The University of Akron Athletics
Zips to Face Rival Kent State Wednesday Night
January 18 | Women's Basketball
AKRON, Ohio -The University of Akron women's basketball team (8-8, 1-3) will make the short trip to Mid-American Conference rival Kent State (13-3, 4-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 19 for a 7 p.m. ET contest. The Golden Flashes are coming off back-to-back one-point league victories to remain unblemished in the MAC, while the Zips are looking to end a two-game slide and get back to their winning ways.
Game #17: Akron Zips (8-8, 1-3) vs. Kent State Golden
Flashes (13-3, 4-0)
M.A.C. Center | Kent, Ohio | Wed., Jan. 19, 2011 | 7:00 p.m.
ET
Audio Stream: Zips Zone - Bill Morgan (Play-by-Play) | Live Stats:
GoZips.com
Zips Reset
• Despite a second half comeback, the University of Akron
women's basketball team (8-8, 1-3) fell to Miami (10-7, 2-2) at
home 68-63. The Zips held the lead at halftime and failed to come
away with a win for only the second time this season.
• For Akron, sophomore forward Rachel Tecca recorded her seventh double-double of the season and 10th of her career with 15 points and 14 boards to lead the Zips. Sophomore Taylor Ruper scored 14 points, including clutch 3-pointers down the stretch, and freshman Carly Young added 12 on 5-for-9 from the floor.
• UA won the rebounding battle with a season-high 46 boards to Miami's 38. After shooting nearly 50 percent in the first half, Akron was held to just 24.3 percent in the second half and finished 22-for-64 (.344) for the contest.
• Miami's Kirsten Olowinski had a monster game, leading all players with 27 points and 12 rebounds on 11-for-14 shooting. Courtney Osborn added 17 and Lillian Pitts chipped in 10 to round out the RedHawks in double figures.
About Kent State
• Kent State is coming off a dramatic one-point win over MAC
East foe Bowling Green, 44-43, to remain unbeaten in league play
and end a 13-game losing streak to the Falcons. That game marked
back-to-back one-point victories for the Golden Flashes, as they
also escaped at Ohio with a 55-54 win on Jan. 12.
• Kent State is 7-0 at home on the season and is led by Jamilah Humes and Taisja Jones who are averaging 14.4 and 14.2 ppg, respectively. This match-up will feature the two best shooting teams in the league, as KSU leads the MAC in field goal percentage with a mark of 44.1 percent, slightly ahead of the Zips in second place at 42.6 percent.
Series Side Notes
Akron trails the series with Kent State 6-46, dating back to
1974-75. Last season, the Zips split the meetings with the Golden
Flashes, winning 62-55 at home and falling 64-67 on the road. Akron
has beaten Kent State once in each of the last two seasons, but
prior to that had not defeated KSU since Jan. 16, 1999 for a streak
of 18 games.
Did You Know?
• Sophomore guard Taylor
Ruper currently leads the MAC in 3-pointers made per game,
averaging 2.75 buckets per contest from long range. She also stands
fourth in the league in 3-point percentage at 38.9 percent.
• Sophomore Rachel Tecca recorded her seventh double-double of the season against Miami (Jan. 15), her second in a row and already the 10th of her young career.
• Tecca has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, when she only recorded six points against Duquesne (12/1/10) and four against Buffalo (1/5/11). She has led the team in scoring 12 times in 16 games.
• Against BGSU on 1/12/11, the Zips knocked down 10 treys, just one shy of their season-high 11 against Georgia Southern. Freshman Carly Young got things going by hitting her first four long-range attempts, and sophomore Taylor Ruper continued the hot hand by pouring in three in the second half to help Akron shoot better than .500 from behind the arc for the second time this year. The Zips rank fourth in the league with 6.13 3-pointers made per game.
• Akron performs both on and off the court, as the women's basketball team placed 10 student-athletes on the Dean's List for Fall 2010. For the Fall, the team posted an overall GPA of 3.40. They also have an impressive cumulative GPA of 3.45. Making the list were senior Kara Murphy, juniors Denver McLean and Natasha Williams, sophomores Taylor Ruper and Rachel Tecca, and freshmen Kacie Cassell, Sina King, Hanna Luburgh, Brianna Moyes, and Carly Young.
• For the first time since Nov. 23, 2010 against Robert Morris, the Zips' starting five had a new face in freshman Sina King. Coach Kest had used the same starting lineup for nine games before making the switch against Buffalo on 1/5/11. It was the first career start for King and only the fourth different lineup used by Akron this season.
• With non-conference play in the books, Akron began the second half of the season with Mid-American Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 2. Last year, UA amassed a school-record 11 league wins to only five losses and a trip to the MAC Tournament Semifinals.
• Senior forward Kara Murphy currently stands second on the Zips' all-time scoring list with 1,637 points, just 75 points behind Akron great Cheryl Bowles.
• On Jan. 15 against Miami, Murphy moved into a tie for ninth place on the career games played list with 109. Cheryl Bowles holds the record with 115, which Murphy is likely to break in her final season.
• The Zips stand second in the league in field goal percentage, knocking down shots at a clip of 42.6 percent on the season. The team also ranks fourth in scoring offense with 69.4 points per game. Sophomore Rachel Tecca contributes to both categories, as she ranks fifth in the league with 17.1 points per game and eighth with a field goal percentage of 49.3 percent.
• Sophomore guard Taylor Ruper is not shy from behind the arc and it pays off for the Zips, as she leads the league with 2.75 3-pointers made per game. She also converts at a high rate, standing fourth in 3-point field goal percentage at just under 40 percent. Against Georgia Southern, Ruper exploded for a career-high 26 points in a thrilling overtime victory. In the win over Cleveland State, Ruper knocked down six three-pointers, a career high.
• Freshman guard Kacie Cassell has made her presence known on the floor this season with her unselfish play. The newcomer stands eighth in the league with 4.2 assists per game and fifth with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.46. She has already notched three performances of eight assists or more in a game this year. Akron is third in the league in assists per game (15.00), largely due to the play of Cassell at the point.
A Look Ahead
The Zips will return to Rhodes Arena for a meeting with Eastern
Michigan (11-7, 2-2) on Saturday, Jan. 22. The game will be
broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio, with tip-off slated for 5 p.m.
ET.
