A Match-Up With Toledo Awaits Zips On First MAC Road Trip

Wednesday, January 3

Toledo, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

University of Toledo

A Match-Up With Toledo Awaits Zips On First MAC Road Trip

January 02 | Women's Basketball

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Akron at Toledo Notes: 1/3/18

Akron (6-6, 0-1 MAC) at Toledo (9-4, 0-1 MAC)

Wednesday, Jan. 3
Savage Arena
Toledo, 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 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3

Whats Ahead

Akron heads out on its first road trip of the new year and first Mid-American Conference play road swing as the Zips travel to Toledo, Ohio for a match-up with the Rockets on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. from Savage Arena. The contest between the Zips and Rockets can be seen live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

Scouting The Rockets

The reigning Mid-American Conference Tournament champions, the Toledo Rockets, enter the contest with the Zips with a 9-4 overall record and an 0-1 record inside league play after dropping the conference opener to Ohio, 61-78. The Rockets nine non-conference wins were highlighted by a five-game win streak which included victories over Louisiana (79-55), Dayton (68-50), Iona College (74-57), Maine (65-64), and St. Bonaventure (58-39).

The Rockets average 67.0 points per contest through 13 games and are shooting the ball at an efficient 41.7 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from long range. Toledo has assisted on 222 baskets, which averages out to 16.9 assists per game, which is fourth-most in the MAC.

Junior center Kaayla McIntyre leads the Rockets offensive attack scoring 14.5 points per tilt. Toledo's inside presence also leads the squad in rebounds (105/8.1ppg), blocks (21), and field goal percentage (.661). Two other members of the Rockets unit, Jay-Ann Bravo Harriot and Mikaela Boyd are each posting double figures in the scoring column with 11.7 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. The trio scored a combined 50 of Toledo's 61 points against Ohio.

Probable Starters

Toledo: Kaayla McIntyre, Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriot, Mikaela Boyd, Sarah St. Fort, Mariella Santucci.

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

Series History

The Zips and Rockets are set to meet for the 55th time in each program's respective history's on Wednesday. Toledo owns an all-time record of 41-13 over Akron since the first meeting in the 1974-75 season.

The Last Meeting

A nearly eight-minute second-quarter scoring drought proved too much for the University of Akron women's basketball team to overcome as the Zips (9-21) dropped a 65-37 decision at Toledo (22-8) in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Monday, March 6, at Savage Arena.

Hannah Plybon and Alex Ricketts along with Shaunay Edmonds directed Akron with six points apiece in the affair. Olivia Cunningham led the Rockets with a game-high 13 points, while Mariella Santucci and Jada Woody added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Mid-American Conference Member

The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 26 years after joining the league in 1992 from the North Star Conference

Coaches

Toledo: Tricia Cullop is in her 10th season at the helm of the Toledo Rockets women's basketball program. Cullop has compiled a 334-210 overall record, while posting a 180-116 MAC record. Cullop has led the Rockets to a MAC Tournament championship and two MAC regular-season titles.

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 176-180 (.494) at Akron and a 402-333 (.547) in her 25 years as a head coach.

With A Win Over Toledo The Zips Would

Earn their seventh win of the 2017-18 season.
Claim its first MAC win
Earn the program's 450th all-time victory.

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 (Austintown, Ohio).

Edmonds has taken on the role as the team's facilitator and floor general, while also having the ability to score the ball. Through 12 games, Edmonds is averaging 10.6 points, a team-high 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season-best 19 points, tied her career mark with seven assists against Youngstown State and a career-best six steals against Harvard.

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 in the 2017-18 season. Reinoehl recorded a career-best game against Southeastern Louisiana (21 pts/11 reb) and a double-double against SIU Edwardsville (11 pts/10 reb). The forward is the teams third-leading scorer, 6.9 points per game and leads the squad in rebounding with 96 total rebounds, 8.0 per contest.

Following a career-best year last season, Sefcik has continued to impress and has scored in double figures in ten of Akron's 12 games. The Zips' guard broke the Akron single-game three-point record with 10 triples against Ohio Christian, while also tying the MAC record. The Zips sharpshooter is averaging a team-best 14.4 per game and scoring 3.7 triples per contest.

Burry, the Zip with the most playing experience on the roster, is the centerfold of the squad. In 199 minutes of play and 12 starts, Burry is averaging 6.3 points and 4.9 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 12 contests and owns the second-most assists on the squad (35). Clay has seen 175 minutes of action through 12 contests, which is over double her playing time in 13 games in 2016-17. Clay owns the teams second best shooting percentage (.400) from beyond the arc (16-of-40) 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 121 points. Perkins has taken over the backup point guard role after returning from injury and has since recorded 25 assists, third-most on the squad.

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

Up Next

Akron continues its first road trip of league play as the Zips travel to Athens, Ohio to take on the Bobcats. Tip-off between Akron and Ohio is set for 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.