Akron Eyes Road Victory at Eastern Michigan

Akron (7-13, 2-8 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (5-15, 2-8 MAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 7
Gervin GameAbove Center
Ypsilanti, Mich.

Series History: Akron Leads 29-19
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WHAT'S AHEAD
The University of Akron women's basketball team travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a showdown with Eastern Michigan on Wednesday (Feb. 7). The 7 p.m. tilt with the Eagles will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as on 640 WHLO AM with Bill Morgan.

HEAD COACHES
Eastern Michigan: Ke'Sha Blanton (Toledo, 2009), Overall Record: 4-8 (First Season), Record at Eastern Michigan: 4-8 (First Season)
Akron: Ryan Gensler (St. Joseph's, 2009), Overall Record: 7-13 (First Season), Record at Akron: 7-13 (First Season)

SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan enters action against Akron on Wednesday (Feb. 7) at 5-15 on the campaign, including 2-8 in the Mid-American Conference, following an 75-63 setback at Buffalo on Saturday (Feb. 3).

The Eagles are led by junior Tayra Eke, who is averaging a team-high 9.4 points per game, while senior Kennedi Myles is pulling down a team-best 8.5 rebounds per night. As a team, Eastern Michigan is recording 57.9 points, 36.5 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.0 blocks per tilt.

Individually, Eke is rated 24th in the NCAA in blocks per game (2.10) and 30th in total blocks (42).

SERIES HISTORY
Akron and Eastern Michigan are meeting for the 49th time in program history. The Zips lead the series, 29-19, after the Zips registered a 60-43 victory on Jan. 11, 2022, in Ypsilanti, Mich., and a 72-70 triumph on Feb. 15, 2023, at James A. Rhodes Arena.

IN OUR LAST MEETING (FEB. 15, 2023 – AKRON, OHIO)
Akron picked up a key Mid-American Conference win at James A. Rhodes Arena, holding off visiting Eastern Michigan for a 72-70 triumph.

Molly Neitzel delivered a career-high 22 points en route to sparking the Zips to a .448 shooting mark on the evening.

Junior Reagan Bass also reached double figures with an 18-point and five-rebound performance, while Layne Ferrell scored 13 to go with seven rebounds. Rounding out the double-figures scorers for Akron with 10 points and six assists was Dominique Camp.

AKRON FOR NAKON GAME
For the sixth consecutive season, the Akron women's basketball team will partner with the Nakon Foundation to host the 'Akron for Nakon' game, on Saturday (Feb. 10), as the Zips host Arkansas State.

BASS TURNING IN SPECIAL YEAR FOR AKRON
Reagan Bass is in the midst of a dominant campaign for the Zips this season as she is one of six players in NCAA Division I women's basketball to average 17.6 points and 11.2 rebounds per games and comes into action against Eastern Michigan recording 17.6 points and 11.2 rebounds per outing. Her 12 doubles-doubles rank 15th nationally. She has posted a double-double in five of Akron's nine league games this season.

She became the 21st Zip to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a 22-point effort versus Bellarmine (Dec. 21). She then collected her 500th career rebound versus Ohio (Jan. 3). She has scored in doubles figures in 45 of Akron's last 50 games, while recording double-digit rebounds 19 times over the same span. She is 50 rebounds shy of cracking into the top-10 in program history.

Bass is the only player in the Mid-American Conference to average a double-double scoring 17.60 points to go along with a conference-high 11.15 rebounds per contest. She also headlines the MAC in defensive rebounding (7.95) and offensive rebounding (3.20), while rating second in minutes played (36.15) and in field goal percentage (.478), third in scoring (17.60), seventh in free throw percentage (.773) and eighth in blocked shots (0.75). In league-only affairs, she is rated first in the MAC in rebounding (11.00) and defensive rebounding (8.20), second in offensive rebounding (2.80), sixth in scoring (14.70) and minutes played (35.20).

She is rated seventh in the NCAA free throw attempts (141), ninth in defensive rebounding (8.0), 11th in rebounding (11.2), 13th in free throws made (109), 15th in double-doubles (12), 19th in rebounds (223) and 20th in minutes played (36.15).

ZIP TIDBITS
• The 2023-24 season marks the 50th season of competition for the Akron women's basketball program.
• Reagan Bass is averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in four career games against Eastern Michigan and has scored 18 points or more in three of the four games between the schools.
• Over the last five games, Reagan Bass is averaging 13.2 points per game. Bass is shooting nearly 48 percent (.479) from the field.
• Reagan Bass enters action versus Eastern Michigan having amassed 1,177 career points, to go along with 609 career rebounds. She has scored in doubles figures in 45 of Akron's last 50 games, while recording double-digit rebounds 19 times over the same span.
• Reagan Bass needs 52 points to surpass Casey O'Connor (1979-83) for 10th on the all-time scoring list at Akron.
• Reagan Bass is ranked second in the Akron career record book in field goal percentage (.514), third in free throw percentage (.773), fourth in points per game (15.5) and in free throws made (343), fifth in rebounds per game (8.0) and in free throws attempted (444) and seventh in blocked shots (79).
• Akron is tied with San Diego State and Tennessee State for the D1 lead in overtime games having played in four this season. The four overtime contests are tied with Akron's 2015-16 team for most in a single season in program history. The NCAA record for overtime games in a season is seven, as Houston played in seven during the 2018-19 campaign.
• Akron has matched or outrebounded its opponents 10 times this season, including in five of 10 league games.
• The Zips have recorded two or more blocks in 15 games on the campaign.
• The Zips shined in the classroom during the fall semester as Akron recorded a 3.343 team GPA, including three Zips turning in a perfect 4.0 GPA.
• The Zips have recorded 52 career-high marks this season in point, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and minutes played.
• The Zips own season-high marks in scoring (88-BELL), field goals made (29-OAK | PITT | BELL), triples (14-BELL), offensive rebounds (19-RMU | BELL), defensive rebounds (34-OAK), rebounds (49-OAK | RMU), assists (18-OAK | PITT), steals (11-CAN) and blocks (5-RMU | CSU | CAN | BUFF-1).
• Seven different Akron players have scored in double figures this season led by Reagan Bass (18), Morgan Haney (10), Lanae Riley (9), Kaia Woods (8), Alexus Mobley (4), Zakia Rasheed (3) and Teniesha Clarke (2).
• Akron connected on five or more three pointers in 87 of its last 113 contests overall. The Zips hit on a season-high 14 triples in an 88-65 victory over Bellarmine (Dec. 21, 2023).
• Reagan Bass, Alexis Stewart, Zakia Rasheed and senior Tahmala Thorpe have appeared in 76, 67, 63 and 37 career games, respectively, for the Zips. Bass is Akron's leading active scorer averaging 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.

ZIPS' OFFENSIVE PROGRESS REPORT
In Akron's 20 games this season, this is how the Zips have fared from the field: 50 percent: NA, 40 percent: .460 (Pittsburgh), .460 (Wichita State), .453 (Bellarmine), .439 (Southern Miss), .421 (Northern Illinois-1), .414 (Ball State-1), .408 (Oakland), .407 (Miami), .404 (Ohio-1), 30 percent: .393 (Kent State-1), 381 (Robert Morris), .370 (Miami), .368 (Youngstown State), .365 (Bowling Green-1), .361 (Central Michigan-1), .345 (Buffalo-1), .339 (Cleveland State), .333 (Western Michigan), .333 (Canisius), .320 (Tennessee State), 20 percent: NA

ZIPS' DEFENSIVE PROGRESS REPORT
In the Zips' 20 games this season, this is how the Zips have fared defensively: 50 percent: .586 (Toledo), .512 (Kent State-1), .500 (Pittsburgh), 40 percent: .478 (Southern Miss), .468 (Oakland), .429 (Western Michigan), .429 (Bowling Green-1), .424 (Bellarmine), .410 (Central Michigan-1), .410 (Cleveland State), .404 (Buffalo-1), 30 percent: .396 (Miami), .393 (Ohio-1), .393 (Tennessee State), .387 (Ball State-1), .364 (Wichita State), .356 (Youngstown State), .345 (Canisius), .333 (Northern Illinois-1), .318 (Robert Morris), 20 percent: NA.

INSIDE THE PAINT
Akron has once proved to be strong in the paint averaging 29.4 points per game for 588 total points. This season, the Zips posted a season-best 44 points in the paint in a 91-87 setback to Oakland (Nov. 6).

ZIPS EARN WBCA ALL-ACADEMIC SPECIAL MENTION ACCOLADES
The 2022-23 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll was announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, and the Akron women's basketball team earned special mention nods for having a 3.503 overall team GPA for the 2022-23 academic year.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and two-year college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2022-23 season was the 28th in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.

The Zips were just one of five Mid-American Conference teams to earn the recognition.

MAC PRESEASON POLL
The Zips under first-year head coach Ryan Gensler, were picked to finish sixth as a team behind preseason league and tournament favorite preseason favorite Toledo (11 first-place votes and 121 points). The Rockets were followed by Ball State (1 first-place votes/110 points), Kent State (102), Bowling Green (77), Northern Illinois (72), Akron (69), Eastern Michigan (66), Buffalo (50), Ohio (40), Western Michigan (38), Central Michigan (24) and Miami (23).

HOME COOKING
Inside the friendly confines of James A. Rhodes Arena, the Zips have seen a lot of success over the course of the past 18 seasons. When playing on its home court, Akron owns a 131-85 record dating back to the 2004-05 campaign.

This season, the Zips are 3-5 in the JAR, averaging 67.3 points per tilt and connecting on more than 39 percent (.393) of their attempts from the field, while recording 38.1 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 6.0 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. Individually, Reagan Bass and Morgan Haney are averaging double figures inside James A. Rhodes Arena recording 21.0 and 10.1 points per game.

UP NEXT
Akron hosts Arkansas State as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Saturday (Feb. 10) at 2 p.m.

The University of Akron Athletics

Players Mentioned

Reagan Bass

Dominique Camp

Teniesha Clarke

Layne Ferrell

Morgan Haney

Alexus Mobley

Molly Neitzel

Zakia Rasheed

Lanae Riley

Alexis Stewart

Tahmala Thorpe

Kaia Woods

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