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Western Michigan
Clutch shooting lifts Akron past Western Michigan, 69-66
February 04 | Women's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – It was a night of timely triples from Akron sophomore Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) as she hit a long ball with the game locked in a 64-all tie and 20 seconds to play to give the Zips' women's basketball team the edge they needed Wednesday night to defeat Mid-American Conference Western Division leader Western Michigan (14-7, 7-3 MAC), 69-66, at James A. Rhodes Arena.
After Akron (17-4, 7-3 MAC) held the lead for nearly nine-straight minutes, a three-point play from the Bronco's Miracle Woods tied the game at 62-all with 1:20 remaining.
Junior Anita Brown (Warren, Ohio) grabbed an offensive board and got fouled on the ensuing possession before sinking a pair of free throws for a 64-62 Akron lead with 55 seconds to play.
Western Michigan posted two free throws with 37 seconds left to knot the game at 64-all, setting up Plybon's clutch perimeter play.
Freshman Kerri McMahan (Novi, Mich.) clinched the victory for Akron making a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining in the game to provide the final 69-66 advantage. She finished the affair dishing out a team-high five assists.
Brown led the Zips in scoring with 21 points. She matched her offensive performance with six boards, four of which came on the defensive end.
Plybon's 5-of-9 shooting effort from beyond the arc helped her end the night with 19 points, while posting five rebounds.
Senior Sina King (Waterford, Ohio) and junior DiAndra Gibson (Ravenna, Ohio) both fell one rebound shy of collecting a double-double. King's 12 total points came with nine rebounds, while Gibson also ended the game with nine rebounds, seven on the defensive glass. Gibson posted eight total points.
Despite King and Gibson's rebounding effort, the teams ended the game locked in a 38-38 rebounding tie.
Marquisha Harris led the Broncos in scoring with 22 points and a team-high seven boards.
The Zips connected on 41.7 percent of their shots on the evening, including a 41.2 percent mark from downtown, making seven triples. Western Michigan posted a 42.4 percent shooting night.
The Broncos posted three quick turnovers to start the game, allowing Akron to get out to a 11-4 lead, with King responsible for six of Akron's points at the 16:46 mark.
The Zips then suffered from their own miscues as they were held scoreless for over five minutes, inhibited by four turnovers, two of which were as the result of steals by Western Michigan.
Akron remained in the lead despite the scoring drought when a Plybon triple fought off a one-point game to make it 13-10 with 11:20 to play.
Western Michigan scored seven uninterrupted points to take its first lead of the game, 14-13, with 9:37 left in the half. A feed from Brown inside the key to Gibson on a fastbreak tied the game at 17-17, before the Broncos took control again and took off on an 8-0 run for a game-high eight-point lead.
Back-to-back triples from Brown and Plybon locked the game into its second tie, this time at 25-25 at the 4:04 mark of the first period. Western Michigan narrowly outscored Akron through the end of the half as the Broncos held a 31-30 advantage at the intermission.
Gibson completed the three-point play for a 38-36 Akron lead with 16:04 to play. It was the Zips' first lead since the 10:43 mark of the first half.
Soon after, Akron relinquished the lead until a three-pointer from freshman Alli Ball (St. Louis, Mo.) gave the Zips a lead that stuck up through the final possessions.
Akron next travels to DeKalb, Ill., to battle Northern Illinois in a 6 p.m. ET tilt on Saturday, Feb 7. The game is set to air on ESPN3.
