Martindale and Brewer Lead Zips Past Detroit Mercy

Monday, November 29

Akron, Ohio

7:00 PM

University of Akron

3-2,0-0MAC

Detroit Mercy

0-6,0-2Horizon

Detroit Mercy

Akron

Martindale and Brewer Lead Zips Past Detroit Mercy

November 29 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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BOXSCORE (PDF) | POSTGAME PRESSER

AKRON, Ohio- Akron junior Rachel Martindale (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored a game-high 16 points, while junior Lonasia Brewer (Akron, Ohio) recorded a double-double to lead the Zips to a 67-60 definitive win over Detroit Mercy on Monday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Zips snapped a two-game losing skid, suffocating the offense of the visiting Detroit Mercy Titans in a 67-60 win that saw the hosts trail for just over three minutes of game time. With 12 players seeing court time and 10 of them scoring points, it was a balanced offensive effort for the hosts, but defense is where they did their best work.

Akron limited the Titans to 32.8-percent shooting, including just four made 3-pointers, forced 15 turnovers and blocked four shots to earn its third win of the season.

Martindale led the Zips (3-2) with 16 points, Brewer recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds and freshman forward Reagan Bass (Strongsville, Ohio) chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in the win. Senior guard Kendall Miller (Akron, Ohio) also notched eight points, five rebounds four assists and two steals for Akron.

It was Martindale who drained five of Akron's seven 3-pointers, helping create spacing on the floor and creating room for Brewer and Bass to operate in the paint.

The game was a tough, physical affair from the outset. Both sides dug in on defense, scrapped for rebounds and forced one another to earn every point. They held the visiting Titans (0-6) to 11 points and 29.4-percent shooting in the first quarter, then continued that relentless defensive effort by allowing just one made basket in the first seven-plus minutes of the second period.

Included in that run was a 7:09 stretch where the strong Akron defense did not surrender a single point. The run allowed the Zips to build a 32-21 halftime edge, establishing a season low for points allowed in a first half defensively.

Freshman forward Emma Trawally Porta led Detroit Mercy with 10 points in defeat, junior guard Imani McNeal also tallied 10 points and sophomore forward Irene Murua contributed nine for the visitors.

Akron heads back out on the road for its next game, a 2 p.m. tip in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Dec. 5 as they battle the Michigan Wolverines in a non-league tilt. The game can be heard on WHLO-640 AM.