Akron Hosts St. Bonaventure At Sixth Annual Education Day

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Akron (4-1) vs. St. Bonaventure (2-5)
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Akron, Ohio • James A. Rhodes Arena • 10:30 a.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
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What's Ahead
Morning basketball is on deck for the Zips as the Akron women's basketball team hosts its sixth annual Education Day at James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 5. The Zips take on St. Bonaventure at 10:30 a.m., surrounded by nearly 1,200 fifth graders from the surrounding Akron area public schools.

Scouting the Bonnies
St. Bonaventure is riding a four-game losing streak heading into its match-up against Akron and holds a 2-5 overall record. The Bonnies defeated Niagara 76-48 in the season opener, fell to #13 Georgia, 67-40, beat Canisius 100-94 in a three-overtime game, and has since fallen to Hofstra (67-59), Ohio (70-53), Denver (76-62), and Bucknell (77-46).

Asianae Johnson leads the offensive efforts for the Bonnies scoring a team-best 11.4 points per game (80 total points), to go along with a season total 14 rebounds, six assists, and five rebounds. Dajah Logan is nearly averaging double-figures in seven games scoring 9.3 points per contest to go with 12 assists, third-best on the team. In the frontcourt, Emily Calabrese has pulled down a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game while chipping in 8.0 points per game.

The Bonnies are averaging 62.3 points per game and shooting at a 39.3-percent clip from the floor but are shooting just .288 from long distance. As a team, St. Bonaventure has gotten to the free throw line for 140 attempts through seven games and connected on 98 free ones for a 70-percent average. The Bonnies have assisted on 78 of their 151 made field goals and averages 11.1 dimes per contest.

Probable Starters
St. Bonaventure:Asianae Johnson, Danielle Migliore, Deja Francis, Emily Calabrese, Bree Paulson.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, Caitlin Vari.

Series History
Since the first meeting between the Zips and Bonnies in the 1991-92 season, St. Bonaventure holds an all-time series lead over Akron, 3-0. 2018-19 will be the first meeting between the two programs in nine years when the Zips fell to the Bonnies, 67-37 on Nov. 15, 2009.

History Against The Atlantic-10
Akron is 5-22 against six of the 14 current members of the Atlantic-10 Conference; Dayton (0-8), Duquesne (1-7), George Mason (2-0), St. Bonaventure (0-3), St. Joseph (0-3), and St. Louis (2-1).

Last Time Out
St. Bonaventure hit five second-half 3-pointers and began the second period on an 11-0 run to defeat the Akron Zips, 67-37, on Nov. 15, 2009, at SBU's Reilly Center.

The Bonnies' Dana Mitchell did most of the damage during the run and she finished with a game-high 16 points. She was joined in double figures by Megan Van Tatenhove and Amelia Horton, each with 11.

Akron got a pair of free throws from Rachel Tecca and a 3-pointer from Katie Bubna to cut the UA deficit to 19 before the Bonnies hit three treys to pull away for the win.

The Zips were led in scoring by Kara Murphy and Tecca, each with six.

Coaches
St. Bonaventure: Jesse Fleming is in his third season at the helm of the St. Bonaventure women's basketball program. Flemming, who spent time with the Bonnies as an assistant coach, owns a 19-47 overall record since becoming the seventh head coach in program history.

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.

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 St. Bonaventure, Akron Would...

Earn its fifth victory of the 2018-19 season.
Give the Zips five wins in their first six games
Win its first game over the Bonnies in program history and sixth against an Atlantic-10 Conference opponent.
Tie for the second-best start by an Akron team through the first six games of the season in program history; 2012-13 (5-1), 1974-75 (6-0), 2014-15 (6-0).

500 Point Club and Counting
In 2017-18, Shaunay Edmonds and Megan Sefcik both joined the 500 point club in their respective careers and have their sights set on 600 and plus. Edmonds scored a career-high 27 points in Akron's 77-65 win at Eastern Michigan. At the 5:16 mark of the second quarter, Edmonds nailed a three-pointer to eclipse the 500 point mark. Sefcik later joined her teammate in the club after scoring seven points against Kent State (2/24) to push her past the 500 point milestone.

Entering into its contest with Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 1, 2018, Megan Sefcik sat at 596 career points. At the 9:53 mark of the second quarter against the Colonels, the senior captain scored her fifth point of the game and eclisped the 600 career point mark on the same play.

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.
The starting five of Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Megan Sefcik, Haliegh Reinoehl, and Caitlin Vari made their sixth start together as a group dating back to last season.
Brown-Mitchell began her Akron career scoring 7 points and pulling down 6 rebounds.
Dating back to 2017-18, Sefcik has scored in double-figures in 15 of her last 20 games played in.
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.
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.
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.
The Zips 3-0 record to open the season is the best start since 2014-15 when the Akron squad went 8-0.
Akron outscored three of its first five 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.
Megan Sefcik ranks fourth in the nation averaging 4.0 triples per contest and ranks 61st in the NCAA with a 44.4-percent clip from long range.
As a unit, the Zips rank third in the MAC and 22nd in the NCAA in three-pointers made per game, 9.2, along with being rated the 45th best team in 3-point field goal percentage, 36.8-percent.
Caitlin Vari registered the first double-double of her career against Youngstown (10 points, 10 rebounds).
The Akron offense has taken care of the ball well through its first four games with just 78 turnovers which ranks 15th in the nation.
The Zips capitalized on Youngstown State being called for 14 fouls and connected on 16 free throws on 18 attempts (.889). Haliegh Reinoehl and Shayna Harmon each went 7-for-8.
Shayna Harmon accounted for all seven of the Zips third-quarter points against the Penguins.
Haliegh Reinoehl needs 96 points to hit the 500 point mark.
The Zips defense has limited the opposition to 65 points or less in four of its first five games
The Akron offense has made a minimum of seven three-pointers in each of its five games.
No team has made more than 25 field goals in a contest through five games against the Akron defense.

Where They Rank in the MAC, as a team (as of 12/4)

Rated seventh in scoring (67.0 ppg)
Ranked first in scoring defense allowing just 57.4 points per contest.
Akron's +9.6 scoring margin is ranked third in the league.
Akron is rated eighth in field goal percentage (.395) and second in field goal percentage allowed (.346).
From long range, Akron ranks third in 3FG made (9.2) and third in 3FG% (.368).
The Zips 8.00 steals per contest are a league sixth-best.
Akron's 21 blocked (4.20 per/game) shots are atop the conference rankings.
Ranked seventh in free throw percentage (.733).
Rated seventh in rebounding offense (37.8) and sixth in rebounding defense (38.2).

Where They Rank in the MAC, Individually (as of 12/4)

Megan Sefcik is rated fourth in scoring (19.2 pts/game) and Haliegh Reinoehl is rated 22nd (12.2 pts/game).
In the rebounding category, Caitlin Vari has the 6th most boards per contest (7.0/game) and Reinoehl ranks 5th (7.0/game).
Sefcik ranks 6th in FG% (.492), 2nd in 3FG% (.444), 2nd in 3FG made per game (4.0), while Reinoehl is rated 18th in 3FG made per contest (1.8).
Shayna Harmon ranks 15th in assists (3.2 apg) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2).
At the free throw line three Zips rank in the top-15, Sefcik first (1.000), Reinoehl fifth (.875) and Harmon 14th (.708).
Edmonds and Sefcik rank 7th and 8th in steals per game (2.3 per game).
Colleen Neitzel is rated 3rd in blocks per game (1.5 bpg).

Up Next
Akron women's basketball hosts its third home contest in 11 days at James A. Rhodes Arena when Butler travels to Akron on Saturday, Dec. 8. The Zips and Bulldogs are scheduled to tip-off at 2 p.m.

The University of Akron Athletics

Akron Hosts St. Bonaventure At Sixth Annual Education Day

Players Mentioned

Shaunay Edmonds

Shayna Harmon

Colleen Neitzel

Haliegh Reinoehl

Megan Sefcik

Caitlin Vari

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