season
in convincing fashion, defeating Eastern Kentucky 65-44 last
Thursday at the Nutter Center. Defense led the way for the Raiders
as WSU held the Colonels to just 11 field goals (11-for-41) on the
night while forcing 31 turnovers.
Junior LaShawna Thomas paced the club with a game-high 15 points
while sophomore Maria Bennett added 12 as the Raiders out-scored
EKU 43-26 in the second half to break open a four-point game at the
half.
Wright State is averaging 66.0 points per contest while shooting
40.3 percent (50-for-124) from the field and 37.8 percent
(14-for-37) from three-point range. Fueled by their defensive
effort against the Colonels, the Raiders are averaging a robust
12.5 steals per contest while posting a +5.5 turnover margin.
Thomas averages 18.5 points and 6.0 rebounds to lead the team in
both categories through the first two games of the season. WSU,
which was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Horizon League
during the preseason, suffered an 83-67 defeat at IPFW in its
season opener.
The Last Time Out
Kara Murphy led all scorers
with 28 points, but it wasn't enough as the Zips suffered a 74-67
loss to Robert Morris Thursday night at the Sewall Center.
Murphy connected on 10-of-17 attempts from the floor while matching
a career high with five threes to lead the charge for the Zips, who
fell to 1-2 on the season. It was a complete performance for the
All-MAC First Team performer as Murphy also chipped in with five
rebounds and five assists in the setback.
Akron battled back from an eight-point halftime deficit to tie the
game at 53-all with 11 minutes left, but the Colonials (1-1)
responded with a quick 5-0 spurt and held on for the win.
Akron pulled to within two points on seven different occasions in
the second half, but couldn't get over the hump.
The Zips shot well from the field, connecting on 53.2 percent
(25-for-47) of their attempts, but allowed 16 offensive rebounds -
leading to 15 second-chance points for RMU - and struggled from the
free throw line, converting 56.3 percent (9-for-16).
RMU shot 50.0 percent (27-for-54) from the floor and was blistering
from 3-point range, connecting on 68.4 percent (13-for-19) of its
attempts from beyond the arc. Angela Pace led the way for the
Colonials with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field.
Murphy Movin' On Up
With her 28-point performance against the Colonials, Murphy
continued her assault on the school's all-time scoring list. With
1,077 career points, the third-year forward moved into sixth place
- surpassing Abby Hoy (1,056) - and trails Toreeda Turner, who
scored 1,161 points from 1981-85, by 84 points. Cheryl Bowles is
the school's all-time scoring leader with 1,712 points in 115 games
from 1997-01.
Zips Notebook
• True freshman Rachel Tecca earned her
first career start Thursday at Robert Morris. The center responded
with nine points, three rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes.
• UA was efficient on offense against the Colonials with 20
assists on 25 field goals. Furthermore, by shooting 53.2 percent
from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-pt. range the Zips recorded
highs in both categories for the year.
• The Zips have been out-scored 104-82 in the second half this
season.
