Akron Women's Basketball Drops 76-55 Decision To Butler

Sunday, December 8

Indianapolis, Ind.

2:00 PM

University of Akron

4-4,0-0MAC

Butler

6-2,0-0Big East

Akron

Butler

Akron Women's Basketball Drops 76-55 Decision To Butler

December 08 | Women's Basketball

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Akron women's basketball team traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., to take on Big East opponent, Butler, on Sunday afternoon, but the Zips fell to the Bulldogs, 76-55, despite junior Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) tying a career-high 18 points inside the Hinkle Fieldhouse.

To go along with her 18 points, Dawson grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, shot 6-for-12 from the floor, knocked down a pair of three-pointers, ripped four steals, and dished out two assists. In the third quarter alone, Dawson scored 10 of the Zips 13 points and the first five points for either side.

Senior Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) and freshman Lonasia Brewer (Akron, Ohio) followed Dawson in the scoring column pitching in eight points each, which set a new career-high for the freshman forward. Harmon connected on two triples and grabbed a pair of rebounds, while Brewer went 3-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.) continues to connect from long range knocking down two three-pointers for six points.

As a team, the Zips shot 18-for-52 (.346) from the floor and tallied seven three-pointers totaling 21 of the Zips 55 points. After shooting just three free throws in the first half, UA went on to shoot 16 free ones in the second half and made 12-for-19 for the game. The Zips bench chipped in 23 points and dished out four assists.

Butler opened the game with a 26-14 lead after 10 minutes of play built by a pair of scoring runs, points off eight Akron turnovers, and free throws.

While the Zips shot 38.5-percent from the floor totaling 14 points for the quarter, including three triples by Harmon, Reinoehl, and Martindale, the Bulldogs shot 61.5-percent from the field, connected on a trio of three-pointers, knocked down seven free throws, and scored 16 of its 26 points off turnovers.

Akron quickly turned a double-digit deficit into single digits out of the quarter break scoring five straight in just under two minutes. Brewer crashed the glass, gathered an offensive rebound, and immediately put a shot back up for two points. The Zips turned defense into offense the next possession as Akron worked quickly up the floor following a Butler miss and Dawson found the bottom of the net for three to make the score 26-19.

However, the Bulldogs countered Akron and would grow its lead to as many as +18 twice in the remaining 7:24 minutes of the period including into the locker room at halftime, 45-27.

In the first 20 minutes, the Zips shot 60-percent from beyond the arc (5-for-9) totaling 15 of Akron's 27 first-half points. Dawson led the Zips in scoring at the half with seven points and four rebounds.

The first five minutes of the second half belonged to Dawson and the Akron defense. Dawson scored all six of Akron's third-quarter points with 4:38 to play and UA's defense limited Butler to five points, forced two turnovers, and posted a pair of steals.

At the second media break in the quarter (2:01), Akron held a slight edge over the Bulldogs in the quarter, 12-9, before the Bulldogs closed out the period on a 4-1 run to even the scoring, 13-13.

As the third quarter came to a close, Dawson ended the period with 10 points, four rebounds, went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, and recorded two steals. The Zips defense forced three turnovers and held the Bulldogs to a game-low 13 points.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the Zips and Bulldogs with Butler clipping the Zips, 18-15, in the period handing BU a 76-55 win.

Akron's bench scored nine points for the Zips in the final 10 minutes of play including three points from sophomore Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio), two points by sophomore Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio), and two points from sophomore Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio).

The final home contest of the 2019-20 non-conference slate for the Akron women's basketball team is on deck for the Zips. Akron hosts North Carolina A&T on Monday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. inside James A. Rhodes Arena. Akron will then travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico to take park in the 2019 Puerto Rico Clasico to close out 2019 and the non-league schedule.