Big Second Half Earns Akron Women's Basketball First Win of the Season

Tuesday, November 13

Greensboro, N.C.

5:30 PM

University of Akron

North Carolina A&T

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Big Second Half Earns Akron Women's Basketball First Win of the Season

November 13 | Women's Basketball

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GREENSBORO, N.C.– The Akron women's basketball team outscored North Carolina A&T, 27-12, in the second half and took control of the game en route to defeating the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions, 49-36, to earn the Zips their first win of the 2018-19 campaign on Tuesday night inside the Corbett Sports Center.

On top of Akron earning its first win of the new year, head coach Melissa Jackson made her debut at the helm of the program and picked up the first victory of her head coaching career.

In the contest, Akron (1-0) shot 32-percent from the floor (16-for-50) and shot 33.3-percent from beyond the arc (9-of-27). Redshirt senior guard Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) led all scorers with a game-high 18 points courtesy of four triples for 12 points. Junior forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) chipped in a double-digit scoring effort with 13 points to go along with five rebounds.

The freshmen trio of Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio), Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio), and Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) made their collegiate debut and played key significant minutes in the season opener. Brown-Mitchell connected on back-to-back three-pointers for six points, while Neitzel laid in two points, knocked down a three, and grabbed two rebounds.

Akron pulled in a game-high 49 rebounds to post a +13-rebound differential. Defensively, the Zips forced 24 turnovers and garnered 15 steals, including a game-high five by Sefcik which tied a career-best.

Akron was lights out from long range in the first quarter that helped the Zips build a 14-10 lead at the first break of the contest. As a team, the Zips went 4-for-6 from distance including two big back-to-back three-pointers from Brown-Mitchell.

The Zips hot shooting carried over into the first two minutes of the second quarter as Sefcik nailed a triple and connected on a lay-up in the paint to extend the Akron lead to 19-12. However, the Zips would go cold for the next six and a half minutes. The Aggies used an 11-to-6 run and built a 24-22 lead at intermission.

Akron pulled down a first half-high 17 rebounds, assisted on five of their seven field goals, and ripped six steals on the defensive end.

After trailing by two points at the halftime break, the Zips took control of the contest and would not relinquish it.

The Zips dominate second half began in the third quarter when Akron outscored the Aggies, 17-3. Sefcik could not be stopped in the third stanza hitting 4-of-5 shots and a pair of three-pointers.

Play evened in the fourth quarter as Akron outscored North Carolina A&T, 10-9, but the Zips lead was too much to overcome for the Aggies.
As the final horn sounded, the Zips were leaving North Carolina with their first win of the season.

Akron returns to Northeast Ohio for games two and three of the 2018-19 season as the Zips take part in the 2018 Kent State Classic hosted by the Golden Flashes at the M.A.C. Center. Akron is slated to compete against Oakland on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m., before going head-to-head with Northern Kentucky on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m.