Zips Go Wire-To-Wire With Toledo But Fall Short 60-54.

Wednesday, January 3

Toledo, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

6-7 (0-2MAC)

University of Toledo

10-4 (1-1MAC)

Akron

Toledo

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Zips Go Wire-To-Wire With Toledo But Fall Short 60-54.

January 03 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Akron women's basketball team went wire-to-wire with the reigning Mid-American Conference Champions, Toledo, for 40 minutes, but the Rockets were able to pull away down the stretch with a 12-2 run in the final two minutes of the contest to defeat the Zips, 60-54, Wednesday night at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

Toledo's Mikayla Boyd hit a jumper for the Rockets at the 4:58 mark of the fourth quarter to take a 48-46 lead, resulting in the seventh lead change of the contest. The Zips fired back immediately and hit two consecutive three-pointers from sophomores Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) and Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) to regain a 48-52 lead with 2:23 left to play.

From there on out, Toledo took control of the game and would not relinquish its grasp.

As a team, Akron (6-7, 0-2 MAC) shot 39-percent from the floor (23-for-59) and a low 22.7-percent from long distance. The Zips shot 75 percent from the charity stripe, but only managed three trips to the line (3-for-4).

Sophomore guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) would lead the way in the point column for the Zips and tallied a game-high 13 points. The Akron point guard also dished out a game-best six assists and four steals. Clay was the Zips second-leading scorer with eight points, six of which came from beyond the arc, while sophomore Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) added seven points and Reinoehl chipped in six points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds.

In the first five minutes of the contest, six turnovers were committed by the Zips and four were committed by the Rockets, as the score read 4-2 at the first quarter media timeout (4:39). Akron and Toledo shot a combined 3-for-14 from the floor in the first five and a half minutes.

In the final four minutes of the quarter, the Zips and Rockets put 14 of the 20 points in the period on the board, as Akron slightly edged Toledo, 8-6, to close out the period and even the score at 10. Akron used a balanced scoring attack as four players; Edmonds, Vari, sophomore Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio), and senior Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio), all tallied points. The Zips also assisted on four of their five first-quarter buckets, highlighted by two pinpoint passes by freshman guard Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.)

Toledo extended its lead to 8 (19-11) within the first six minutes of the second quarter courtesy of a 9-1 run. During the Rockets run, Akron went cold from the field shooting 0-for-9 from the floor with just a single free throw from Vari.

Akron flipped the script in the closing minutes of the first half outscoring the Rockets, 7-2, thanks to a three-point play by Burry and back-to-back jumpers from Edmonds. The short run to end the quarter cut the deficit to three points, 21-18, at the halftime break.

The Zips offensive momentum from the end of the second quarter continued to begin period number three as Akron exploded on an 11-4 run, en route to taking their first lead of the game, 29-25.

Edmonds shined throughout the run having a hand in three Zips' baskets. The Zips' guard got things going for Akron with a triple from the top of the arc, followed by an accurate pass to a running Vari for a lay-in, and finished with a steal and score on a fast break lay-up.

At the 5:15 mark of the third quarter, Akron led 32-28. From that point on, Toledo outscored the Zips 8-5 to regain the lead 39-37 heading into the final period of play.

Akron again came out of the quarter break looking to make some noise after its third-quarter lead slipped away.

Redshirt junior guard Megan Sefick (Austintown, Ohio) hit her first three-pointer of the game that handed the Zips a 46-43 lead at the 7:16 mark. Sefick's triple highlighted a 7-4 run to open the fourth quarter.

After two more lead changes, Toledo reclaimed the lead for the final time with 1:10 to play and did not look back to defeat the Zips.

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.