The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Malone
Women's Basketball Defeats Malone 85-54 in Exhibition Game
November 03 | Women's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – Taylor Ruper made five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points as The University of Akron women's basketball team defeated Malone, 85-54, in its lone exhibition game Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Backing up Ruper was Hanna Luburgh with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Sina King added 13 points and a game-high nine boards. Kacie Cassell had nine assists for the Zips, and Rachel Tecca added eight points and five rebounds in her grand return to the court.
Selana Reale and Deborah Simmers led Malone's scoring effort with 15 and 12 points.
As a team, UA shot 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the floor and held the Pioneers to 20-of-61 (32.8 percent) shooting on the night. The Zips knocked down 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from 3-point range and held a 28-8 advantage from the free throw line. Akron also out-rebounded Malone, 51-26.
The Zips jumped out to an 8-5 lead at the first media timeout as a jumper by Tecca, a Ruper trey and three free throws from King provided the early Akron scoring.
The two teams continued to go back-and-forth as Luburgh and Ruper each went 2-of-2 from the free throw line to keep the Akron lead at three (14-11) at the 11:57 mark.
Akron then went on an 11-2 run, capped by back-to-back threes from Ruper to take a 25-13 lead with 9:29 left in the half.
Another 3-pointer by Ruper, followed by a trey from Cassell and a Luburgh lay-up gave the Zips their largest lead of the first half (17) at 41-24 going into halftime. Ruper led all scorers with 14 first half points, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
UA continued its hot three point shooting to start the second half as Luburgh drained two with another from Ruper in between to help the Zips extend their lead to 22 at 56-34 with 15:14 left in the game.
A 15-6 run by the Zips opened their lead to over 30 for the first time (71-40) with 7:14 left to play when Cassell made two free throws. Akron's largest lead of the game would be 38 on two separate occasions, the last coming at the 2:31 mark when Cari Guyton made a lay-up to make the score 81-43 in the Zips' favor.
Akron opens the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 10 when they host Hiram at 12 noon.
