Akron Women's Basketball Set For Preseason Exhibition Contest With Rochester College

Thursday, November 8

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

Rochester College (EXH)

Akron Women's Basketball Set For Preseason Exhibition Contest With Rochester College

November 07 | Women's Basketball

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Akron (0-0) vs. Rochester College (5-0) (Exhibition)
Thursday, Nov. 8
James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio • 7 p.m.

What's Ahead
The 2018-19 Akron women's basketball preseason moves on as the regular season inches closer with each passing day. The Zips look to continue its preparation for the upcoming campaign as Akron is slated to host Rochester College for an exhibition match-up on Thursday, Nov. 8, at James A. Rhodes Arena. First tip between the Zips and Warriors is scheduled for 7 p.m. The contest is free to all general public in attendance.

Scouting the Warriors
Rochester College, a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference inside the NAIA division, began its 2018-19 season on Oct. 10. In the past three weeks, the Warriors are off to a 5-0 start heading into the contest with the Zips.

Devan Valko paces the Rochester College offense and averages 10.0 points per game in five starts. Kendra Kujat runs the offense for the Warriors and has garnered a team-best 20 assists (4.0/game) in 110 minutes of action. Down low for Rochester College is Rikki Scherdt, a 5-9 forward from Ypsilanti, Mich., who has reeled in a team-high 7.9 rebounds per contest (39 total).

As a team, the Warriors are shooting 40-percent from the floor and 31.5-percent from beyond the arc. Rochester College averages 39.8 rebounds per game while recording an assist on 11.8 baskets per tilt.

Series History
Akron and Rochester College are set to square off for the third time in each program's respective history. The Zips are 2-0 against the Warriors since the first meeting in the 2013-14 season.

Coaches
Rochester College: Brent Wichtner is in his sixth season on the sideline as the head coach of the Warriors women's basketball program. After taking over the program following a stint as an assistant coach, Wichtner has seen a lot of success on the court. Most recently, Wichtner led RC to win its first USCAA National Championship.

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.

Zips Outlook
Under the guidance of Jackson, Akron returns a core group of eight players while welcoming in three freshmen to complete the 2018-19 squad. The Zips senior and junior class made up of Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio), Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), Caitlin Vari (Revere, Ohio), Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio), and Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) have seen over a combined 6,843 minutes of play and just three games shy of competing in 350 combined contests.

As the lone senior on the roster, Sefcik is ready to go out in style and build upon the career year she had in her junior season. The Zips' guard played in 19 games and started 16 contests and led the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game while shooting 34-percent from long range. On the year, Sefcik scored 226 points, shot 36.5 percent from the floor, 85.5 percent from the charity stripe, and grabbed 29 rebounds. The Akron three-point specialist broke the Akron single-game three-point record with 10 triples against Ohio Christian, while also tying the MAC record en route to scoring a career-high 32 points.

Edmonds has started all but one game (59-of-60) in her first two seasons as the Zips point guard. The junior has the ability to score the ball efficiently while also controlling the floor, facilitate, make the extra pass, and pace the speed of the offense. In 2017-18, Edmonds averaged 11.2 points, a team-high 4.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season- and career-best 27 points against Eastern Michigan, set a new career mark with 10 assists against Kent State, and posted a career-best six steals against Harvard. Edmonds nows ranks eighth all-time in the program history in most assists in a single season (125) and ranks ninth all-time for most assists in a single game (10).

Reinoehl has become a staple in the front court dating back to her freshman season making 46 consecutive starts for the Zips. The forward ended the year as the team's leading rebounder with 264 total rebounds (8.8 per contest) and third-leading scorer averaging 7.9 points per game. Reinoehl recorded a career-best game against Southeastern Louisiana (21 pts/11 reb) for her first career double-double and recorded four double-double's in total in 2017-18; SIU Edwardsville (11 pts/10 reb), Central Michigan (15 pts/11 reb), and in a win at Eastern Michigan (15 pts/14 reb). Reinoehl ended the year as the third-best rebounder inside the Mid-American Conference with her 8.8 average while also ranking third in defensive rebounds per contest (6.7). Inside MAC play, Reinoehl was rated the fourth-best rebounder pulling in 8.8 boards per game in 18 contests along with ranking fourth in defensive rebounds (6.7) and 14th in offensive bounds (2.1).

Vari, a member of the Zips frontcourt, started 11 contests in 26 games and saw 565 minutes of action down the stretch of the season. Vari grabbed 5.6 rebounds per contest as the team's second-leading rebounder, including a team second-best 49 offensive rebounds. En route to scoring 5.8 points per game, Vari registered a .520 field goal percentage shooting 66-of-127 from the floor, which is the sixth-best field goal percentage in a season in Akron women's basketball program history. Vari reeled in a career-high 16 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana along with scoring seven points.

Clay and Harmon each earned a significant bump in playing time in year two. Harmon started 21 contests and owned the third-most assists on the squad (55). Harmon began the season in the back-up point guard role while also in the starting role. On the season, she recorded career-highs in minutes (592), field goals (44), shooting percentage (.346), rebounds (75), blocks (5), and steals (14).

Clay saw 595 minutes of action through 30 contests, including her first 11 career starts. Clay owned the team-best shooting percentage from beyond the arc (.355, 46-of-131), which was highlighted by a career night against Bowling Green scoring 22 points and including 6-of-8 triples.

Sophomore Kynnedy Azubike (Columbus, Ohio) returns to the Akron lineup for her second season as a Zip. Azubike scored over 100 points in 2017-18 (115) and averaged 3.8 points per game along with 3.0 rebounds per contest. Azubike scored a career-best 12 points against Ball State while also grabbing a career-best seven rebounds in the contest with the Cardinals. The Zips combo guard/forward brought down 90 rebounds on the season and dished out 20 assists.

The freshmen trio of Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio), Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio), and Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) will all look to make an immediate impact on the court for Akron in their first seasons.

Jackson named Sefcik, Reinoehl, and Vari as captains for the 2018-19 season.

Up Next
The 2018-19 regular season tips off on Tuesday, Nov. 13, as the Akron women's basketball team opens its campaign with a four-game road trip. The season opens in Greensboro, N.C., for the Zips as Akron takes on North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m.