Akron Opens MAC Play at Buffalo

Sunday, December 13

Buffalo, N.Y.

2:00 PM

University of Akron

Buffalo

December 12 | Women's Basketball

Follow Akron Women's Basketball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Follow Coach Jackson on Twitter

GAME NO. 4 - AKRON AT BUFFALO GAME NOTES (12/13)

Akron (3-0, 0-0 MAC) at Buffalo (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Sunday, Dec. 13
Alumni Arena
Buffalo, N.Y. • 2 p.m.

Series History: Buffalo leads 28-24
Live Stream: www.GoZips.com (subscription may be required) and ESPN App
Television: www.GoZips.com (subscription may be required) and ESPN App
Live Stats: www.GoZips.com
Radio: 640 WHLO AM (Bill Morgan - pxp)

WHAT'S AHEAD
The University of Akron women's basketball team is set to open Mid-American Conference play this Sunday, Dec. 13, as the Zips square off against Buffalo. The showdown with the Bulls is set for 2 p.m. at Alumni Arena and will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as 640 WHLO AM with Bill Morgan calling the action.

HEAD COACHES
Buffalo: Felisha Leggett-Jack (Syracuse, 1989), Overall Record: 305-263 (19th Season)/Buffalo Record: 164-100 (Ninth Season)
Akron: Melissa Jackson (Richmond, 2004), Overall/Akron Record: 34-30 (Third Season)

SERIES HISTORY
Akron and Buffalo are meeting for the 53rd time in program history, with the Bulls owning a 28-24 series edge. The two sides split the season series a year ago as the Zips posted a 69-63 triumph at Buffalo on Feb. 19, 2020, before the Bulls garnered a 76-61 road victory over Akron on March 4, 2020.

A WIN WOULD GIVE AKRON
• Four consecutive victories for the first time this season. Akron matched that streak last during the 2018-19 campaign.
• Its fourth victory of the 2020-21 season.
• Its second road win of the season.

SCOUTING BUFFALO
Buffalo enters play this Sunday following a 82-70 setback at Purdue on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The Bulls were 19-12 a season ago, including a 9-9 mark in Mid-American Conference action.

Sophomore G Dyaisha Fair paces three Buffalo players scoring in double figures averaging 19.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Contributing 11.5 and 10.8 points per night, respectively, is senior F Summer Hemphill and senior G Hanna Hall. As a team, the Bulls are registering 73.0 points, 42.5 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 9.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per outing.

Buffalo is rated 40th in the NCAA in three-pointers made (32), 45th in steals (39) and 50th in turnover margin (5.00). Individually, Fair is rated 21st in field goals attempted (76), 35th in three-pointers attempted (32), 37th in steals (11), 41st in assists (20) and 45th in assists per game (5.0).

IN OUR LAST MEETING (MARCH 4, 2020 - AKRON, OHIO)
In the next-to-last home game of the 2019-20 season, Akron shook off a slow start and battled visiting Buffalo before falling, 76-61, at James A. Rhodes Arena on March 4, 2020.

Haliegh Reinoehl led Akron with 16 points, while senior G Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) added a 15-point and team-high seven-rebound performance and Shaunay Edmonds contributed nine points and a pair of assists.

The decisive span of the contest proved to be the middle and latter portions of the third quarter, when Akron turned the ball over five times and saw its deficit grow to as many as 15 points. Led by Reinoehl and Dawson, the Zips continued to battle for the remainder of the game, but weren't able to complete the comeback.

The Zips balanced outstanding three-point shooting with turnovers from the outset, which resulted in a slow start to the game, a blistering finish to the first half and an intense second half.

Akron converted 35.3 percent of its three-pointers and were also nearly perfect from the foul line, going 11-for-13, while also topping Buffalo in assists by a 13-7 margin.

At one point in the early going, the Zips trailed 6-4 despite making 66.7 percent of their field goal attempts, due to turnovers that ended multiple possessions. After falling behind by as many as nine points early in the second period, they closed the quarter with a 34-33 lead thanks in large part to an 11-0 run powered by three-pointers by Reinoehl and Alyssa Clay.

For the half, Akron shot 6-of-11 from behind the arc, all the while playing excellent defense on Buffalo's long-range attempts. The Bulls missed all 10 of their first-half three-pointers, surviving offensively on a steady diet of layups and putbacks.

LAST GAME
Akron extended its season-opening win streak to three as the Zips shot a season-high 47.4 percent from the field en route to earning a 77-74 triumph at Dayton on Sunday, Dec. 6 at UD Arena.

After seeing the Flyers score the first basket of the game, junior F Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) connected on the first of 13 three-pointers for Akron on the afternoon as the Zips never trailed the balance of the contest to garner their first-ever victory past Dayton in program history.

Jordyn Dawson directed a trio of Zips scoring in double figures with a 26-point, nine-rebound and five-assist performance. Dawson's 26-point afternoon equaled a career-best scoring effort, while Neitzel poured in a career-high 18 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore F Lonasia Brewer (Akron, Ohio) added her third double-figure scoring outing of the campaign with 11 points.

Erin Whalen highlighted Dayton's offensive production with a team-high 26 points, while Jenna Giacone added 16 points.

Akron was able to parlay a strong shooting performance into a win over the defending Atlantic-10 Conference champion Flyers. The Zips were 27-of-57 (.471) from the field, including hitting 13-of-25 shots (52 percent) from distance, while sealing the game away going 10-for-13 from the free throw line.

Dayton finished the afternoon shooting nearly 41 percent (.406) from the floor, while going 6-of-21 from downtown. The Flyers were 16-of-26 at the charity stripe.

The Zips jumped to a 16-8 lead in the opening stanza on the strength of a 16-6 run fueled by triples from Neitzel, Dawson and sophomore G Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

After Dayton cut Akron's advantage to four, 16-12, with 4:02 remaining in the quarter, the Zips followed with a 17-4 run to end the period, including scoring contributions from junior G Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio), Brewer, sophomore G Molly Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio), Martindale and Dawson, to hold a 33-16 edge.

The Zips were 12-of-18 (.667) from the field in the opening 10 minutes, while draining 7-of-8 (.875) shots from beyond the arc.

The Flyers shot more than 69 percent (.692) from the field in the second quarter, but sparked by eight and six points, respectively, from Dawson and Neitzel, Akron took a 52-37 lead into halftime.

The Zips finished the opening half shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and a 66.7 percent mark from distance led by 16 points from Dawson and 12 from Neitzel.

The Flyers cut their deficit to seven at the 3:49 mark of the third quarter before freshman Alexis Stewart (Hamilton, Ontario) made the second of two three-pointers on the afternoon to extend Akron's advantage to 10, 60-50, with 3:12 left in the quarter.

The Zips' margin was five, 62-57, entering the final period of play.

After Dayton inched to within three, 64-61, at the 7:33 mark, Akron went on a 9-2 run over the next 59 seconds led by a pair of triples from Neitzel to assume a 73-63 edge.

The Flyers twice cut the deficit to two with under a minute to play before Brewer hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining and junior G Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio) sealed the triumph with a free throw with one-tenth of a second remaining.

AKRON RANKED NO. 23 IN LATEST COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL
Akron garnered recognition for its early-season play as CollegeInsider.com tabbed the Zips at No. 23 in its latest Mid-Major Women's Top-25 Poll released this week.

Sparked by the play of Jordyn Dawson, who is averaging team-high marks in scoring (20.7), rebounding (9.7) and assists (3.7), Akron has gotten off to a 3-0 mark on the campaign, including an impressive 77-74 triumph at Dayton, the 2019-20 Atlantic-10 Conference champions, on Sunday, Dec. 6.

ZIP TIDBITS
• Four different Akron players have scored in double figures this season led by Jordyn Dawson and Lonasia Brewer tallying 10 or more points in each of the Zips' three contests this year. The duo is joined by Colleen Neitzel (2) and Rachel Martindale (1).
• Akron has connected on five or more three pointers in 11 consecutive games, including all three this season, and 15 of its last 16 contests overall. The Zips hit on a season-high 13 triples in a 77-74 win at Dayton on Dec. 6, the best single-game effort for Akron since making 16 three pointers in the opening round of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament on March 5, 2018.
• The 2020-21 season marks the 47th season of competition for the Akron women's basketball program.
• Akron enters play this season with a very youthful roster, one that has 10 players with two years or less experience at the Division I level.
• As a team, Akron is rated 11th in the NCAA in three-point percentage (.438), 24th in assist/turnover ratio (1.40) and turnovers per game (11.7), 27th in three pointers per contest (9.3), 43rd in scoring offense (80.7) and 45th in free throw percentage (.750).
• Jordyn Dawson led the Zips a year ago in assists (2.8) and steals (1.8) per game, while ranking second in scoring (13.4) and rebounding (7.2).
• Dawson is rated seventh in the NCAA in defensive rebounding (9.0), while Colleen Neitzel is 10th in three-point percentage (.700).
• Dawson has scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games, including all three contests this season.
• Dawson registered her first double-double of the season against Bluefield State with a 19-point, 12-rebound effort. A year ago, she finished the campaign with seven double-doubles, behind only Haliegh Reinoehl, who posted nine.
• Making their Akron debuts against Bluefield State were redshirt freshmen F Layne Ferrell (Franklin, Ohio) and G Emma Tecca (Tallmadge, Ohio), along with true freshmen G Kate Garry (Loveland, Ohio), G Alexis Stewart (Hamilton, Ontario) and F Sabhbh Edwards Murphy (County Clare, Ireland). Garry, Tecca, Stewart, Edwards Murphy and Ferrell recorded six, six, five, two and two points, respectively.
• Dawson led the Zips in rebound, assists and scoring nine, nine and seven times, respectively, a season ago. She also paces Akron returners in double-figure scoring (23) and rebounding (9) contests and in scoring 15 or more points in a game (14).
• Dawson corralled seven or more rebounds in 14 home games a season ago and had a positive assist/turnover ratio nine times.
• Kendall Miller, Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell, Colleen Neitzel, Jordyn Dawson and Lonasia Brewer have appeared in 63, 54, 51, 32 and 31 career games, respectively, for the Zips. Dawson is Akron's leading active scorer averaging 14.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Rachel Martindale and Dawson are the Zips' active leaders in three-point shooting connecting on 43.6 and 36.6 percent of their attempts.

UP NEXT
Akron is scheduled to open the home portion of its league slate welcoming Ball State to James A. Rhodes Arena for a 2 p.m. tilt on Sunday, Dec. 20. The game will be broadcast on the Akron Radio Network 640 WHLO AM with Bill Morgan calling the action.