The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
2-2
Bucknell
5-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | 9 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 61 |
| Akron | 11 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 47 |
Bucknell Rallies Past Akron, 61-47
November 30 | Women's Basketball
Follow Akron Women's Basketball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Follow Coach Kest on Twitter
BOXSCORE (HTML) | BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
AKRON, Ohio – A third-quarter shooting slump proved too much for the University of Akron women's basketball team to overcome as the Zips (2-2) suffered a 61-47 setback to Bucknell (5-2) on Wednesday morning, Nov. 30, in front of a crowd of over 1,000 students from the Akron area as part of Akron's Fourth Annual Education Day.
Freshman Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and senior Alex Ricketts (Mercer, Pa.) led the Zips with a team-best six points apiece, while senior Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) added a five-point, three-rebound outing. Sune Swart directed a balanced-scoring attack for the Bison with 17 points and six rebounds. Kaitlyn Slagus chipped in a double-double with a 13-point and 11-board performance. Kyi English and Kate Walker rounded out Bucknell's double-digit scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
For the game, the Zips shot 30.2 percent (19-of-63) from the floor and converted 50 percent (6-of-12) of their attempts from the charity stripe. Akron shot 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from behind the three-point arc. The Bison hit 40 percent (20-of-50) of their shots from the field and shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the free throw line. Bucknell converted on 33.3 percent (8-of-24) of their shots from downtown.
The Zips struggled to find the bottom of the basket early, but junior Alli Ball (St. Louis, Mo.) ended that scoring slump burying a three from the corner with 5:37 remaining in the opening stanza. Akron took its first lead of the afternoon, 7-6, after a Plybon breakaway layup at the 4:39 mark.
Freshman Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) provided a spark off the bench immediately scoring a basket and registering an assist to junior Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio), putting the Zips ahead, 11-9, with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
Akron led after the first period, 11-9, limiting Bucknell to a 25-percent clip from the field in the initial stanza.
Redshirt sophomore Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) buried a triple from the right side to extend the Akron lead to 22-16 with 4:36 left in the second quarter. The Zips held the Bison without a field goal for three minutes late in the stanza and after a Reinoehl triple, the Zips were ahead 25-19 with two minutes to play in the half.
Bucknell used a 9-3 run over the last two minutes of the second half to enter the locker room trailing by only two points, 28-26.
The Zips used a balanced attack in the first half, with seven different players scoring, led by Plybon, Sefcik and Reinoehl with five points apiece.
The Bison tied the game at 30 with 7:52 left in the third quarter, and took advantage of a three-minute scoring drought for the Zips to push their lead to 37-32, forcing the Zips to use a timeout to stop the momentum. Coming out of the timeout, Bucknell connected on a triple, giving it a 40-32 lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter.
The Zips entered the final stanza of play trailing by a score of 44-34. Akron shot just 11.9 percent from the field in the third quarter, while Bucknell connected on 60 percent of its attempts.
The Bison used two three-pointers to push their lead to 50-34 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Bucknell parlayed a 10-4 over the span of three minutes to extend its lead to 57-38 with three-minute left to play in the final period.
The Zips put pressure on the Bison late in the game, using a 7-0 run of their own to try and close the gap, but the deficit proved to be too large as Akron fell to Bucknell by a final score of 61-47.
Registering their first career collegiate points in the affair for Akron were freshmen Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio), Brooke Kurucz (Parkersburg, W. Va.) and Reinoehl and sophomore Fredniqua Walker (Cleveland, Ohio).
The Zips return to action on Saturday, Dec. 3rd, when they head to Rock Hill, S. C., to face Winthrop. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
