Akron Earns 77-74 Road Win at Dayton

Sunday, December 6

Dayton, Ohio

2:00 PM

University of Akron

3-0,0-0MAC

Dayton

1-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Akron

Dayton

December 06 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

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

BOXSCORE | POSTGAME COMMENTS | PHOTO GALLERY (COURTESY OF ERIK SCHELKUN)

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team extended its season-opening win streak to three as the Zips (3-0) shot a season-high 47.4 percent from the field en route to earning a 77-74 triumph at Dayton (1-1) 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.

Senior F Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.) 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's next scheduled contest is slated for Sunday, Dec. 13 as the Zips will open Mid-American Conference play traveling to Buffalo. Additional non-conference games as well as changes to the league schedule may be announced in the coming weeks. The contest against the Bulls can be heard on 640 WHLO-AM.