The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Bowling Green
Women's Basketball loses heartbreaker to Bowling Green, 77-76
March 08 | Women's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio -- Akron shot 50.9 percent from the field despite playing 37 minutes without its leading scorer, but was unable to hang on in the final seconds of the game, falling 77-76 to Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
With the score locked at 72 and 1:37 left to play, Hanna Luburgh knocked down a baseline jumper to put the Zips up by two. Carly Young was called for her fifth foul on a 3-point attempt from BGSU's Miriam Justinger at the other end with 46 seconds on the clock.
Justinger connected on all three free throws to give the Falcons a one-point edge at 75-74, but with both teams in the double-bonus, Luburgh earned a trip to the line and put in two free throws of her own, giving the Zips a one-point lead with 23 seconds to play.
Forced to go the length of the floor on its last possession, Bowling Green's Jillian Halfhill found the bottom of the net on a layup at the eight-second mark, and the Zips ran out of time to respond.
UA finishes the regular season with an overall record of 20-9 and a 14-4 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Akron will play as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, earning a double-bye into the third round. The Zips' opponent on Thursday, March 13 at 2:30 p.m. will be determined by the results of the games on Wednesday.
Luburgh led four Akron players in double figures against BGSU with 20 points, also pulling down 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
Anita Brown put together a remarkable performance off the bench, pouring in a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field in just 20 minutes of action.
Katie Nunan and Kacie Cassell added 10 points apiece for the Zips, while Young finished the day with six points and 10 rebounds.
The Zips played almost the entire game without forward Rachel Tecca, who left the floor in the first three minutes with an injury and would not return. Akron still outscored Bowling Green in the paint, 34-24, despite the absence of Tecca in the post.
Akron benefitted from a season-high 38 points off the bench, but BGSU (27-3, 17-1 MAC) was able to gain ground through the 29 points it scored off UA turnovers.
Neither team led by more than seven points in the contest that featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes.
Two early triples from the Falcons would give Bowling Green the advantage as the Zips trailed by a narrow margin throughout the first portion of the half. The Falcons worked their way up to what would be their greatest lead of six points with the score at 14-8 and 12:57 left in the period.
A jumper from Brown at the 10:20 mark would be the first points out of seven that she would score over the next two minutes to spark an 11-3 run for Akron. Megan Barilla dished to Nunan on the block to give UA its first lead since the opening buckets at 17-16. Hannah Plybon closed out the run with a jumper that put the Zips up 22-19.
Six-straight points would generate some breathing room and give UA a 33-26 lead with 2:39 remaining in the first half. The Zips maintained their lead and stayed ahead of the Falcons, 38-32, at the intermission.
BGSU's Jill Stein opened the second half by scoring six uninterrupted points to tie the game at 38-all by the 17:40 mark. Akron built its lead back up to five points on a layup from DiAndra Gibson with 10:21 on the clock and the score at 55-50, a lead it would hold onto until there were just over two and a half minutes to play.
