The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Malone
Akron Opens 2016-17 Campaign Hosting Malone
November 11 | Women's Basketball
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AKRON VS. MALONE GAME NOTES - 11/12/16 (PDF)
Akron (0-0) vs. Malone (0-0)
Saturday, Nov. 12
James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio • 2 p.m.
Live Stats: www.gozips.com
Webstream: www.gozips.com
Radio: SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship), for free at SportsRadio1350.com and on iHeartRadio. Bill Morgan will have the call starting with the pregame show starting at 1:50 p.m.
Television: None
What's Ahead
The University of Akron women's basketball team under the direction of 11th-year head coach Jodi Kest hits the court on Saturday, Nov. 12, as the Zips open their 43rd season of intercollegiate women's basketball hosting Malone in a 2 p.m. tilt at James A. Rhodes Arena.
A Look at Malone
Malone enters Saturday's game versus the Zips after turning in a 9-18 mark a season ago. A trio of Pioneers averaged double-figure scoring during the 2015-16 campaign with Rachel Goddard, Tara Schaffter and Chrissie Vaughan registering 14.0, 11.8 and 10.4 points per contest, respectively. Goddard is the leading returning scorer for Malone this season. Bri Libertore was the Pioneers' top rebounder pulling down 6.9 caroms per tilt. Malone recorded 62.5 points per game and connected at more than 38 percent (.381) from the field and at a 32.9-percent clip from beyond the arc.
Series History
Akron will be meeting Malone for the 11th time in program history with the Zips leading the all-time series, 7-3. In the last encounter between the two schools, Akron registered a 82-71 overtime triumph past the Pioneers on Dec. 3, 1983 inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Coaches
Malone: Rick Tice is in his first season leading the Malone program.
Akron: In her 11th year on the Akron sidelines as head coach, is Jodi Kest, who has a 161-153 mark (.513), including 387-306 (.558) overall, in her 25th year as a head coach.
A Look at the 2016-17 Zips
Headlining the Zips' lineup this season will be senior Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio), who earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference accolades last year averaging 16.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per contest. She registered a school-record 104 three-pointers en route to scoring in double figures in 27 games, including recording 20 or more points in 11 tilts.
Junior Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio) and senior Alex Ricketts (Mercer, Pa.) also played significant roles in Akron's success a year ago.
Ricketts, along with Plybon and graduate transfer Brittany Gordon (South Charleston, W. Va.) comprise Akron's senior class for the 2016-17 campaign.
Burry appeared in 33 games, including 32 starts for the Zips a season ago, averaging 7.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per contest. She ranked sixth in the MAC in field goal percentage (.522) and shot a team-best 52.2 percent from the field, while leading Akron in offensive rebounds (78).
Ricketts played in all 33 contests for the Zips during the 2015-16 campaign, including making a pair of starts, en route to averaging 3.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
The Zips are also expecting solid contributions from its junior class of Alli Ball (St. Louis, Mo.), Lauren Hung (Waterford, Mich.) and Kaitlyn Flowers (Lompoc, Calif.), along with redshirt sophomore Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) and sophomore Fredniqua Walker (Cleveland, Ohio).
Ball played in 30 contests last season averaging 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, while Hung appeared in 23 games registering 3.0 points per tilt and Flowers earned playing time in five games.
Averaging 2.3 points per contest in 27 games was Sefcik, while Walker returns after appearing in five games for the Zips as a freshman.
The experience of Akron's upperclassmen will be key to the Zips, as Kest and her staff have added to the mix a talented core of six true freshmen this season. The first-year players include; Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.), Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio), Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) and Brooke Kurucz (Parkersburg, W. Va.).
Preseason Projections
Akron senior Hannah Plybon was named to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference East team in a preseason poll of 12 conference coaches, the league office announced Oct. 27.
The Zips were picked to finish third as a team in the MAC East Division behind Ohio (69 points) and 2015-16 MAC Tournament Champion Buffalo (60 points). Following Akron (48 points) was Bowling Green (30 points), Miami (27 points) and Kent State (18 points).
In the MAC West, Central Michigan (72 points) received all 12 first-place votes and was named the favorite to win the division. Ball State (53 points) and Toledo (53 points) were pegged to finish second and were followed by Western Michigan (34 points), Northern Illinois (25 points) and Eastern Michigan (15 points).
Also voted on by the coaches was the predicted 2017 MAC Regular Season Champion. Central Michigan received six of the 12 first-place votes, while Ohio (five) and Buffalo (one) collected the remaining championships tallies.
In a tabulation of the MAC Championship winner, Central Michigan was selected as the favorite earning seven first-place tallies. The Chippewas were followed again by Ohio with four votes, while Buffalo rounded out the poll with the final tally.
Plybon in Akron's 1,000-Point Club
With her second of two free throws with 46 seconds remaining in Akron's 77-65 victory past Miami on Feb. 6, 2016, Hannah Plybon joined the 1,000-point club at Akron. Plybon will enter the Malone contest with 1,182 career points.
Zips Ink Four for 2017 Recruiting Class
The University of Akron women's basketball team, under the leadership of 11th-year head coach Jodi Kest, has announced the addition of four student-athletes joining the Zips' squad for the 2017-18 campaign.
Donning the Akron uniform next season will be Kynnedy Azubike (Columbus, Ohio/Africentric), Taylor Gregory (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon), Sarah Leyendecker (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Mother of Mercy (Ohio)), and Destiny Perkins (McCordsville, Ind./Lawrence North), who have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Zips' program for the 2017-18 campaign.
A 6-0 guard from Africentric High School in Columbus, Ohio, Azubike averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per contest as a junior en route to earning All-City accolades. She helped her squad capture a state title in Division III in 2016.
A 6-2 forward from Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Gregory registered 14.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per contest as a junior en route to earning first-team all-conference honors.
A 6-4 forward/center from Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, Leyendecker averaged 8.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a junior en route to earning second-team all-conference recognition.
A 5-4 point guard from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Ind., Perkins recorded 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 4.0 steals per contest as a junior en route to earning honorable mention all-state accolades. She is the No. 23 rated point guard according to 2017 ESPN HoopGurlz.
Akron in Close Games
Akron has been involved in 60 games decided by five points or fewer under head coach Jodi Kest. A breakdown of those matches is as follows; one-point difference (9-9), two-point difference (11-4), three-point difference (4-4), four-point difference (4-7) and five-point difference (2-6).
Zips' Offensive Progress Report
In Akron's 33 games last season, this is how the Zips fared from the field: 50 percent: .500 (Eastern Michigan-2), 40 percent: . 476 (Valparaiso), .476 (UCF), .474 (Kent State-1), .472 (Miami-1), .466 (Bowling Green-2), .457 (Rochester College), .450 (Kent State-2), .441 (Buffalo-3), .443 (Ball State), .426 (Toledo-2), .426 (Northern Colorado), .423 (Florida Atlantic), .419 (Youngstown State), .412 (Bowling Green-1), .411 (Northern Kentucky), .407 (Toledo), .404 (Western Michigan), .400 (Buffalo-2), .400 (Central Michigan-1), .400 (San Diego), 30 percent: .397 (Florida Gulf Coast), .391 (Bucknell), .390 (Buffalo-1), .371 (Ohio-2), .348 (Northern Illinois), .347 (Winthrop), .344 (Miami-3), .339 (Miami-2), .313 (Central Michigan-2), .310 (Northern Iowa), 20 percent: .299 (Eastern Michigan-1), .274 (Ohio-1).
Akron's Defensive Progress Report
In the Zips' 33 games last season, this is how Akron's opponents fared from the field: 50 percent: .588 (Central Michigan-1), .568 (Bucknell), .540 (San Diego), .500 (Kent State-1), .500 (Ball State), 40 percent: .492 (Ohio-2), .467 (Florida Atlantic), .458 (Valparaiso), .442 (Kent State-2), .437 (Buffalo-3), .407 (Northern Illinois), 30 percent: .397 (Western Michigan), .397 (Ohio-1), .393 (Toledo-2), .393 (Northern Colorado), .391 (Toledo), .391 (Florida Gulf Coast), .385 (Eastern Michigan-2), .385 (Central Michigan-2), .375 (Miami-2), .375 (Bowling Green-2), .365 (Eastern Michigan-1), .365 (Northern Kentucky), .343 (UCF), .333 (Miami-1), .322 (Miami-3), .307 (Winthrop), 20 percent: .295 (Youngstown State), .292 (Buffalo-2), .292 (Buffalo-1), .276 (Bowling Green-1), .265 (Northern Iowa), .216 (Rochester College).
What Is a Zip?
• One of the unique nicknames in collegiate athletics belongs to The University of Akron.
• Originally Zippers, athletic director Kenneth "Red" Cochrane officially shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Twenty-five years earlier a campus-wide contest had been conducted to choose a nickname for the University's athletics teams.
• Suggestions submitted by students, faculty, and alumni included Golden Blue Devils, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks, Hillbillies, Kangaroos, and Cheveliers.
• The winner, freshman Margaret Hamlin, received a prize of $10 for Zippers, a $6 pair of rubber overshoes and a brand name of the BF Goodrich Company.
• The evolution of Zippy, UA's mascot, began 40 years ago when the student council decided the University needed a mascot.
• "Zippy" the kangaroo was officially declared the school's mascot on May 1, 1953. The first known printed reference to the mascot as "Zippy" was a 1965 Zip football press brochure. The Buchtelite's first use of the name "Zippy" came Sept. 24, 1965, in an identification of a photo of the cheerleaders listing "Mascot - 'Zippy' - Charles Huettner."
• In 2007, Zippy was named the Capital One National Mascot of the Year.
Up Next
Akron travels to University Park, Pa., for a first-ever meeting with Penn State on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Game time at the Bryce Jordan Center is slated for 7 p.m.
