Zips Seniors Leads Akron To Key 70-61 Win Over Bowling Green, Secures Home Game In First Round Of MAC Tournament

Saturday, March 7

Akron, OH

2 PM

University of Akron

15-14,8-10MAC

Bowling Green

10-20,3-15MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Zips Seniors Leads Akron To Key 70-61 Win Over Bowling Green, Secures Home Game In First Round Of MAC Tournament

March 07 | Women's Basketball

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AKRON, Ohio– The Akron women's basketball five seniors seized the day in their final regular-season contest and led the Zips team to a 70-61 win over the visiting Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The five-person senior class of Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.), Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) and Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) combined for 46 points and 29 rebounds following pre-game Senior Day ceremonies. Behind their leadership as all five seniors started the game, Akron surged out to a large early led, never trailed and held off the Falcons for their eighth MAC win of the season.

Clay led Akron with 16 points, junior guard Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) contributed 14 and Edmonds also reached double figures with 13 points. Vari snagged a game-high 14 rebounds to pace her team on the glass.

Edmonds was also part of a unique aspect of the game, as Akron went the first 39:16 of the game without attempting a single free throw before Edmonds sank a pair of charity tosses with 44.4 seconds left to boost her team's edge to nine points 68-59.

Defense was another high point in this contest as the Zips (15-14, 8-10 MAC) held the Falcons to nine points in the first quarter and used ball pressure along with solid defensive rebounding to keep control of the game even during stretches when their offense slowed up a bit. For the day, they outrebounded Bowling Green 43-39 and held the Falcons (10-20, 3-15 MAC) to 36.4-percent shooting.

Despite their strong start, the Zips saw their lead dwindle over the course of the third quarter as they shot just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) for the period and committed four turnovers as the visitors turned what had been a 20-point Akron lead into a one-point game, 46-45 in favor of the Zips, heading to the fourth quarter.

The hosts responded with a strong start to the final period, going on a 7-0 run to build their lead back to eight points. A clutch three-pointer from sophomore guard Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio) keyed the run and even after it ended, the Akron lead never dipped below four points again as the Zips held on to secure a first-round home tournament game.

The final memorable moment of the day came with 4.8 seconds left as Akron head coach Melissa Jackson called timeout to allow the five seniors to check out of the game together to a standing ovation from the home crowd.

No. 8 Akron is now set to host No. 9 Toledo in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at James A. Rhodes Arena. The winners advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and are slated to square off against No. 1 Central Michigan.

Tickets for season ticket holders is included in their ticket package while single-game tickets start at $6. Fans can start purchasing tickets at 9 a.m. Monday, March 9, by calling the ticket office at 888-99-Akron.