Akron Returns To The Road To Face Duquesne

Saturday, December 9

Pittsburgh, PA

3 PM

University of Akron

Duquesne University

December 08 | Women's Basketball

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Akron at Duquesne Game Notes: 12/9/17

Akron (4-3) vs. Duquesne (8-2)

Tuesday, Dec. 9
A.J Palumbo Center
Pittsburgh, Pa. • 3:00 p.m. Live Stats: GoZips.com
Radio: SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship), for free at SportsRadio1350.com and on iHeartRadio. Due to scheduling conflicts, you can listen to the broadcast in its entirety following the men's basketball game at 2 p.m., with Bill Morgan on the call from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Watch: Atlantic10 Network

Whats Ahead

Akron returns to the road for the first time since the 2017-18 season opener on Nov. 12, as the Zips head back to Pennsylvania to square off with Duquesne on Saturday, Dec. 9, at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Scouting The Dukes

The 8-2 Dukes find themselves atop the Atlantic10 conference standings through 10 games. Duquesne has won its last six contests and eight of its last nine. The Dukes have defeated two ACC members in Pittsburgh (66-53) and Virginia (74-63), and most recently beat fellow member of the Mid-American Conference, Toledo (73-54), the reigning MAC Tournament champions.

Four of the Dukes five starters are averaging double-figures with Chassidy Omogrosso posting a team-high 17.3 points per tilt, while adding 3.4 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. Julijana Vojinovic averages a team-best .463 percent (31-for-67) from three-point range en route to 16.7 points per contest. Conor Richardson owns a team-best .462 percent from the floor and 10.9 points per outing, while the team leader in rebounds, Kadri-Ann Lass, averages 6.4 boards and 10.0 points per contest.

Probable Starters

Duquesne: Chassidy Omogrosso, Julijana Vojinovic, Conor Richardson, Kadri-Ann Lass, Paige Cannon.

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

Series History

Akron and Duquesne first met on the hardwood in 1984 in Akron, Ohio. Since the inaugural meeting, the Zips and Dukes have duked it out six times, as Duquesne owns a 6-1 all-time series record against Akron.

Last Time Out

The University of Akron women's basketball team nearly rallied from an 18-point deficit, but in the end the Zips were unable to overcome a 17.1 percent shooting effort in the first half as Duquesne bettered Akron, 67-57, on Dec. 17, 2016, at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Zips were led by a 17-point performance from Hannah Plybon. Akron also garnered 13- and 11-point efforts from Alex Ricketts and Alli Ball. Directing three Dukes in double-figures in scoring was Chassidy Omogrosso with a game-high 19 points. Adding 12 and 11 points, respectively, were Kadri-Ann Lass and Amadea Szamosi.

History Against The Atlantic10 Conference

Akron has met six of the 14 current members of the A10 Conference and holds a 5-21 record against the conference including against Dayton (0-9), Duquesne (1-6), George Mason (2-0), St. Bonaventure (0-3), St. Joesph's (0-3), and St. Louis (2-1).

Coaches

Duquesne: Dan Burt roams the sidelines for the Dukes in his fifth season as head coach of the Duquesne women's basketball program. Since joining the Dukes' program, Burt has turned in four 20 win seasons and has won at least 18 games in all five seasons, including a career-best 28 wins in 2015-16.

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 174-177 (.496) at Akron and a 400-330 (.548) in her 25 years as a head coach.

With A Win Over Duquesne, The Zips Would

Earn their fifth win of the 2017-18 season.
Win their second straight game
Improve its winning percentage against the Dukes to .250.
Earn its first win at Duquesne
Beat the Dukes for the first time since 2006

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 seven games, Edmonds is averaging 10.9 points, a team-high 3.7 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 teams' third-leading scorer, 7.1 points per game, and leads the squad in rebounding with 58 total rebounds, 8.3 per contest.

Following a career-best year in 2016-17, Sefcik has scored in double figures in five straight contests and six of Akron's seven 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 115 minutes of play and seven starts, Burry is averaging 6.4 points and 5.1 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.) made their collegiate debuts for the Zips three games into the season and have combined to score 62 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 12/7)

Rated second in defensive rebounds (29.4/contest).
Akron ranks second in scoring defense (60.0 pts/game).
Ranked third in defensive rebound percentage (.736).
Rated fourth in field goal percentage defense (.374).
Akron averages 40.6 rebounding offense per game which ranks fifth.
Ranked fifth in free throw percentage (.714).
Zips defense ranks sixth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.303).
Averages 2.7 blocks per contest which rank sixth.
Akron's turnover margin of 1.43 ranks seventh in the league

Where They Rank in the MAC, Individually (as of 12/7)

Megan Sefcik ranks 13th in scoring (13.9 pts/game) and Shaunay Edmonds is rated 27th (10.9 pts/game).
In the rebounding category, Haliegh Reinoehl ranks sixth (8.3/game) and Caitlin Vari ranks T-12th (6.3/game).
Shaunay Edmonds sits 13th in assists per contest (3.7).
At the free throw line, Edmonds ranks sixth (.857) and Reinoehl is rated tied for seventh (.846).
Sefcik is tied for fourth in three-pointers per contest (3.1) and 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.393)
Reinoehl is rated sixth in defensive rebounds per tilt (5.6) and offensive rebounds per game (2.7), while Caitlin Vari ranks tied for T-13th defensive rebounds (4.4) and Greta Burry ranks T-13th in offensive rebounds (2.0).
Shaunay Edmonds ranks 12th in the steals category (1.9/contest).

Where They Rank in the Program

Megan Sefcik needs 9 three-pointers made and 30 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 (10.9) and Megan Sefick (13.9), 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 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 8.6 assists per contest and 60 of Akron's 87 assists.
The Zips have won the battle on the glass in four of its seven games.
The Zips have won five of their last seven 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 straight games and hit at least three triples in six contests
In the 75-58 win over YSU, Shayna Harmon tallied a career-best 10 points.

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.

Education Day... An Akron Tradition

The University of Akron Women's Basketball team will hold its fifth-annual Education Day on Tuesday, Nov. 28, as the Zips host Winthrop. Game time at James A. Rhodes Arena is set for 10:30 a.m.

For the inaugural Education Day in 2013, the brainchild of women's basketball head coach Jodi Kest, the Zips drew approximately 400 students and teachers.

The Zips are expecting nearly 1,000 fifth-grade students coming from all across Akron with nearly 16 schools attending.

Students will have pre-, in-, and post-game "homework" that they will complete based on the outcome of the game. Questions have been integrated into the assignments relating to the game of basketball for example; score at halftime, leading scorer, scoring percentages, etc. as well as a portion about promoting an active and healthy lifestyle.

Zips Women's basketball Drafts Brayden McDonald from TeamImpact

The University of Akron women's basketball team and head coach Jodi Kest announced the signing of Brayden McDonald on Nov. 21 The 8-year-old Akron native signed her national letter of intent to join the Zips' women's basketball squad this season.

Team IMPACT, an organization that connects children facing chronic or life-threatening illnesses to college athletic teams in an effort to improve their quality of life, orchestrated Brayden's recruitment with the Akron women's basketball program. Brayden's determination to persevere through adversity has already made her an inspiration to her Zips teammates.

Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 1,300 children with more than 500 colleges and universities in 47 states, reaching over 35,000 participating student-athletes. The child joins the athletic team and the student-athletes join the child's support team – from Draft Day to Graduation.

A Night To Remember

On the first night of the 2017 Akron Classic, five Akron players each set a career-mark in the Zips 66-54 win over Southeastern Louisiana. Haliegh Reinoehl posted her first double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Caitlin Vari grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds, Alyssa Clay scored a career-best eight points in a career-high 14 minutes of play, and Shayna Harmon dished out a career-most four assists.

Up Next

The Zips return home to James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 4:30 pm with a contest against Ohio Christian.