Zips Face Ohio Christian In Final Home Non-Conference Contest

Saturday, December 16

Akron, Ohio

4:30 pm

University of Akron

Ohio Christian University

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Zips Face Ohio Christian In Final Home Non-Conference Contest

December 15 | Women's Basketball

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Akron vs Ohio Christian Game Notes: 12/16/17

Akron (4-4) vs. Ohio Christian (6-5)

Saturday, Dec. 16
James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron, Ohio. • 4:30 p.m.

Live Stats: 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 4:15 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3

Whats Ahead

With the 2017-18 non-conference schedule winding down, the Zips are slated for their final non-conference home contest in an afternoon matinée with Ohio Christian on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 4:30 p.m. The contest between the Zips and Trailblazers will air live on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN App with Michael Reghi and Jacki Windon on the call.

Scouting The Trailblazers

Ohio Christian heads into its tilt with Akron holding a 6-5 record and have lost four straight games after winning six of its first seven contests, including a four-game win streak to start the season.

The Trailblazers Staci Dinsmore and Montrail Roberts are each averaging double-figure scoring with Dinsmore leading with a team-high 14.9 ppg and Roberts adding 10.6 ppg. Dinsmore is shooting a team-best .476 (10-of-21) from long range, while defensively has ripped 30 steals. To go with her 10.96 points, Roberts grabs 8.2 rebounds per contest and recorded 10 blocks. Deshay Thomas leads the squad in assists, totaling 48 for a 5.3 per tilt, while scoring 8.9 points per contest. The Trailblazers have eight players averaging over 7.0 points per game and seven who average over 20 minutes a contest.

Probable Starters

Ohio Christian: Deshay Thomas, Shawntell Parsons, Michaela Puckett, Chloe Baird, Montrail Roberts.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, Greta Burry.

Series History

The Zips and Trailblazers are meeting for the third time in program history. The two teams first met in 2014 and squared off again in 2016 with the Zips coming out on top to own a 2-0 all-time series advantage.

Last Time Out

The University of Akron women's basketball team claimed a 69-52 victory over Ohio Christian on Dec. 28, 2016, at James A. Rhodes Arena, in the Zips' final game of the non-conference schedule.

Hannah Plybon led all players with 17 points, while Greta Burry notched her fourth career double-double with a season-high 15-point, 13-rebound performance. Haliegh Reinoehl also scored a career-best 10 points, while fellow classmate Shaunay Edmonds tallied eight points. Alli Ball added a career-high six assists.

History Against The River States Conference

Akron has met three of the 13 current members of the River States Conference and holds a 5-2 record against the league including against Carlow College (1-0), Ohio Christian (2-0), and Rio Grande (2-2).

Coaches

Ohio Christian: Jamey Batten is amidst his fourth season as head coach of the Ohio Christian women's basketball program after taking over in 2014. In his career with the Trailblazers, Batten has earned a 56-41 record.

Akron: Jodi Kest, the all-time winningest coach in program history, is in her 12th-season in charge of the Zips program. The longest-tenured coach in the Mid-American Conference holds an all-time record of 174-178 (.494) at Akron and a 400-331 (.546) in her 25 years as a head coach.

With A Win Over Ohio Christian, The Zips Would

Earn their fifth win of the 2017-18 season.
Claim their third win over Ohio Christian
Increase win total over River States Conference to 6-1.
Close out the 2017-18 home non-conference schedule with a win

2017-18 Zip Breakdown

Under the guidance of Kest, the Zips have 13 young and talented players eager to make an impact in 2017-18 highlighted by returning starters, sophomore guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), sophomore forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), and sophomore forward Caitlin Vari (Revere, Ohio), along with the veteran presence of senior forward Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio), senior guard Lauren Hung (Waterford, Mich.), and redshirt junior guard Megan Sefcik.

Edmonds earned the role of starting point guard for the Zips as a freshman and has not looked back since. Through eight games, Edmonds is averaging 11.1 points, a team-high 4.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season-best 19 points, tied her career mark with seven assists and a season-best four steals against Youngstown State.

After coming off the bench in a reserve role during the first 13 games of her freshman season, Reinoehl became a staple in the starting-five down the stretch for Akron and into the 2017-18 season. Reinoehl recorded a career-best game against Southeastern Louisiana scoring 21 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double as a Zip. The forward is the team's fourth-leading scorer, 6.5 points per game, and leads the squad in rebounding with 66 total rebounds, 8.3 per contest.

Following a career-best year in 2016-17, Sefcik has scored in double figures in six of Akron's eight games. Sefcik tied a career-mark 20 points, twice, against Youngstown State and Winthrop, 19 points in the season opener against Bucknell, 13 versus Florida Gulf Coast, 13 against Maryland, and 10 against Eastern Kentucky.

Burry, the Zip with the most playing experience on the roster, is the centerfold of the squad. In 140 minutes of play and eight starts, Burry is averaging 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per tilt. Burry grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds against SLU and scored a season-best 14 points against EKU.

Sophomores Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) have seen a significant bump in playing time in year two. Harmon has started all eight contests and owns the second-most assists on the squad (22). Clay has seen 95 minutes of action through eight contests, almost double her playing time in 13 games in 2016-17. Clay owns a team-high .370 shooting percentage from beyond the arc (11-of-29) and scored a career-high 13 points against Duquesne.

Freshmen Kynnedy Azubike (Columbus, Ohio), Sarah Leyendecker (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) and Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) made their collegiate debuts for the Zips three games into the season and have combined to score 72 points. Perkins has taken over the backup point guard role after returning from injury and has since recorded 14 assists, third-most on the squad.

Kest named Burry, Sefcik, and Reinoehl as the 2017-18 season captains.

Where They Rank In The MAC As A Team (as of 12/13)

Akron ranks second in scoring defense (60.8 pts/game).
Ranked third in defensive rebound percentage (.721).
Rated third in field goal percentage defense (.371).
Rated fourth in defensive rebounds (29.1/contest).
Zips defense ranks fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.295).
Ranked fourth in free throw percentage (.718).
The Zips sharpshooters rank fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.317)
Averages 2.7 blocks per contest which ranks sixth.
Akron averages 39.8 rebounding offense per game which ranks seventh.
The Zips turnover margin of 1.00 ranks seventh in the league
Averages 7.3 three-pointers per game, ranking seventh

Where They Rank in the MAC, Individually (as of 12/13)

Megan Sefcik ranks 15th in scoring (12.9 pts/game) and Shaunay Edmonds is rated 24th (11.1 pts/game).
In the rebounding category, Haliegh Reinoehl ranks sixth (8.3/game) and Caitlin Vari ranks 14th (5.9/game).
Shaunay Edmonds sits 11th in assists per contest (4.0).
At the free throw line, Edmonds ranks second (.870).
Sefcik is fourth in three-pointers per contest (3.0).
Reinoehl is rated sixth in defensive rebounds per tilt (5.6) and seventh in offensive rebounds per game (2.7), while Greta Burry ranks T-10th in offensive rebounds (2.1).
Shaunay Edmonds ranks 14th in the steals category (1.8/contest).
Alyssa Clay and Megan Sefcik rank 13th and 14th in the MAC in three-point percentage, .379 and .375.

Where They Rank in the Program

Megan Sefcik needs 7 three-pointers made and 22 three-point attempts to break into the programs all-time top ten list.

Zips Tidbits

Kynnedy Azubike and Sarah Leyendecker made their regular season college debuts against Bucknell (11/12)
Lauren Hung played a career-high 25 minutes against Bucknell.
Megan Sefcik's 19 points are a career-best in a season-opening game.
Two Akron players, Shaunay Edmonds (11.1) and Megan Sefick (12.9), are averaging double-digit points.
Kynnedy Azubike scored her first career points (4) against SELU (Nov. 17).
Destiny Perkins made her collegiate debut against SELU (Nov. 17) after missing the first game due to injury.
Halieigh Reinoehl recorded her first career double-double against SELU (Nov. 17) with a career-best 21 points and pulled in 11 rebounds, one shy of her career-best.
Caitlyn Vari recorded 16 rebounds against SELU (Nov. 17), a career-best, beating her previous record of five.
Alyssa Clay played a career-high 14 minutes en route to scoring a then career-best eight points.
Destiny Perkins first significant playing time resulted in a 10 point, four assists, and two steal performance against Florida Gulf Coast (Nov. 18).
Haliegh Reinoehl tied her single-game career-best 12 rebounds against Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 22).
The point guard trio of Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon and Destiny Perkins are averaging a combined 8.5 assists per contest and 68 of Akron's 100 assists.
The Zips have won the battle on the glass in four of its eight games.
The Zips have won five of their last eight games.
In Akron's four wins, the opposition is averaging just 50.0 points per game, a shooting percentage of .321, a three-point percentage of .233, have outrebounded their opponents, 189-to-154, forced 62 turnovers, and recorded 14.3 assists per contest.
Shaunay Edmonds scored a season-best 19 points against Youngstown State, tied a career-best seven assists, and a season-high four steals.
Megan Sefcik has now tied her career mark of 20 points, twice, against Youngstown State and Winthrop. She first scored 20 points in a 78-66 win against Georgia State on Dec. 20, 2016.
Shaunay Edmonds' four triples against YSU are the most she has knocked down in a single-game in her career.
Megan Sefick has now scored in double-figures in five of the last six contests and hit at least three triples in six contests.
In the 75-58 win over YSU, Shayna Harmon tallied a career-best 10 points.
Alyssa Clay scored a career-best 13 points with 12 of her points coming from beyond the three-point line (4-for-5).

400 Milestone Club

With the Zips 75-58 win over Youngstown State, the all-time winningest coach in Akron history, Jodi Kest, earned a historic 400th career victory.

In her 25-year career, Kest earned 48 wins at Wilkes University, 105 victories at Gannon University, 73 W's at Texas A&M – Corpus Christie, and now the longest-tenured coach in the MAC earned her 174th win with UA to total her 400th career victory.

Up Next
Akron heads down to Fort Myers, Fla., to take part in the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic, hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University. The Zips are scheduled for contests against SIU Edwardsville on Wednesday, Dec. 20 and Harvard on Thursday, Dec. 21.