Zips Host Ohio On Senior Day And Regular Season Finale

Saturday, March 3

Akron, Ohio

2 PM

University of Akron

Ohio University

Tickets

Zips Host Ohio On Senior Day And Regular Season Finale

March 02 | Women's Basketball

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Ohio at Akron Game Notes: 3/3/18

Ohio (15-13, 9-8 MAC) at Akron (8-20, 2-15 MAC)

Saturday, March 3
James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron, Ohio • 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 at 1:45 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3

What's Ahead
The 2017-18 women's basketball regular season comes to a close this weekend on Saturday, March 3, as the University of Akron women's basketball team hosts Ohio on senior day inside James A. Rhodes Arena. Prior to the contest with the Bobcats, the Zips will honor their three seniors for their accomplishments in an Akron uniform over the last four years. Tip-off between Akron and Ohio is scheduled for 2 p.m. and all the action can be seen live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with Michael Reghi and Jacki Windon on the call.

Thank You, Seniors
March 3 will be the final regular-season contest and final game inside James A. Rhodes Arena that the Zips three seniors, Greta Burry, Kaitlyn Flowers, and Lauren Hung, will don an Akron uniform. Combined, Burry, Flowers, and Hung played in 224 games for the Zips in the past four years and made 74 starts. The three members of Akron's class of 2018 currently has scored 835 points, grabbed 547 rebounds, tallied 115 assists, and recorded 69 steals all in 2,758 minutes of action.

Scouting The Bobcats
Heading into the final game of the season, Ohio owns a 15-13 overall record while going 9-8 in Mid-American Conference action. The Bobcats stand fifth overall in the MAC standings and would earn a first-round home game in the 2018 MAC Tournament. Ohio is entering the contests with Akron after losing back-to-back games to Buffalo (53-70) and Miami (56-78).

Cierra Hooks and Amani Burke pace the Bobcats offensive attack with both scoring in double-figures heading into the final contest of the season. Hooks leads Ohio scoring 13.8 points per game while coming off the bench as a reserve. Additionally, Hooks leads the squad in rebounding (4.8 reb/game) and steals (3.5 stl/game). Burke is averaging 13.1 points per contests, shoots 35-percent from the field, 26-percent from long range while recording 46 steals, and 29 assists. 28 game starter, Dominque Doseck scores nearly double digits per game with 9.6 points per contest while shooting 35-percent from the field. The Bobcats point guard, Taylor Agler, owns a team-best 138 assists (4.9/tilt) while scoring 7.5 points per contest.

Probable Starters
Ohio: Taylor Agler, Katie Barker, Amani Burke, Dominique Doseck, Kendall Jessing.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Megan Sefcik, Shayna Harmon, Haliegh Reinoehl, Greta Burry.

Series History
The Zips and Bobcats are scheduled to square off for the 60th time, as Akron and Ohio have battled on the court 59 times in each programs respective history. Since the first meeting in 1976-77, Akron trails in the all-time series history, 18-41, against the Bobcats.

The Last Meeting
The University of Akron women's basketball team led for over 30 minutes of the contest against Ohio, but a late surge and a three-point play by the Bobcats with 1.0 seconds left to play in the overtime period dropped the Zips, 70-67, on Jan. 6, at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

On the afternoon, the Zips used a balanced scoring attack with 10 of the 11 active players contributing to Akron's 67 points. Two Zips' had career days in the scoring column with sophomore Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) scoring a game-high 19 points, beating her previous career-best of 10 points against Youngstown State, followed by sophomore Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) who tallied a career-high 12 points. To go along with their respective point totals, Harmon added four rebounds and three assists, while Vari grabbed nine rebounds.

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
Ohio: Bob Boldon is amidst his fifth season as the head coach of the Ohio Bobcats women's basketball program. Boldon led the Bobcats to back-to-back MAC regular season titles (2014-16) and four consecutive postseason appearances.

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 178-194 (.478) at Akron and a 403-347 (.538) in her 25 years as a head coach.

Jodi Kest Coaching Tree
Ohio's head coach, Boldon, spent five seasons as an assistant coach on Jodi Kest's coaching staff spending one season at Gannon, two seasons at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and two seasons with the Zips. In two seasons in Texas, Boldin aided Kest in leading the Islanders to a combined 34-21 record in two seasons, while the duo helped start Akron's turnaround into a top competitor inside the MAC.

With A Win Over Ohio, The Zips Would

Earn their ninth win of the 2017-18 season.
Claim its third MAC win.
Even the season series against the Bobcats.

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 28 games, Edmonds is averaging 11.1 points, a team-high 4.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. The Zips' point guard scored a season- and career-best 27 points against Eastern 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 41 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 three more double-double's against SIU Edwardsville (11 pts/10 reb), versus Central Michigan (15 pts/11 reb), and in a win at Eastern Michigan (15 pts/14 reb). The forward is the team's fourth-leading scorer, 7.6 points per game and leads the squad in rebounding with 240 total rebounds, 8.6 per contest.

Sefcik is having a career year in her junior season en route to leading the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game while shooting 35-percent from long range. 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 422 minutes of play and 18 starts, Burry is averaging 5.1 points and 3.8 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 510 minutes of action and started 10 contests. Vari grabs 5.5 rebounds per contest, including a team second-best 43 offensive rebounds. In addition to the rebounding, Vari averages 6.0 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 has started 20 contests and owns the third-most assists on the squad (50). Clay has seen 577 minutes of action through 28 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 (.366, 45-of-123), 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 405 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
Next stop, the 2018 Mid-American Conference basketball tournament. Akron will take part in round one of the MAC postseason tournament on Monday, March 5. Official postseason seeds and times of round one will be announced following the conclusion of the regular season on March 3.