The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Rally at Eastern Michigan to Win Third Straight
January 30 | Women's Basketball
After trailing by 12 in the first half, the University of Akron
women's basketball team used a 21-1 run to win its third straight
game, defeating Eastern Michigan 73-66 at the Convocation Center
Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Zips improved to 12-9 overall and 6-2 in the
Mid-American Conference, matching their best start in league play
since the 1998-99 season. It also represents UA's highest win total
(12) in 11 years with eight regular-season games left.
UA has won six of its last seven games overall with its lone loss
coming on a last-second shot at Ohio.
The Eagles, who are off to one of their best starts in school
history, fell to 15-5 overall and 5-3 in league play while
suffering their first home loss of the year in nine games.
Junior Kara Murphy led four UA
players in double-digits with 15 points and senior Jolene
Tamboue finished with a game-high 13 rebounds. Amber
Witt and Kyle Baumgartner chipped in
with 12 points apiece while Rachel Tecca added 10.
"It was a team effort today," said UA head coach Jodi Kest.
"Like we've been saying all year, it's not just one player. We have
a lot of players who can make a difference and we proved that
again. I thought we played really well defensively and picked up
another tough win on the road."
Eastern Michigan was firing on all cylinders to start the game,
jumping out to a 19-8 lead with 11:31 to play in the first half.
But the Zips weathered the storm and pulled even at 28-all
following a lay-up by Tecca over the next seven and a half
minutes.
Three-point shooting was key during Akron's 20-9 run as the Zips
connected on four triples during the surge, led by back-to-back
strikes from freshman guard Taylor
Ruper. After a lay-up by EMU's Cassie Schrock with 2:53 left,
UA scored the final 11 points of the half to take a 39-30 lead at
the break.
Tecca paced Akron with 10 first-half points as the Zips turned in
one of their best halves of the season, shooting 54.0 percent
(15-for-28) from the floor and 56.0 percent (5-for-9) from 3-point
range.
The Zips picked right up where they left off after the break,
storming out to an 18-point lead, 49-31, at the 11:54 mark. Tamboue
capped the 21-1 run that began in the final minutes of the first
half with a lay-up in traffic.
In fact, from the 2:53 mark of the first half to the 12:53 mark of
the second, UA held EMU without a field goal for exactly 10
minutes. During that time, the Zips forced six Eagles' turnovers
and six missed field goals.
The Eagles didn't go quietly however, using a 10-0 run to cut the
deficit to four, 54-50, with 5:02 remaining. But that's as close as
they would get. Tamboue and Baumgartner combined to go 8-for-8 from
the free throw line in the final minutes to hold off the
Eagles.
The Zips will open a two-game homestand next Thursday with Central
Michigan comes to Rhodes Arena for a 7 p.m. (EST) tip. The game
will represent a re-match of last year's MAC Tournament match-up
between the Zips and Chippewas.
Zips Notebook: Akron's six MAC wins matches its
total from all of last year ... Saturday's win was also Akron's
first at the Convocation Center since the 1999-'00 season, snapping
a string of four straight defeats ... It also is the first time UA
has won three MAC games on the road in 10 years ... The Zips
improved to 8-0 when leading at the half and 7-3 when three or more
players reach double-digits in scoring.
