Akron Heads To Eastern Michigan For Sunday Matinee In Final MAC West Battle

Sunday, February 11

Ypsilanti, MI

2 PM

University of Akron

Eastern Michigan University

Akron Heads To Eastern Michigan For Sunday Matinee In Final MAC West Battle

February 10 | Women's Basketball

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Akron at Eastern Michigan Game Notes: 2/11/18

Akron (7-16, 1-11 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (9-15, 5-6 MAC)

Sunday, Feb. 11
Convocation Center
Ypsilanti, Mich. • 2:00 p.m.

Live Stats: GoZips.com
Radio: SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship), for free at SportsRadio1350.com and on iHeartRadio. Bill Morgan will have the call starting with the pregame show starting at 1:45 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3

What's Ahead

Akron is back on the road this weekend and prepares for its final contest against a Mid-American Conference West divisional opponent in the regular season when the Zips head to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a contest versus Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 11. First tip between the Zips and Eagles is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Scouting The Eagles

Eastern Michigan welcomes Akron to Ypsilanti, Mich. holding a 9-13 overall record while owning a 5-6 record inside MAC play. The Eagles have lost four straight contests against four of the top teams in the MAC entering Sunday's match-up; Miami (69-73), Buffalo (92-97 OT), Central Michigan (72-95), and Ball State (85-91). After opening MAC play with a loss to Kent State (60-67), EMU went on to win five of its next six conference games highlighted by three straight wins at Miami (74-59), versus Western Michigan (69-67 OT), and at Northern Illinois (83-76).

A trio of Eagles are averaging double-figure scoring for Eastern Michigan. Leading the way on the offensive end is Danielle Minot who is scoring 15.4 points per game along with 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 29.7 minutes of action. Freshman Courtnie Lewis has flourished with the Eagles in her first season as EMU's second-leading scorer (14.3 pts/game) in 26 minutes of play. In 21 games and 18 starts, Lewis has amassed the 300-point mark, which included a pair of 29 point contests. Rounding out the Eagles top scorers is 5-8 guard, Sasha Daily, who is pitching in 12.4 points per tilt.

As a team, the Eagles lead the MAC in offensive rebounding grabbing 16.0 offensive boards per contest and offensive rebound percentage (.386), but rank 11th in defensive caroms at 23.5 per match-up and def. rebound percentage (.657).

Probable Starters

Eastern Michigan: Juanita Agosto, Courtnie Lewis, Corrione Cardwell, Danielle Minott, Emoni Jackson.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Alyssa Clay, Kynnedy Azubike, Haliegh Reinoehl, Greta Burry.

Series History

Akron and Eastern Michigan will meet on the court for the 29th time in program history on Sunday. Since the first meeting between the Zips and Eagles in 1982, Akron holds the all-time series advantage, 22-15. The Zips have won three straight over the Eagles and last six of seven dating back to 2013. At the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich., Akron is 3-1 in four contests since 2010.

The Last Meeting

Hannah Plybon and Alex Ricketts combined for 48 points as the University of Akron women's basketball team defeated Eastern Michigan (6-15, 1-8 MAC) by a final score of 80-62 on, Jan. 28, at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Zips registered seven steals in the contest and created 20 points off of turnovers by the Eagles.

Plybon paced the Zips in the scoring column with 26 points, while Ricketts added a career-high 22 points. Plybon connected on six three-pointers to move within six of 300 for her career.

Greta Burry added 13 points and four rebounds to go along with Haliegh Reinoehl pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds in the victory.

Mid-American Conference Member

The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 26 years after joining the league in 1992 from the North Star Conference

Coaches

Eastern Michigan: Fred Castro is in his second season at the helm of the Eastern Michigan women's basketball program. Since taking over the program, Castro has led the Eagles to a 15-38 overall record.

Akron: Jodi Kest, the all-time winningest coach in program history, is in her 12th-season in charge of the Zips program. The longest-tenured coach in the Mid-American Conference holds an all-time record of 176-190 (.482) at Akron and a 402-343 (.541) in her 25 years as a head coach

With A Win Over Eastern Michigan, The Zips Would

Earn their eighth win of the 2017-18 season.
Claim its second MAC win.
End a three-game slide

2017-18 Zip Breakdown

Under the guidance of Kest, the Zips have 13 young and talented players eager to make an impact in 2017-18 highlighted by returning starters, sophomore guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), sophomore forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), and sophomore forward Caitlin Vari (Revere, Ohio), along with the veteran presence of senior forward Greta Burry (Lakewood, Ohio), senior guard Lauren Hung (Waterford, Mich.), and redshirt junior guard Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio).

Edmonds has taken on the role as the team's facilitator and floor general, while also having the ability to score the ball. Through 23 games, Edmonds is averaging 11.1 points, a team-high 4.5 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season-best 21 points against Central Michigan, set a new career mark with nine assists against Kent State, and posted a career-best six steals against Harvard.

Reinoehl has become a staple in the Zips starting five since midway through her freshman season, starting the last 36 contests dating back to last year for Akron. Reinoehl recorded a career-best game against Southeastern Louisiana (21 pts/11 reb) and has since recorded two more double-double's against SIU Edwardsville (11 pts/10 reb) and versus Central Michigan (15 pts/11 reb). The forward is the team's third-leading scorer, 7.1 points per game and leads the squad in rebounding with 201 total rebounds, 8.7 per contest.

Sefcik is having a career year in her junior season en route to leading the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game while making 3.4 triples per contest. The Zips' guard broke the Akron single-game three-point record with 10 triples against Ohio Christian, while also tying the MAC record.

Burry, the Zip with the most playing experience on the roster, is the centerfold of the squad. In 315 minutes of play and 13 starts, Burry is averaging 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per tilt. Burry grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds against SLU and scored a season-best 14 points against EKU.

Vari, a member of the Zips frontcourt, has seen 495 minutes of action and started 10 of the last 11 contests. Vari grabs 5.4 rebounds per contest, including a team second-best 42 offensive rebounds. In addition to the rebounding, Vari averages 6.2 points per contest.

Sophomores Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) have seen a significant bump in playing time in year two. Harmon started 15 contests and owns the third-most assists on the squad (41). Clay has seen 469 minutes of action through 23 contests, including her first career starts while stepping in for Harmon due to injury. Clay owns the teams best shooting percentage from beyond the arc (.398, 39-of-98), which is highlighted by a career night against Bowling Green scoring 22 points and hitting 6-of-8 triples.

Freshmen Kynnedy Azubike (Columbus, Ohio), Sarah Leyendecker (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) and Destiny Perkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) made their collegiate debuts for the Zips three games into the season and have combined to score 315 points. Perkins has taken over the backup point guard role and had a career-night against Miami scoring a career-high 21 points and career-best 5 steals against the RedHawks.

Kest named Burry, Sefcik, and Reinoehl as the 2017-18 season captains.

Up Next

Akron is back in action next weekend, Saturday, Feb. 17, when the Zips travel to Buffalo, N.Y., to take on the Bulls in a MAC East battle at 2 p.m.