The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Basketball Looks to Stay Hot Against Chippewas
February 03 | Women's Basketball
Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • Thurs., Feb. 4, 2010 • 7 p.m. (EST)
The Opening Tip
Winners of six of their last seven games, the University of Akron
women's basketball team will host Central Michigan Thursday night
at Rhodes Arena. The Zips and Chippewas will tip off at 7 p.m.
(EST).
On the Radio
Thursday's game will be broadcast live locally on 1350 AM
(WARF). UA play-by-play veteran Bill Morgan and
former Zips assistant coach Jacki
Windon will have the call.
On the Web
Fans can also listen on-line on www.GoZips.com as part of
the Zips Zone subscription package.
Series Breakdown
Series: UA trails 12-15 since 1982-83
UA Series Streak: 2L
Last 10 Meetings: 2-8
Notes: The Zips and Chippewas will be meeting for the 28th time
Thursday ... UA is 8-6 against CMU at Rhodes Arena all-time ... The
Chippewas defeated Akron twice last year, including a 67-59 setback
in the first round of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland ... The Zips
won 10 of 11 meetings from 1995-2001, but are 1-8 since then.
Coaches
• Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock,
'84) is in her fourth season at Akron and 18th season overall as a
head coach. She is 40-71 (.360) in 111 games at UA and 266-224
(.543) in 490 games for her career. She led the Zips to an 11-19
record, Including a 6-10 mark in MAC play, last winter.
• Sue Guevara (Saginaw Valley State, '82) is
in her third season at CMU where she has a record of 32-49 (.395).
Guevara led the Chippewas to an 18-14 record, including a 9-7 mark
in MAC play last winter.
The Last Time Out
After trailing by 12 in the first half, the Zips used a
21-1 run to win its third straight contest, defeating Eastern
Michigan 73-66 at the Convocation Center last Saturday
afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
About The Chippewas
Central Michigan (8-12, 5-3 MAC) has bounced back well
after suffering back-to-back setbacks at Eastern Michigan (73-55)
and at Toledo (74-60) to start the MAC schedule. Since then, the
Chippewas have won five of their last six and are coming off a
96-86 victory against Miami (Ohio) last weekend.
In addition to the RedHawks, Central Michigan, which did not share
any common non-conference opponents with the Zips, has posted
league wins over Ball State (87-80), Western Michigan (74-65) and
Ohio (59-56) at home and got the best of Northern Illinois (89-74)
on the road. It's lone blemish since Jan. 9 was an 82-76 defeat at
Kent State last week.
Junior guard Shonda Long, who averages 14.6 points, leads three
double-digit scorers for the Chips, followed by Britni Houghton
(13.9) and Kaihla Szunko (12.1).
As a team, Central Michigan is ranked third in the MAC (38th
nationally) with an average of 72.1 points per game. The Chippewas
are shooting 39.9 percent from the floor, 31.4 percent from 3-point
range and 74.9 percent from the charity stripe. Conversely, CMU is
allowing 75.9 points per contest, which is ranked last in the
league.
Central Michigan, which was picked to finish fourth in the West
during the preseason, is 2-10 in away and neutral-court games this
season.
Last Year Versus Central Michigan
Akron went 0-2 against the Chippewas last season,
including a 67-59 setback in the first round of the MAC Tournament
in Cleveland.
Kara Murphy was a huge
contributor in both games, scoring 53 of UA's 116 points (45.7
percent), while averaging 26.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. The forward
scored 21 in a 67-59 loss in Mt. Pleasant before matching a career
high with 32 points at Quicken Loans Arena.
It was the highest point total recorded in postseason play in
program history and the 11th-highest total in MAC Tournament
history.
On The Line
A win Thursday vs. Central Michigan would...
... match the third-highest win total (7) in league play in school
history with seven games remaining.
... match the fourth-longest win streak (accomplished earlier this
season) in the program's Division I history.
... match the second-highest home win total (8) in school history
with at least four home games left to play.
... surpass Akron's season total for MAC wins (6) from all of last
season.
... improve UA's record to 13-9 overall and 7-2 in the MAC;
matching its best league record after nine games since the 1998-99
campaign.
Comeback Kids
Displaying a flair for the dramatic, the Zips have rallied
to victory in each of their last two games; both on the road.
Akron trailed by 15 points halfway through the opening period (and
by nine with less than 10 minutes left in regulation) at Ball State
before pulling out a 66-64 win in overtime and faced a 12-point
deficit midway through the first half at Eastern Michigan before
earning a 73-66 victory.
UA used a key 17-5 run to shift momentum against the Cardinals and
a 22-1 spurt against the Eagles. In all, UA has come back from
double-digit deficits to win three times in 2009-10.
Home Cookin'
Akron returns home where it is 7-1 this season and 10-2 in
its last 12 games dating back to last winter. Moreover, the Zips
are 6-1 in MAC play - including a perfect 3-0 - at Rhodes Arena in
their last seven contests.
This has continued a trend of strong play by UA on its home floor
since head coach Jodi Kest's arrival in 2006.
The Zips are an even 25-25 (.500) at Rhodes Arena under Kest,
including a 15-7 (.682) mark in the past two seasons, after going
17-69 (.198) in the seven years (1999-'00 to 2005-'06) prior to her
arrival.
Moreover, the Zips are two home wins shy of matching the program's
high mark with at least four games left to play.
Record Watch
Junior Kara Murphy enters
Thursday's game in third place on the school's all-time scoring
list. With 1,338 career points, the all-conference first-teamer now
trails Pam Arnold, who scored 1,544 points in 108 games from
1979-83, by 206 points for second place on the prestigious
list.
Murphy, who began the season ranked 10th all-time, has led the
Zips in scoring 11 times in 21 games this season and 46 times in 82
games (56.1 percent) for her career. Cheryl Bowles is the school's
all-time scoring leader with 1,712 points in 115 games from
1997-01.
Zips Notebook
• By defeating Ball State and Eastern Michigan last week, the
Zips won back-to-back road games in league play for the first time
since the 1994-95 season when it knocked off Eastern Michigan
(70-68) and Ball State (88-78) in consecutive contests.
• UA has also now won three league games on the road in a
season for the first time in 10 years (1999-'00).
• With eight regular-season games remaining, Akron has
already surpassed its overall win total from a year ago (11) while
matching its total in league play (6).
• It is without question that in her fourth season at the helm
head coach Jodi Kest has the Zips headed
in the right direction. Since 2006, Kest has guided Akron to 40
wins in 111 games (.360). To put that into perspective, in the
previous seven years prior to her arrival, the program had won just
35 games in 197 games (.178).
• Furthermore, UA has now recorded double-digit win totals in
three of the last four seasons - all under Kest. Prior to her
arrival, Akron had gone six seasons (2000-01 to 2005-06) since it
last posted double-digit wins.
• The Zips lead the MAC in defensive scoring (59.5 points
allowed per game) and are holding foes to a league-low 37.5 percent
shooting from the floor.
• Akron has limited its opponents to 50 points or less four
times and 60 points or less 10 times. In those 10 games, Akron is
8-2 with its only setbacks coming to a pair of NCAA Tournament
qualifiers from a year ago; Temple (55-43) and Lehigh (59-57).
• The Zips have also been dominating on the glass this season
and have won the battle of the boards 14 times in their last 17
games, including a +17 margin at Eastern Michigan last weekend.
• Leading the charge in that regard has been senior Jolene
Tamboue, who has reached double-digits in rebounding seven
times in her last nine games. During that incredible stretch,
Tamboue is averaging 11.5 boards-per-game while recording three
double-doubles.
• Tamboue is one of three UA players ranked in the top 12 in
the MAC for rebounding. Tamboue is ranked sixth (7.6) and is
followed by Rachel
Tecca, who is ranked ninth (6.6), and Kyle Baumgartner, who
is ranked 12th (6.2).
• Three Akron players are also averaging double-digits in
scoring this season: Murphy (14.7), Tecca (11.3) and Baumgartner
(10.4).
• Akron is 3-1 on the season when four or more players reach
double digits in scoring and 7-3 when three or more do so.
• UA is 8-0 this season when leading at halftime.
