The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
9-15, 2-11MAC
Toledo
17-7, 8-5MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 13 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 61 |
| Akron | 9 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 57 |
Zips' Determined Effort Unrewarded as Akron Falls 61-57 To Toledo
February 15 | Women's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team showed a determined effort but in the end suffered a 61-57 setback to the University of Toledo on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The contest served as the Zips' Play 4Kay game to help raise awareness of breast cancer and the Kay Yow Foundation in the memory of the late North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow.
The Rockets (17-7, 8-5 MAC) outscored the Zips, 40-24, in the paint on the evening and outrebounded Akron, 44-34, including pulling down 12 offensive rebounds.
Senior Hannah Plybon (Orrville, Ohio) led the way for Akron (9-15, 2-11 MAC) with a team-high 18 points. Senior Alex Ricketts (Mercer, Pa.) chipped in 11 points, while redshirt sophomore Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) added 10 points. Plybon connected on a trio of three-pointers, placing her only six triples shy of the third-best mark all-time in Mid-American Conference women's basketball history.
Freshman Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) equaled a career-high mark for assists dishing out a game-best seven assists.
Kaayla McIntyre paced the Rockets with a 20-point and seven-rebound performance. Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott added 19 points and pulled down a game-high nine boards.
For the contest, the Zips connected on 34.8 percent (23-of-66) of their attempts from the field and converted 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the charity stripe. Toledo hit 37.7 percent (23-of-61) of its shots from the field and delivered on 76.5 percent (13-of-17) of their free-throw attempts.
The Zips outscored the Rockets' bench by 17 points, but failed to overcome turning the ball over 18 times on the offensive end, which resulted in 14 points for Toledo.
The Rockets jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and forced the Zips into a timeout to halt the Toledo momentum. A pair of free throws from Plybon cut the Rockets' lead to three, 9-6, with 4:13 left to play in the first quarter. Sefcik followed burying a triple from the right corner to tie the game at nine, but Toledo used a four-point swing to take a 13-9 lead into the quarter break.
Ricketts opened the second quarter with a three-point play to cut the Rockets' lead to just one, 13-12, and the Zips took their first lead of the contest after a layup from junior Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio). Following the media timeout, junior Lauren Hung (Waterford, Mich.) came off the bench and connected on a triple from the right side, pushing the Akron lead to four, 19-15.
Plybon nailed a triple on the ensuing possession and followed with a layup to increase the Zips' lead to seven, 24-17, with just over three minutes to play in the half.
The Zips held the Rockets without a basket for the final 2:41 of the quarter and took a 24-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Ricketts and freshman Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) opened the half with baskets to give the Zips a 28-20 advantage, and freshman Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) added a layup to increase the Akron lead to 10, 30-20. Plybon connected on another triple, but the Rockets answered with six-straight points to cut the Zips' lead to just four, 35-31.
Edmonds converted an and-one to put Akron back up by seven points, 38-31, with just over four minutes left in the third quarter. Toledo used a four-point swing to close the third period and cut the Akron advantage to just three, 42-39 headed into the final period of play.
Plybon connected on another triple to open the fourth quarter scoring for the Zips, but the Rockets tied the game at 45 with eight minutes to play in the contest.
At the five-minute media timeout, Toledo held a 51-49 advantage, but Sefcik buried a corner triple to give Akron what proved to be its final lead of the night, 54-53.
The Rockets answered with five-straight points to retake a 58-54 margin with just over two minutes in regulation. Akron countered the Toledo run and cut the deficit to just one point, 58-57, with 20 seconds to play on a jumper by Ricketts.
The Rockets collected an offensive rebound and made a layup to take a 60-57 advantage with 13.9 seconds on the clock. Toledo converted once from the charity stripe to push its lead to four points with 11.1 seconds remaining.
The Zips failed to score in the final seconds of regulation, and fell by a final score of 61-57.
Akron returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, traveling to Buffalo, N.Y., for a 1 p.m. tilt versus Buffalo.
