The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Youngstown State
Akron Looks To Extend Win Streak To Four At Youngstown State
November 28 | Women's Basketball
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Akron vs. Youngstown State Game Notes (PDF)
Akron (3-0) vs. Youngstown State (4-2)
Wednesday, Nov. 28
Youngstown, Ohio  •  Beeghly Center • 7 p.m.
Live Stats:Â GoZips.com
Watch:Â GoZips.com
Listen: GoZips.com
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What's Ahead
The Akron women's basketball team closes out its season opening four-game road trip on Wednesday, Nov. 28, as the Zips travel 45 minutes east to Youngstown, Ohio. Akron is slated to go head-to-head against Youngstown State at 7 p.m. inside the Beeghly Center.Â
Scouting the Penguins
Youngstown State opened the 2018-19 season strong with four straight wins including victories over Robert Morris (66-59 OT), Loyola of Chicago (74-63), Pittsburgh (64-55), and Carlow (90-31). The Penguins have most recently dropped a pair of contests to Kent State (34-62) and Yale (56-58), which puts YSU 4-2 through its first six games.Â
The Penguins have three student-athletes scoring in double-figures to pace the offensive efforts, including Alison Smolinski, McKenah Peters, and Sarah Cash. Smolinski leads all of YSU in the scoring category and averages 13.2 points per game to go along with 22 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocks. To go along with 11.2 points per contest, Peters pulls down a team second-best 6.7 rebounds per game in a team-high 33.7 minutes a game. On the strength of a 51.2 shooting percentage, Cash has cashed in 10.5 points per game while going 21-for-25 from the charity stripe.Â
Youngstown State offense is outscoring its opponents 387-to-328 with a +9 scoring differential. While the Penguins are shooting .372 from the floor, YSU struggles to shoot form the perimeter with just a 26.4-percent clip. The Penguins have owned the boards against their opponents with a +10.5 differential while assisting on 14.5 made baskets per game (87 total).
Probable Starters
Youngstown State: Alison Smolinski, McKenah Peters, Sarah Cash, Chelsea Olson, Mary Dunn.Â
Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, Caitlin Vari.Â
Series History
The Zips and Penguins are scheduled to meet on the hardwood for the 58th time in each programs respective history. Youngstown State holds the all-time series advantage over Akron, 39-19. However, most recently, the Zips have defeated Penguins in four of the last five match-ups dating back to 2013.Â
Last Time Out
Redshirt junior Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) and sophomore Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored a combined 39 points to lead the Akron women's basketball team to a 75-58 win over Youngstown State.
Offensively the Zips shot a season-high 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and a season-best 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from beyond the arc. The Zips 13 triples in the contest are tied for the third-most three-pointers made in a single game. Akron caught fire in the second quarter when the Zips shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the floor and an even more efficient 75.0 percent clip (3-for-4) from long distance.
CoachesÂ
Youngstown State: John Barnes is currently in his sixth season on the sidelines of the Penguins women's basketball program and owns an 86-79 overall record which includes three trips to the postseason.Â
Akron: Melissa Jackson takes over the Akron women's basketball team beginning in 2018-19. Jackson spent the previous 10 seasons on the Zips coaching staff as an assistant coach (four seasons) and as the associate head coach (six seasons). Jackson played a pivotal role in the recent Akron women's basketball success and looks to continue to grow the program.Â
Mid-American Conference Member
The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 27 years after joining the league in 1992 from the North Star Conference.
With A Win Over Youngstown State, Akron Would...
- Earn its fourth victory of the 2018-19 season.
- Give the Zips four straight wins to start the season since 2014-15.
- Win its 20th contest against Youngstown State and fourth in a row over the Penguins
Winning Ain't Easy
Melissa Jackson, the Zips 10th head coach in program history, is just the second Akron coach to win the first three games of her debut season. The only other coach to accomplish the feat was the first ever head coach of the Zips program, Mary Ann Tripodi, who won seven straight games in Akron's inaugural season in 1974-75. Jackson is the first Zips coach to win her first three games as head coach in the Division 1 era.Â
Sizzling Sefcik
As Redshirt senior Megan Sefcik was key to the Akron women's basketball team beginning the 2018-19 season 3-0 as the guard led the Zips in scoring in three-straight games. Sefcik turned in a stat line of 21.0 points per game, shot 23-of-42 (.548) from the floor, connected on 15 three-pointers in 32 attempts, grabbed 3.7 rebounds, dished out 2.0 assists, and ripped 2.6 steals per contest. Sefcik scored 18, 23, and 22 points respectively and hit at least four triples in all three contests, including a season-high six against Northern Kentucky.Â
After her phenomenal play to open the season in the Zips first three games, Sefcik was named the College Sports Madness Mid-American Conference Player of the Week.Â
Zips Tidbits
- Brown-Mitchell, Miller, and Neitzel each made their collegiate debut against North Carolina A&T (11/13).
- Coach Jackson earned her first career victory with a 49-36 win over North Carolina A&T.Â
- The starting five of Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, and Caitlin Vari made their fourth start together as a group dating back to last season.Â
- Brown-Mitchell began her Akron career scoring 7 points and pulling down 6 rebounds.Â
- Dating back to 2017-18, Sefcik has scored in double-figures in 12 of her last 16 games played in.Â
- Sefcik fell one point shy of tying her career-high in scoring in a season opener with her 18 points after scoring 19 last year.Â
- All 10 active players on the roster saw time on the court against the Aggies and six of the 10 recorded at least one point.Â
- Akron outscored N.C. A&T 17-3 in the third quarter, including 10 points from Sefcik, and 27-12 in the second half to pull away with the game.Â
- The Zips 3-0 record to open the season is the best start since 2014-15 when the Akron squad went 8-0.Â
- Akron outscored all three of its first three opponents by double-digits (+13 vs. NC A&T, +20 vs. Oak, +17 vs. NKU). The last time Akron won three straight games by 10+points was 2015-16.Â
- Megan Sefcik is tied for first in the nation averaging 5.0 triples per contest and ranks 58th in the NCAA with a 47.4-percent clip from long range.Â
- As a unit, the Zips rank eighth in NCAA in three-pointers made per game, 10.6.
Up Next
The Akron women's basketball team is set for its 2018-19 home opener inside James A. Rhodes Arena after opening the season with a four-game road trip. The Zips tip-off the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 2 p.m., against Eastern Kentucky. The contest against the Colonels starts a four-game homestand for Akron spanning over two and half weeks.
