Back and Forth Battle Between Akron and Western Michigan Lands In Favor of Broncos, 59-51

Wednesday, January 24

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

6-12 (0-8MAC)

Western Michigan University

12-8 (5-3MAC)

Western Michigan

Akron

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Back and Forth Battle Between Akron and Western Michigan Lands In Favor of Broncos, 59-51

January 24 | Women's Basketball

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AKRON, Ohio -- In a back-and-forth battle between Akron and Western Michigan, that saw a different team leading at the end of the first three periods, the Broncos were able to pull away down the stretch for a 59-51 Mid-American Conference win over the Zips Wednesday evening at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Freshman guard Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) led Akron with 15 points, while two more Zips reached double-figures in sophomore forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) and sophomore guard Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Inf.), who both tallied 10 on the night. Along with her 15 point performance, Perkins totaled a team-high four steals, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out one assist.

Both teams struggled with turnovers throughout the game, with the Zips committing 22 and the Broncos 18. The difference in the outcome was Western Michigan's ability to convert those turnovers to points, a category in which they outscored Akron 15-5.

Western Michigan (12-9, 5-3 MAC) maintained a sizeable edge on the glass throughout the game, outrebounding Akron 42-34 as junior forward Breanna Mobley and senior guard Deja Wimby each grabbed a game-high eight boards, while Reinoehl led the Zips with eight rebounds. That edge in the paint extended to scoring, where Western Michigan outdid the Zips by a count of 34-16.

The Zips (6-13, 0-8 MAC) started slowly, but began to find their footing late in the first period and into the second. Clay and sophomore forward Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) played a big role in the early turnaround, combining to score 11 of Akron's first 20 points. After falling behind 16-9, Akron went on an 11-2 run in which Clay scored five points to power her team to a two-point lead at the first media timeout of the second quarter.

The defense was the centerpiece of the rally for Akron, which allowed the Broncos to score just eight points in the final 11:12 of play in the first half. Although the Zips shot just 9-of-21 from the field during the first 20 minutes and committed 11 turnovers, they turned the Broncos over 13 times and held them to 40-percent (10 of 25) shooting in the first two periods.

Thanks to that effort, Akron was able to take a 26-24 lead to the locker room at the half.

Again, the Broncos started the third period strong offensively and scored six unanswered points in the first two minutes to regain the lead, 30-26.

After Western Michigan extended its lead back to plus-eight (39-31) with 4:06 to play in the quarter, Akron closed the gap on the Broncos cutting the deficit to minus-one (39-38) at the 1:47 mark following seven straight Akron points.

WMU would score one more time with a layup by Wimby with 1:28 remaining and that would be the final basket of the third quarter handing the Broncos a three-point advantage (41-38) heading into the final period of play.

The Zips went through a scoring drought for the first 8:30 of the fourth quarter only making two free throws, during which time Western Michigan went on a 12-2 run to expand a two-point lead to 13 at 53-40, a deficit from which the Zips could not recover despite a valiant effort.

The Zips return to action Saturday as they host rival Kent State in part one of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge, with tip-off slated for 2 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena. The game can be seen on ESPN3 and heard on 1350-AM.