Zips Suffer OT Heartbreaker To Ohio, 70-67

Saturday, January 6

Athens, OH

1 PM

University of Akron

6-8, 0-3

Ohio University

8-7, 2-1

OT 1

AKR

OHIO

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

January 06 | Women's Basketball

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ATHENS, Ohio – The University of Akron women's basketball team led for over 30 minutes of the contest against Ohio, but a late surge and a three-point play by the Bobcats with 1.0 seconds left to play in the overtime period dropped the Zips, 70-67, Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

After 40 minutes of regulation, the game was all squared at 59 apiece forcing the game into overtime. The Zips scored the first five points of the overtime period with a three-pointer by redshirt junior Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) and a layup by sophomore Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.). The Bobcats cut the deficit down to two points, 64-62, with 2:03 to play. Akron again hit a three-pointer by sophomore Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to extend the Zips lead back to five. Ohio would score five unanswered points to tie up the contest and take the lead off of Taylor Agler's game-winning three-point play with one second on the clock.

On the afternoon, the Zips used a balanced scoring attack with 10 of the 11 active players contributing to Akron's 67 points. Two Zips' had career days in the scoring column with sophomore Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) scoring a game-high 19 points, beating her previous career-best of 10 points against Youngstown State, followed by sophomore Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) who tallied a career-high 12 points. To go along with their respective point totals, Harmon added four rebounds and three assists, while Vari grabbed nine rebounds.

As a unit, the Zips shot a game-high 43.8 percent from the floor (28-of-64), while also shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-12).

Akron played a stout defensive game allowing Ohio to shoot just 35.6 percent from the field and were lockdown defending the perimeter limiting the Bobcats to a low 14.7 percent from distance. In the second quarter alone, Ohio only managed to score five points while shooting 11.8 percent from the floor and went 0-for-9 from long range.

The first quarter was a back and forth battle between the Zips and Bobcats, with Akron taking a slight advantage, 16-15, after the first ten minutes of play. The Zips got out in front early from a 9-4 run with Sefcik scoring five straight points. Ohio would outscore Akron, 11-7 to close out the period, but the Zips held on to the lead at the first break.

Akron came out on top in the second quarter to extend its lead to 27-20 heading into the lockerroom.

In the first five minutes of the second period, the Bobcats shot 1-of-6 from the floor, allowing Akron to extend its lead to 22-17. Three Zips including Vari, sophomore Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.), and senior Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio) pitched in for the Zips.

The closing minutes of the half continued to stay in favor of the Zips as Reinoehl hit a long two-pointer from just inside the arc and freshman Sarah Leyendecker (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) nailed nothing but net for three to give Akron 27 points and a nine-point lead.

The offensive momentum carried over into the second half for the Zips, as Akron opened the third period on a 10-3 run to push its lead to 14 (37-23) at the 6:56 mark. Vari scored the first four points before Harmon rattled off the next six for the Zips.

With 3:57 to play in the third quarter, Akron led Ohio by a score of 41-32. From there, the Bobcats put together a 10-0 run in the final four minutes of the period and took their first lead of the contest, 42-41, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation. During the run, Akron went 0-for-5 from the field throughout the stretch and committed three turnovers.

Akron would storm back in the fourth quarter and reclaim the lead following a 10-2 run. After Ohio scored the first two points of the period, the Zips duo of Harmon and Vari combined to score 10 straight points to give Akron a 51-45 lead.

The Bobcats countered the Zips run with seven unanswered points to once again regain the lead 52-51 with 3:03 to play in the contest.

In the final three minutes, the lead would change two more times and the game was tied three times. After Akron led 59-54 with 31 seconds to play, Ohio knotted up the contest one final time in regulation with 18 seconds to play. The Zips had two more chances to score the go-ahead basket, but a layup and a three-pointer by Edmonds were just off the mark, sending the game to overtime.

The Zips return home to James A. Rhodes Arena for a two-game homestand starting with Ball State on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.