Fourth Quarter Deficit Too Large To Overcome, Despite Perkins Career Night In 75-67 Loss To Miami

Wednesday, January 17

Oxford, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

0-66-11; MAC

Miami University (OH)

2-410-7; MAC

Akron

Miami

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Fourth Quarter Deficit Too Large To Overcome, Despite Perkins Career Night In 75-67 Loss To Miami

January 17 | Women's Basketball

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OXFORD, Ohio – Freshman point guard Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored a career-high 21 points, including 13 second-half points, but the deficit was too large for the Zips to overcome in the fourth quarter as Miami defeated Akron, 75-67, Wednesday night in Oxford, Ohio.

Akron (6-11, 0-6 MAC) trailed the RedHawks by a game-high 15 points at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter after the first seven minutes were controlled by Miami (10-7, 2-4 MAC) outscoring the Zips, 19-8.

However, a 9-0 run by Akron over the next two minutes would cut the deficit back down to six points (69-63). From that point on, Miami's next six points would come from the charity stripe as the Zips were in late-game formation and attempted a steal or fouled the RedHawks to stay within striking distance but could not close the gap in the final minute of play.

To go with her career-night in the point column, Perkins ripped a career-best five steals, grabbed five rebounds, and assisted on two baskets. Perkins point guard counterpart, sophomore Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), scored a team second-best 13 points to go along with six assists and five steals, while sophomore Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) rounded out the Zips trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds.

As a unit, Akron shot 40 percent from the floor (24-of-60), including a team-best 50 percent (9-of-18) in the fourth quarter alone. On the other hand, the Zips shot an uncharacteristic 16.7 percent from long range (3-of-18) and went scoreless from beyond the perimeter in the first half (0-for-10). For the game, Miami matched the Zips at 40.4 percent from the field, while shooting 23.5 percent from long range.

Akron looked to push the ball up the court quickly, especially after forcing a turnover, scoring 14 fast break points and 22 points off of turnovers.

A slow start to the game saw a low 4-3 score in favor of the Zips in the first four and a half minutes of play. Sophomore Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) scored the first four points for Akron inside the paint.

Miami shrugged off the initial slow start and found an offensive rhythm stringing together four straight buckets for nine points to claim a 12-4 lead. Reinoehl halted the RedHawks momentum with a 15-foot jumper from the baseline, her first basket of the game.

In the closing 3:14 of the first period, Akron owned a 9-6 advantage, but the early scoring spurt by Miami gave the RedHawks a plus-five advantage at the first break, 18-13. Perkins and Edmonds scored Akron's last seven points of the period.

Again, both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the first five minutes of the second stanza, shooting a collective 4-for-15 at the 5:20 mark of the second quarter.

The Zips trailed by 11 points (28-17) with 2:53 left to play in the first half, their largest deficit of the opening 20 minutes. Despite being down, Akron closed out the first half strong and aggressive pushing the ball up the court quickly resulting in six straight points cutting the Miami lead down to 28-23 heading into the locker room. While Akron gained offensive momentum, the RedHawks did not score in the final 2:45 of the half.

Out of the break, Miami scored nine straight points from 9:30-6:50 to push its lead back to nine, 35-27.

Akron would close the gap to minus-two (42-40) outscoring Miami, 11-4, in the following four minutes. Reinoehl got the run started with a triple and layup, and ended it with a steal by Perkins who went coast-to-coast for the lay-in.

With nine seconds left in the third period, Miami's Lauren Dickerson hit a three-pointer to grow its lead back to six prior to the final ten minutes of play.

The RedHawks hot start to the fourth quarter was the difference maker in the contest, despite the Zips valiant effort in the final minutes of the game.

Akron meets Central Michigan at James A. Rhodes Arena for a cross-divisional match-up on Jan. 20. Game time between the Zips and Broncos is slated for 2 p.m.