The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Basketball to Face IUPUI Wednesday
November 16 | Women's Basketball
The University of Akron women's basketball team will wrap up its
brief two-game road trip to start the season at IUPUI Wednesday.
The Zips and Jaguars will tip off at 7 p.m.
Game #2: Akron Zips (0-1) vs. IUPUI Jaguars (0-1)
The Jungle | Indianapolis, Ind. | Wed., Nov. 17, 2010 |
7:00 p.m. ET
Radio: None. | Audio Stream: Zips Zone - Bill Morgan (Play-by-Play) |
Live Stats: IUPUIJags.com
Zips Reset
Akron suffered a 69-54 defeat in its season opener at IPFW Monday
night despite a game-high 21 points from sophomore Rachel
Tecca. The Zips shot better than 40 percent (23-for-53) from
the floor, 30 percent (3-for-10) from 3-point land and dominated
the paint with a 38-22 point advantage but couldn't overcome 26
turnovers that led to 19 points for the Mastodons. Junior Natasha
Williams set career highs with seven points and nine rebounds.
Freshman Carly
Young, who started at forward for UA, recorded seven points and
six rebounds in her first game.
About IUPUI
The Jaguars (0-1), who are under the direction of first-year head
coach Austin Parkinson, endured a 64-45 setback to Wright State in
their home opener last Friday. Sophomore forward Kerah Nelson, who
had nine points and nine rebounds against the Raiders, is a Summit
League Preseason Second Team honoree. IUPUI, which finished 3-26 a
year ago, was picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the Summit
League's preseason poll.
Series Side Notes
The Zips and Jaguars will be meeting for just the second time in
school history Wednesday. Akron claimed a 63-49 victory at Rhodes
Arena a year ago in UA's season opener as Kara
Murphy led four players in double figures with 14 points, five
rebounds and four assists.
After enjoying a 36-22 cushion at halftime, Akron pushed its
advantage to as much as 52-32 on a 3-pointer by Murphy with 12:54
remaining in regulation. IUPUI pulled to with 55-45 on a pair of
free throws with just over six minutes to go, but the Zips made it
59-45 on a layup by Jasmine
Mushington with 4:05 remaining and went 4-for-6 from the line
in the final 2:30 to secure the victory.
Akron shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the floor and held IUPUI to 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field. The Jaguars also committed 23 turnovers, which the Zips converted into 15 points. UA had 18 turnovers of its own and was outrebounded 38-36 for the game, after holding a 22-16 edge in that category in the first half.
About AkronUA head coach Jodi
Kest, the 2009-10 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year,
returns for her fifth year at the helm after guiding the Zips to
their most successful season in program history last winter.
Headlining the list of returning players for the Zips this season
will be a pair of local products in senior Kara
Murphy and sophomore Rachel
Tecca.
Murphy, who was the fastest player in school history to record
1,000 points in a career, will enter the 2010-11 campaign with
1,470 points, which is 242 shy of the school record currently held
by Cheryl Bowles (1997-2001). Murphy, who has started all 93 games
of her career, is a two-time All-MAC selection and was named to the
league's preseason team for the third time last month. The native
of Hartville, Ohio, was the Zips' leading scorer a year ago with
13.8 points per game.
Tecca became the first Akron women's player to be named MAC Sixth
Player of the Year last winter after averaging 10.4 points and 6.1
rebounds in just 22.5 minutes a game. As one of the top first-year
players in the league, Tecca, a native of Tallmadge, Ohio, appeared
in all 32 games for UA, including a pair of starts. In all, Akron
returns eight letterwinners this winter while welcoming five
newcomers to the mix.
The Zips (18-14, 11-5 MAC) recorded their best season in program
history a year ago while advancing to the postseason for just the
second time. Along the way, Akron set school records for wins, MAC
wins and home wins (11). Additionally, UA broke a school record by
holding opponents to an average of 59.6 points per game,
representing the third-lowest average in league history.
To cap off their banner season, Akron, which finished third in the
MAC East last year, also secured a first-round bye at the MAC
Tournament for the first time and advanced to the semifinals for
just the second time since becoming a league member in 1992.
