Akron Dominates Northern Kentucky 77-60 For Third Straight Win

Sunday, November 18

Kent, Ohio

11 AM

University of Akron

3-0

Northern Kentucky

2-1

Northern Ky.

Akron

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Akron Dominates Northern Kentucky 77-60 For Third Straight Win

November 18 | Women's Basketball

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KENT, Ohio – The Akron women's basketball team closed out the Kent State Classic in dominating fashion as the Zips shot an efficient 50.8-percent from the field to defeat Northern Kentucky, 77-60, inside the M.A.C. Center on Sunday afternoon.

Akron improves to 3-0 on the season after kicking off the season just six days ago, while Northern Kentucky suffered its first loss of the season and now sits 2-1.

The Zips offense was firing on all cylinders against the Norse as Akron went 31-for-61 (50.8-percent from the floor, including a game-high 62.5 percent (10-for-16) in the second quarter. Akron continued to shoot the ball well from distance notching its third straight game with at least eight three-pointers made. The Zips drilled a season-high 12 triples against the Norse on 30 attempts (40-percent).

Not only did the Akron offense take advantage of their success on the perimeter, but the Zips also scored 28 points inside the paint and pushed the ball up the floor quickly scoring 24 points in fast break situations. In the 40-minute contest, the Zips held the lead against the Norse for just over 39 minutes (39:08), while NKU failed to ever gain the lead.

All 10 players in the lineup for the Zips found the bottom of the net in the contest against Northern Kentucky scoring at least three points. For the third time this week, redshirt senior Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) could not be stopped and paced the offensive attack scoring 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Junior point guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) turned in her finest game of the season scoring a season-high 12 points to go along with a game- and season-high nine assists. Junior forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) grabbed a game- and season-high 11 boards and chipped in five points.

The Zips completely dominated the first half of the contest against Northern Kentucky on both ends of the floor and took a 39-21 lead into the halftime intermission. Akron was lights out on the offensive end of the floor shooting 51.6-percent (16-of-31) from the floor while hitting six-of-15 triples (40.0-percent). Defensively, Akron forced 11 turnovers that transitioned into nine points and held the Norse to just five first-half field goal.

Akron picked up where they left off in game one with the hot hand from the floor in the first quarter. UA sprinted out to an 11-0 lead in the first 4:24 of the contest which included Edmonds scoring the first five points and Sefcik with the next six.

After allowing the Norse back into the contest with an 8-2 run of their own to end the first quarter, the Zips came out of the quarter break and blitzed the NKU defense. Akron again went on to score 16 unanswered points in the first 4:53 of the second period and extended its lead to 32-11. The Zips shared the scoring wealth during the dominant stretch with Edmonds, Reinoehl, Sefcik, and freshmen Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio) and Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) all finding the bottom of the net.

Northern Kentucky stepped its game up following the halftime break, but the Zips went toe-to-toe with the Norse as the third period ended even at 17-17.

The Akron lead never dropped below 15 points as the Zips closed the contest out in the fourth quarter despite NKU taking the +1-point differential (21-20) in the final period of play.

After a 10-day break, the Zips will be back in action on the hardwood as Akron closes out its four-game road swing to start the 2018-19 campaign. The Zips travel to Youngstown, Ohio, to square off with Youngstown State on Wednesday, Nov. 28. The Zips and Penguins are slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off.