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Akron Defeats Ohio 108-105 in Double Overtime
February 18 | Women's Basketball
BOXSCORE (PDF) | POSTGAME COMMENTSÂ | CONDENSED GAME HIGHLIGHTS
AKRON, Ohio - Junior Keiryn McGuff (Dublin, Ohio) put the University of Akron women's basketball team ahead for good on a basket with 13 seconds left in the second overtime to give the Zips a 108-105 win over Ohio at James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 18).
The Zips overcame a 13-point third-quarter deficit to secure its second consecutive victory, both in overtime.
Akron connected on a school-record 20 three pointers in the contest with sophomore Liz Murphy (Yackandandah, Australia), sophomore Izzy Callaway (Copley, Ohio) and McGuff draining six, five and four triples, respectively. The Zips bested the previous mark of 16 set against Ohio on March 5, 2018.
The Zips had five players score in double figures, led by McGuff, who put together a double-double with career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Murphy tacked on a career-high 20 points and Callaway helped out with 19 points off the bench. Sophomore Ni'Rah Clark (Toledo, Ohio) contributed a 17-point and seven-rebound performance.
McGuff and freshman Shaena Brew (Rialto, Calif.) each posted their second career double-doubles with Brew collecting 18 points to go along with a career-high 12 assists. Brew's assist total was one shy of the single-game school record for assists set by Kacie Cassell versus Miami on Feb. 26, 2014.
Led by McGuff's four offensive rebounds, Akron did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 10 boards that resulted in 13 second-chance points.
The Akron defense was effective at taking away the basketball forcing 17 Ohio turnovers turning those takeaways into 15 points on the other end of the floor. Freshman Monique Mitchell (South Bend, Ind.) led the way individually for the Zips with one steal.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 17-13 advantage, Akron went on a 7-0 run with 2:35 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Clark, to increase its lead to 24-13. The Zips then added one point to that lead by the end of the period and entered the quarter break with a 26-14 advantage. Akron relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 26 points.
The Zips could not maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 32-30.
Akron's deficit grew after halftime as the Zips faced a 67-54 disadvantage heading to the fourth quarter. Akron turned two offensive rebounds into four second-chance points on the way to scoring 24 total points in the quarter.
Akron narrowed its deficit to 70-63 before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Brew's three, to shrink the deficit to 70-69 with 6:53 to go in the fourth. The Zips rally continued as they outscored Ohio 17-16 the rest of the way to tie it at 86-86 and send the game to overtime. Akron fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down nine shots to account for 27 of its 32 points.
Ohio then snagged a 105-102 advantage with 1:28 left in the second overtime before Akron responded by going on a 6-0 run to seize a 108-105 lead with three seconds to go in the period, a score which would hold for the rest of the game.
Game Notes
» Akron got double-doubles from both McGuff and Brew.
» The Zips rallied from a 13-point 67-54 third quarter deficit to force the game into overtime.
» The Zips made half of their attempts from three point range, knocking down 20 of 40 shots.
» Akron tallied 22 total assists in the game.
» Brew totaled 12 assists for Akron.
» Murphy hit six threes and Callaway knocked down five more to lead a Akron shooting attack that had two players sink five or more shots from beyond the arc.
» The Akron bench made an impact by scoring 40 points to its scoring output.
» Five Akron players scored 10 or more points.
» Murphy and Callaway came off the bench to score 20 and 19 points, respectively.
» The Akron defense forced 17 turnovers.
» Akron cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 10 offensive boards in the game.
» McGuff led the Zips with 22 points and Murphy added 20.
» Akron got a team-high 11 rebounds from McGuff.
Up Next
Akron hosts rival Kent State on Saturday (Feb. 21) at noon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
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