Akron Women's Basketball Heads West For Match-Up Against Ball State

Saturday, February 8

Muncie, Ind.

1 PM

University of Akron

Ball State

Akron Women's Basketball Heads West For Match-Up Against Ball State

February 07 | Women's Basketball

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Akron (10-10,3-6 MAC) vs. Ball State (14-7, 6-3 MAC)
Saturday, Feb. 8
Muncie, Ind. • Worthen Arena • 1:00 p.m.
Listen: GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com
Live Stats: GoZips.com

What's Ahead
A cross divisional showdown awaits Akron as the Zips women's basketball team travels to Muncie, Ind., to take on MAC West foe Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. The contest between UA and the Cardinals can be seen live on ESPN+ or it can be heard live on GoZips.com with Bill Morgan on the call from Worthen Arena.

Scouting the Cardinals
Through nine Mid-American Conference contests, Ball State sits in second place in the West Division. The Cardinals are 14-7 overall with a 6-3 record in conference play. Ball State has won three of their last four against Buffalo (69-65), Miami (80-63), and Western Michigan (68-65). Their only defeat during the four-game stretch came at the hands of Kent State (68-69). They defeated Kent State (66-62) in the first matchup, Bowling Green (86-80 OT), and Eastern Michigan (59-54). Ball State's other two conference losses are to Central Michigan (39-66) and Ohio (71-79).

The Cardinals are a defensive juggernaut ranking atop the MAC in opposing field goal percentage (36.7%), fewest points given up (63.7), and opposing three-point percentage (29.3%). They rank second in defensive rebounds with 30.2 per contest and third in blocked shots with 79 on the season. Annie Rauch also ranks within the top of blocked shots per game in the MAC. Offensively, Ball State averages the second-fewest points in the conference (67.4). Their leading scorer Oshlynn Brown nearly averages a double-double with 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds along with 30 steals on the season. All three are team highs this season. Jasmin Samz averages 10.7 points per game and leads the team shooting 85.1-percent from the charity stripe. Sydney Freeman has a team-high 66 assists on the season.

In the NCAA, Ball State ranks in the top-100 in six statistical categories, including defensive rebounds per game (13th), free throw attempts (45th), field goal percentage defense (52nd), win/loss percentage (77th), rebounds per game (80th), and three-point field goal percentage (89th). Individually, Brown ranks 21st in the country in defensive boards per game and free throw attempts.

Probable Starters
Ball State: Oshlynn Brown, Jasmin Samz, Sydney Freeman, Blake Smith, Thelma Dis Augustsdottir.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Jordyn Dawson, Haliegh Reinoehl, Caitlin Vari.

Series History
In a close all-time series between the Zips and Cardinals since the first meeting in 1986, Akron holds a .425 win percentage (17-23) in the 40 contests. Since 2000, the series between the Zips and Cardinals has been streaky. Ball State won 11 games in a row from 2001-09 followed by Akron winning eight straight from 2010-14. The Cardinals won the next six before Akron ended the Ball State streak in 2018-19.

Last Time Out
Suffocating defense, strong interior play and the red-hot shooting of their starting backcourt powered the Akron women's basketball team to a 91-61 Mid-American Conference home win over Ball State at James A. Rhodes Arena.

It was a night to accomplish accolades for two members of the Zips squad including redshirt senior guard Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) and head coach Melissa Jackson. Sefcik connected on her second three-pointer of the night at the 3:26 mark of the second quarter, but that triple meant so much more. The Zips shooting guard knocked down the 200thmade three-point field goal of her career, which has only been accomplished by three Zips in program history. The win for Akron also signified coach Jackson's 14thwin in her season debut as head coach, that now stands as the most wins by an Akron head coach in their first season at the helm of the program.

Scoring came easy for the Zips against the Cardinals as six Akron players ended the night in double figures in the point column. Sefcik lit up the Cardinals to the tune of 24 points, making eight of her 10 shots from the field, including 4-for-6 from long range, in an efficient offensive display. Junior guard Alyssa Clay added 16 points off the bench for Akron and knocked down a trio of triples. Backcourt mate, junior guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), added 11 points

Junior forward Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) was dominant on the glass, hauling in a game- and career-high-tying 16 rebounds, including three on the offensive end to create second chances for herself and her team. With 10 points, she recorded her third double-double of the season, matching junior forward Haliegh Reinoehl (Westifeld, Ind.) (11 points, eight rebounds) for the team's season lead in that category. Junior Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) rounded out the double-figure scoring Zips notching 10 points to go along with a game-high six assists.

Coaches
Ball State: Brady Sallee is in his eighth season as the Ball State women's basketball head coach. Sallee has a 128-98 record at the helm of the Cardinals program and an overall career record of 264-208.

Akron: Melissa Jackson begins her second season at the helm of the Akron women's basketball program. In her debut season, Jackson led the Zips to a 16-15 overall record, a 7-11 MAC ledger, improved by seven wins overall and +4 in conference victories. Jackson's squad became just the eighth team in program history to win at least 16 games in a season.

Mid-American Conference Member
The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 28 years after joining the league in 1992 from the North Star Conference.

With A Win Over Ball State, Akron Would...

Earn its 11th win of the 2019-20 season
Improve to 11-10 on the season and 4-6 in the MAC
Improves the Zips away record to 5-5
Hand head coach Melissa Jackson her 27th career win
Capture the 479th win in program history.
Win back to back games on the season and against Ball State dating back to 2018-19.

Zips Tidbits

The 2019-20 season marks the 46th season of competition for the Akron women's basketball program.
Junior Jordyn Dawson and two freshmen, Rachel Martindale and Lonasia Brewer, made their respective collegiate debuts against St. Bonaventure. Martindale played 15 minutes and scored two points while Brewers saw more minutes of action.
Dawson provided a big spark for the Zips in her Akron debut. JD scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, and was +25 in +/- when on the court.
Akron picked up its first victory of the season against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 63-54. The win marked the sixth time since 2012-13 that Akron captured a win in the season opener.
Shaunay Edmonds recorded the first double-double of her career scoring 20 points and tallying a career-high 10 steals, including 5 steals in the fourth quarter alone.
Haliegh Reineohl posted her team-leading 25th career double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds).
Forward Caitlin Vari eclipsed the 500 career point mark against St. Bonaventure with her 13 point effort.
In the fourth quarter against St. Bonaventure, Akron outscored the Bonnies 20-4 and scored 17 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the game.
The Zips went to the free-throw line 31 times against St. Bonaventure and connected on 25 attempts. Akron fell two made free throws shy of tying the 10th most free throws made in a single-game.
Defensively, UA limited St. Bonaventure to a game-low four points in the quarter as the Bonnies shot 1-for-13, committed seven turnovers, and Edmonds single-handedly ripped five steals.
Jordyn Dawson registered her first career double-double in an Akron uniform against Fort Wayne while Haliegh Reinoehl notched back-to-back double-doubles to start the season.
UA grabbed a then season-high 41 team rebounds, including 14 offensive boards. Dawson and Reinoehl accounted for 24 of the Zips rebounds.
Against the Mastodons, UA scored 34 points in the paint, 20 points in the paint, and the Zips contributed 23 points.
The Zips led for 30:40 of the game against Purdue Fort Wayne and led by as many as +11.
Akron captured two straight wins to begin the season in back-to-back campaigns.
Against Michigan, four Akron players scored in double figures including Haliegh Reinoehl (14), Jordyn Dawson (13), Shayna Harmon (13), Rachel Martindale (12).
Martindale scored a career-high 12 points and knocked down four triples against UM.
As a team, UA shot a season-high 45.9-percent from the floor and 40.7-percent from long range.
The Zips led then No. 24 Michigan for a total of 2:43 and led by as many as four.
UA outscored the Wolverines 22-16 in the second quarter and 24-14 in the third quarter.
Akron earned its third win of the season against YSU as the Zips rolled to a 91-62 victory.
In the 40 minute contest, the Zips led for a season-high 39:18 and led by as many as +34.
From distance, Akron shot a season-best .407 against the Penguins.
In the plus/minus category, all five starters against YSU, Reineohl, Vari, Dawson, Harmon, and Edmonds, were all +25 or high, including a game-high +31 by Vari.
All 12 players who checked into the contest against YSU recorded at least one point.
Freshman guard Molly Neitzel scored the first three points of her career while Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell matched her career-high with 13 points.
Against Detroit, the Zips recorded a season-high 20 assists, including a game- and season-high five by Shaunay Edmonds.
In the third quarter alone, Edmonds scored or assisted on six of the Zips 10 field goals en route to six points, four assists, and two steals. Haliegh Reinoehl added five points with four rebounds and Shayna Harmon scored five points, two rebounds, and two assists to help lead the Zips to a +11 advantage (25-14).
Akron led for 33 of the 40 minute contest against Cleveland State before a late push by the Vikings earned CSU the win.
The backcourt duo of Haliegh Reineohl and Caitlin Vari scored a combined 30 of the Zips 62 points. Reineohl notched her third double-double (16 pts, 10 reb) and led the Zips in scoring for the fourth time in 2019-20, while Vari scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Junior Jordyn Dawson scored seven of her nine points in the fourth quarter against CSU while Shayna Harmon posted a season-high seven rebounds, team-high four assists, made eight free throws, and tallied three steals.
The Zips two best quarters offensively against CSU came in the second and fourth periods where UA shot a combined 13-for-30 and tallied 36 of its 62 total points.
Against Duquesne, Kendall Miller played a career-high 31 minutes and tied a career-mark five assists.
Freshman Rachel Martindale matched her career-high 12 points against the Dukes, went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, 3-for-3 from long range, and 1-for-1 from the free throw line.
Against Butler, Jordyn Dawson scored 10 of the Zips 13 third quarter points.
Lonasia Brewer scored a career-high eight points against the Bulldogs while Dawson matched a season-high 18 points.
Senior Haliegh Reinoehl scored a season-high 22 points against NC A&T, which fell one point shy of her career-best 23 points.
Senior guard Shayna Harmon turned in 12 points against the Aggies going a perfect 4-for-4 from long range.
The Zips defense forced 23 turnovers by the NC A&T offense while the Akron offense assisted on 17 of its 24 made field goals.
Akron went 2-0 at the 2019 Puerto Rico Classic defeating Denver and Morgan State. The Zips are 4-0 went participating in December holiday tournaments in the past two seasons and collected a three-game win streak (2019) and four-game win streak (2018) to close out the past two non-conference schedules.
Against the Pioneers, senior Haliegh Reinoehl recorded a career day scoring 26 points while senior Caitlin Vari grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds.
The Zips led by just one point heading into the fourth quarter against Denver before scoring a season-high 34 points and shot 91.6-percent from the floor in the final 10 minutes of play to defeat DU by +16.
Akron set season-highs in points in the paint (50 ) and points off turnovers (34) while tying season-high numbers in points scored (88) and assists (21).
In her first Mid-American Conference contest against CMU, junior Jordyn Dawson scored a career-high 25 points, shot 50-percent from the floor, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Akron scored 14 unanswered points against Bowling Green in the final 2:29 of the fourth to complete a come-from-behind 76-73 victory over the Falcons.
Defensively, the Zips shutdown the Falcons offense in the closing minutes of the fourth as BG went 0-for-3, turned the ball over twice, and committed three fouls sending UA to the line.
In the fourth quarter alone, Akron outscored BGSU, 27-17, shot a game-high 55.6-percent from the floor, 5-for-6 from the charity stripe, scored 16 points in the paint, 10 points off turnovers, eight second-chance points, and seven fastbreak points.
The Zips starting five of Edmonds, Dawson, Harmon, Reinoehl, and Vari accounted for 71 of Akron's 76 points against Bowling Green.
Haliegh Reinoehl matched a career-high 26 points against BGSU and recorded her fourth double-double of the season.
Caitlin Vari pulled down 16 rebounds against Bowling Green and scored 14 points for her second double-double of the season.
Haliegh Reinoehl recorded a double-double in back-to-back games against Bowling Green (26/11) and Toledo (15/10).
Akron outscored Toledo 42-27 in the second half and 22-13 in the fourth quarter.
Down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, Akron rallied in the third and fourth quarter to claim its first lead over Toledo at the 4:10 mark. The Zips outscored the Rockets 28-7 which included 11 straight points beginning at 3:36 in the third and ended at 4:09 in the fourth.
Alyssa Clay scored a season-high nine points against the Rockets going 3-for-6 from distance.
Caitlin Vari has scored in double figures in all four MAC contests and in five of the Zips last six games.
Sophomore Kendall Miller scored a career-high 11 points against Northern Illinois on 5-of-7 shooting and 1-of-2 from long range.
Shaunay Edmonds became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
Akron stole a season-high 14 steals against Miami and forced 18 RedHawk turnovers.
UA snapped a six game losing streak against Miami dating back to 2016.
Jordryn Dawson recorded a career-high 13 rebounds and notched the third double-double of her career in the Zips win over the RedHawks.
The four-headed attack of Jordyn Dawson, Shaunay Edmonds, Haliegh Reinoehl, and Shayna Harmon scored 56 of UA's 71 points.
Akron tallied a shooting percentage of 60-percent in the fourth quarter against the Broncos.
Jordryn Dawson turned in her best two-game stretch of the season against Miami and Western Michigan. Dawson scored 20.5 points per game, pulled down 7.5 rebounds per match-up, ripped 4.0 steals per contest, and averaged 2.0 assists per game while shooting 60-percent from the floor and 76.9-percent from the free-throw line.
The Zips turned the ball over a season-high 25 times against Ohio. It was the first time this season Akron ended the game with 20+ turnovers.
Senior Alyssa Clay tallied a season-high 18 points against the Bobcats that included five three-pointers and a trio of free throws. In her career, Clay has scored 61 points against Ohio that included a career-high 25 points in 2018-19.
Defensively, Akron held a high-powered Ohio offense to just 32 first-half points and a low 29-percent field goal percentage. The Zips held three of the top scorers inside the MAC to a combined 21 points including just five points for Erica Johnson, the reigning Freshman of the Year.
In two games, 11 players who checked into the game scored a minimum of one point in the contests against YSU and Detroit. A season-high 12 players scored in the Zips win against the Penguins.
The Zips have had four players score in double figures in six of its 20 games while a minimum of two Akron players have notched double digits in the scoring column in 18 of 120 contests and a season-best five Zips tallied double figures against YSU and Eastern Michigan.
Haliegh Reinoehl has now scored in double figures in seven straight games, in 10 of the Zips last 12 games, and 16 of UA's 20 total contests, while leading UA in scoring in 12 contests.
In the Zips first overtime contest of the season against Eastern Michigan, Akron picked up the victory against the Eagles outscoring EMU 12-5. The Zips shot 4-for-7 from the floor in the extra five minutes of play including two three-pointers from senior Alyssa Clay.
Clay has scored 35 points in Akron's last two games. Going into the Zips contest against Ohio, Clay had scored just 32 points.
Against OU and EMU, Clay shot 10-for-20 from long range connecting on five triples in each game.
Akron pulled down a season-high 53 rebounds against the Eagles including 15 offensive rebounds.
Three Zips including Haliegh Reinoehl, Jordyn Dawson, and Caitlin Vari recorded a double-double against EMU.
The Zips in the NCAA (stats as of 2/7):
Turnovers: Fewest turnovers (71st, 307), turnovers per game (135th, 15.4), turnover margin (135th, 1.35), assist/turnover ratio (159th, 0.83).
Free Throws: free-throw percentage (157rd, .697).
Scoring: scoring margin (174th, +1.2), scoring offense (114th, 67.8), field goal percentage (128th, 40.8).
Defense: fewest fouls (141st, 357), steals per game (177th, 7.9).
Zips players in the NCAA (stats as of 2/7):
Haliegh Reinoehl - 133rd rebounds per game (8.1), 192nd field goal percentage (43.5), 158th points per game (15.2).
Jordyn Dawson - 135th field goal percentage (46.1), 117th steals per game (2.0), 198th free throw percentage (74.6).
Shaunay Edmonds - 233rd steals per game (1.75).
Team Game-Highs: Points (91, YSU), field goals made (33, YSU), three-pointers (12), free throws made (25, SBU), rebounds (52, EMU), assists (21, Denver.), steals (14, Miami), blocks (7, Det.)
Individual Game-Highs: Points (26, Reinoehl 3X), field goals made (11 Dawson), three-pointers (4, Martindale), free throws made (8, Harmon), rebounds (17, Vari), assists (6 Edmonds), steals (10, Edmonds).

Up Next
It's rivalry week part one! On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Akron women's basketball team hosts its cross-town rival, Kent State, in the first rendition of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge as the Zips and Golden Flashes go head-to-head. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside James A. Rhodes Arena.