Akron Closes Out Six-Game Homestand Against Youngstown State

Tuesday, December 5

Akron, Ohio

7 pm

University of Akron

Youngstown State University

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Akron Closes Out Six-Game Homestand Against Youngstown State

December 04 | Women's Basketball

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Akron vs Youngstown State Game Notes: 12/5/17

Akron (3-3) vs. Youngstown State (2-5)

Tuesday, Dec. 5
James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron, Ohio. • 7:00 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 6:45 a.m.
Watch: ESPN3

Whats Ahead

Akron closes out its six-game homestand that spanned over three weeks on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m., at the friendly confines of James A. Rhodes Arena, as the Zips square off with the Youngstown State Penguins.

Scouting The Penguins

Youngstown State enters its contest with Akron owning a 2-5 record through seven contests and have lost three straight heading into Tuesday. The Penguins earned their two wins against Loyola Chicago (73-49) and Ohio Valley (86-59), after dropping its first two contests to Pittsburgh (58-66) and Kent State (44-55). Since its second win on Nov. 20, Youngstown State fell to Bucknell (60-66), Robert Morris (52-84), and most recently, American (72-78 OT). The contest against the Zips is game three of a four-game road trip for the Penguins.

Alison Smolinski and Sarah Cash lead the Penguin's offense each scoring 10.6 points per game, while Indiya Benjamin is nearly averaging double-figures in the point column with 9.6 points per contest. Smolinski is shooting .418 from the floor and a team-best .386 from long range, Cash owns a team-high .609 shooting percentage from the field and has pulled down a team-high 31 rebounds (4.4/game), and Benjamin has dished out a team-most 31 assists as the starting point guard.

Series History

Since the first meeting between Youngstown State and Akron in 1974-75, the two teams have met on the court 56 times. The Penguins lead the all-time series with a 39-17 advantage over the Zips.

Last Time Out

Sparked by a career-high 20 points from Alex Ricketts including seven in overtime, the University of Akron women's basketball team registered a come-from-behind 76-64 victory at Youngstown State on Dec. 6, 2017.

Ricketts posted her second career double-double pulling down 10 rebounds to go along with her team-best 20 points. The Zips had four players turn in double-digit scoring performance as Ricketts, Hannah Plybon, Shaunay Edmonds, and Megan Sefcik tallied 20, 18, 12 and 12 points, respectively. The 12 points represented then a new career-high total for Edmonds.

History Against The Horizon League

Akron has met nine of the 10 current members of the Horizon League and holds a 53-94 record against the conference including against Cleveland State (17-25), Detroit Mercy (1-4), Green Bay (2-9), IUPUI (2-0), Milwaukee (0-2), Northern Kentucky (2-1), Oakland (0-3), Wright State (12-11), and Youngstown State (39-17).

Probable Starters

Youngstown State: Alison Smolinski, Sarah Cash, Indiya Benjamin, Nikki Arbanas, Natalie Myers.
Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, Greta Burry.

Coaches

Youngstown State: John Barnes is amidst his fifth season at the helm of the YSU women's basketball program. Barnes has seen nothing but success since taking over the program and holds a 68-66 record and led the Penguins to two 21-win seasons.

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 173-177 (.494) at Akron and a 399-330 (.546) in her 25 years as a head coach.

With a win over Youngstown State, the Zips would

Earn their fourth win of the 2017-18 season.
Head coach Jodi Kest would earn her 400th career victory.
Improve its winning percentage against YSU to .321.

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 six games, Edmonds is averaging 9.5 points, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season-best 17 points against No. 15 Maryland and a season-high five assists and three steals against Bucknell.

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 averaging just shy of a double-double for the season with 7.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest.

Following a career-best year in 2016-17, Sefcik has scored in double figures in four straight contests and five of Akron's six games. Sefcik tied a career-mark 20 points against 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 93 minutes of play and six starts, Burry is averaging 6.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per tilt. Burry grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds against SLU and scored a season-best 14 points against EKU.

Freshmen Kynnedy Azubike (Columbus, Ohio), Sarah Leyendecker (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) and Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) have each made their collegiate debuts for the Zips three games into the season and combined to score 58 points. Perkins has taken over the backup point guard role after returning from injury and has since recorded 12 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 12/4)

Rated second in defensive rebounds (29.7/contest).
Ranked second in defensive rebound percentage (.718).
Rated second in field goal percentage defense (.365).
Akron ranks third in scoring defense (60.3 pts/game).
Zips defense ranks fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.303).
Averages 2.7 blocks per contest which ranks sixth.
Akron averages 40.8 rebounding offense per game which ranks fifth.
Ranked sixth in free throw percentage (.698).
Akron's turnover margin of 2.17 ranks sixth in the league

Where They Rank in the MAC, Individually (as of 12/4)

Megan Sefcik ranks 14th in scoring (12.8 pts/game)
In the rebounding category, Haliegh Reinoehl ranks fifth (8.7/game) and Caitlin Vari ranks T-10th (6.5/game).
Shaunay Edmonds sits 14th in assists per contest (3.2), while Shayna Harmon is rated T-15th (2.8)
At the free throw line, Edmonds ranks third (.882) and Reinoehl is rated tied for 10th (.818).
Sefcik is tied for fourth in three-pointers per contest (3.0)
Reinoehl is rated sixth in defensive rebounds per tilt (6.0) and offensive rebounds per game (2.7), while Caitlin Vari ranks tied for 14th in offensive rebounds (2.0) and 15th in defensive rebounds (4.5).

Where They Rank in the Program

Megan Sefcik needs 13 three-pointers made and 38 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 Zips, Haliegh Reinoehl, and Caitlin Vari, are each averaging double-digit rebounds.
Three Akron players, Shaunay Edmonds (12.5), Haliegh Reinohel (12.5), and Megan Sefick (10.5), are averaging double-digit points, with each scoring over 20 points thus far.
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 career-best eight points.
Destiny Perkins first significant playing time resulted in a 10 point, four assist, 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 8.0 assists per contest and 48 of Akron's 69 assists.
The Zips have won the battle on the glass in three of its six games.
Megan Sefcik's 20 points against Winthrop tied a career-best mark. She last scored 20 points in a 78-66 win against Georgia State on Dec. 20, 2016.
The Zips have won three of their last five games.
In Akron's three wins, the opposition is averaging just 47.3 points per game, a shooting percentage of .288, a three-point percentage of .200, have outrebounded their opponents, 150-to-130, forced 49 turnovers, and recorded 13.0 assists per contest.
Shaunay Edmonds scored a season-best 17 points against No. 15 Maryland.

The Coach Kest SHow

Every Monday throughout the 2017-18 season, catch head coach Jodi Kest and GoZips.com's Jonathan Platten LIVE on the Zips women's basketball Facebook for the Coach Kest Show at noon. The two talk about all things Zips women's basketball, including the past week's contests and preview the upcoming week's contests.

Akron Zips Podcast, Our Zipscast

Each week, GoZips.com's Jonathan Platten sits down and catches up with those associated with the Akron Zips women's basketball team, including the players, coaches, and alumni. The Akron Zips podcast gives the student-athletes and those surrounding the program a chance to tell their story. All podcasts can be found at Soundcloud.com by searching AkronZips.

Akron's Home ESPN3 Basketball Broadcasts

Under the guidance of producer Mike Bacon and Classic Television Productions, the Zips' broadcasts will feature television veteran Michael Reghi on play-by-play and Jacki Windon on color commentary

Three-time Emmy Award winner Reghi, a familiar face on MAC television broadcasts, has provided play-by-play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is also a primary announcer for football and basketball games on the MAC Television Network and Sports Time Ohio.

Windon, who works for the Ohio High School Athletic Association, has extensive television commentary experience on Fox Sports Ohio and Time Warner Cable broadcasts. The former head women's basketball coach at Case Western Reserve also worked for Zips Athletics for three seasons, including two seasons with the women's basketball team.

The ESPN3 broadcasts are FREE to fans online at www.GoZips.com who have a WatchESPN affiliated TV or Internet provider.

Zips Live Radio Show

Every Thursday throughout the season from 7-8 p.m. ET, Akron head coaches can be heard on the weekly radio program Zips Live, presented by Lee Hyder and Associates. The show airs locally on 1350 AM (WARF) and originates from the Spaghetti Warehouse (510 S. Main Street). A free audio stream is available on www.SportsRadio1350.com.

Up Next

Akron hits the road for the first time in three weeks after a six-game homestand as the Zips travel to Duquesne on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa.