Akron Falls to Northern Illinois, 76-63, on Education Day

Wednesday, January 27

Akron, Ohio

12:00 PM

University of Akron

4-8,1-8MAC

Northern Illinois

7-6,5-3MAC

Northern Ill.

Akron

Akron Falls to Northern Illinois, 76-63, on Education Day

January 27 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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BOXSCORE | POST-GAME COMMENTS

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's basketball team garnered a career-high 20-point effort from sophomore G Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.), but it wasn't enough to propel the Zips (4-8, 1-8 MAC) to victory on the squad's Eighth Annual Education Day as Northern Illinois (7-6, 5-3 MAC) earned a 76-63 triumph on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Martindale led a trio of Zips scoring in double figures on the strength of a career-best six three pointers. Joining her with 12- and 11-point performances were juniors Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio) and Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio). Senior Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.) positioned herself for a triple-double in the affair registering an eight-point, eight-rebound and five-assist effort. Chelby Koker paced the Huskies' attack with a team-high 19 points, while A'Jah Davis added 13 points.

Martindale's career day led Akron to a 25-22 advantage in bench scoring.

Akron finished the afternoon connecting on 32.4 percent of its shots, while faring slightly better beyond the arc with at 34.5 percent. Northern Illinois shot 44.4 percent from the field in the contest.

The transition game proved to be a kick-starter all afternoon long for Akron as it outscored the Huskies in fast-break points, 22-3. The Zips were able to use those transition opportunities to find open looks from beyond the arc, posting a 30-24 scoring edge from distance.

Akron forced the Huskies into 22 turnovers, including 14 in the opening half, and converted those miscues into a 14-9 advantage in points off of turnovers.

The opening quarter proved to be a back-and-forth affair, one that featured a pair of ties and ended all square at 15 with Brown-Mitchell and Miller each scoring four points.

Following a made free throw by Brown-Mitchell at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter, the Huskies parlayed a 7-0 run over a 2:34 stretch to assume a 29-23 edge.

The Zips responded with a 7-0 run of their own fueled by a pair of baskets from Dawson and a three pointer from Martindale to regain the lead, 30-29. Northern Illinois scored the final basket of the half to take a 31-30 advantage into the intermission.

Brown-Mitchell paced the Akron attack with seven first-half points, while Davis led the Huskies with nine points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The third quarter proved to be the decisive stretch for the visitors as Northern Illinois outscored the Zips in the period, 26-17, t0 extend their lead to 10, 57-47, entering the final period.

After Dawson made a pair of free throws to inch the Zips within one, 33-32, the Huskies used a 7-1 run extend their edge to seven, 40-34, at the 6:43 mark.

Northern Illinois saw its lead pushed to nine, 50-41, when Martindale connected on back-to-back triples to cut the Zips' deficit to three, 50-47, with 2:32 left in the quarter. The Huskies finished the stanza on a 7-0 run to lead 57-47 entering the final period. In the fourth quarter, Northern Illinois outscored the Zips, 19-16, to earn the victory.

Akron is scheduled to travel to Ohio for a 1 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Convocation Center. The contest will be broadcast on the Akron Radio Network 99.7 Canton's New Country with Bill Morgan calling the action.