Game #10: Akron Zips (5-4) vs. Chicago State Cougars (4-7)Jones Convocation Center • Chicago, Ill. • Thurs., Dec. 17, 2009 • 6 p.m. (EST)
On the Radio
Thursday's game will be broadcast live locally on 1350 AM (WARF). UA play-by-play veteran Bill Morgan will have the call.
On the Web
An audio stream of the broadcast will be available on www.GoZips.com as part of the Zips Zone subscription package.
Series Breakdown
Series: UA trails 1-2, since 1987-88
UA Series Streak: 2L
Notes: The Zips and Cougars will be meeting for the fourth time in the series history Thursday ... UA will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak to CSU ... Akron is 1-1 all-time on the road against Chicago State.
Coaches
• Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock, '84) is in her fourth season at Akron and 18th season overall as a head coach. She is 33-65 (.337) in 98 games at UA and 259-218 (.543) in 477 games for her career. She led the Zips to an 11-19 record, Including a 6-10 mark in MAC play, last winter.
• Angela Jackson (Old Dominion, '91) is in her seventh season at Chicago State and has a career record of 74-97 (.433) with the Cougars. Jackson led the Cougars to a 16-13 record as an Independent last winter.
The Opening Tip
The University of Akron women's basketball team will take a three-game win streak to the Windy City when it tips off at Chicago State Thursday at 6 p.m. (EST).
The Last Time Out
Rachel Tecca scored 20 points and pulled down 18 rebounds to lead Akron to a 76-51 victory over Lake Erie College Monday night at Rhodes Arena.
The Zips were able to pull away for the win by shooting 40.8 percent from the field, while holding the Storm to just 27 percent. Leading the Akron offense, in addition to Tecca, was Ayla Guzzardo, who dished out nine assists. Kara Murphy added 14 points, while Amber Witt had 13.
The Zips took control early, but Lake Erie battled back take a two-point lead, 6-4, after Alyssa Wagers hit a layup and two free throws. Guzzardo answered with an old-fashion three-point play to put the Zips up one and they never looked back. The game remained close over the next eight and half minutes, however, with Akron leading by five, 24-19.
But from that point, Kyle Baumgartner hit a three and Tecca was a force on the boards as UA went on a 22-3 run - capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Witt - to give the Zips a 46-22 lead with 1:23 left.
About The Cougars
Chicago State has posted a school-record 16 wins in each of the last two seasons, going 16-13 in both years. The Cougars, who competed as an independent in 2008-09, are a member of the brand-new Great West Conference and were picked to finish second in the league in the preseason coaches poll.
North Dakota was picked to win the league, which also includes Houston Baptist, NJIT, South Dakota, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley.
CSU is coming off a 73-56 loss at Milwaukee last Sunday despite a 43-39 lead with 17:20 left in the second half. The Cougars struggled from the field the rest of the way, connecting on just three of their next 19 attempts as UWM used a 13-2 run over the next 9:41 to seal the victory.
Sisters Alyssa (12.4 ppg) and Courtney Waldon (12.9 ppg) lead the team in scoring. Elana Wroten (5.2 rpg) paces the Cougars on the boards.
Chicago State, which has suffered defeats a pair of MAC members (76-41 at Bowling Green and 74-71 vs. Western Michigan) is 2-2 at home, 0-4 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites.
The Last Time Vs. Chicago State
Akron used a pair of late runs to challenge Chicago State but ran out of time in a 64-54 defeat at Rhodes Arena last season.
Trailing by 13 points at intermission, UA scored 10 of the first 14 points to open the second half then cut the lead to four with four minutes left, but could get no closer.
Kara Murphy led the way for the Zips, connecting on 8-of-18 attempts from the field on her way to a game-high 24 points. She also made six of her seven free throw attempts while grabbing five rebounds. Overall, UA connected on 82.4 percent (14-for-17) of its shots from the charity stripe.
Kyle Baumgartner added seven points and four rebounds in the loss, while Ashley Veal pitched in with five boards of her own.
The Zips defense again forced its fair share of turnovers, turning 19 Chicago State miscues into 18 points. However, UA turned the ball over 19 times itself, leading to 17 Cougar points.
Chicago State used solid three-point shooting (4-for-9) to open up a double-digit lead during the first 20 minutes. For the game, the Cougars hit on 49 percent (24-for-49) of their shots from the floor, including 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from behind the arc.
Elana Wroten provided a presence down low with 20 points coming on 9-for-14 shooting. Wroten also added seven rebounds and was joined in double figures by Jasmin Dixon (17 points), Alyssa Waldon (13 points) and Jael Pena (10 points).
Offensive Surge
After breaking the 70-point barrier just once through the first seven games of the season, the Zips have done so in each of their last two. The key to Akron's recent offensive efficiency has been its accuracy from the floor - connecting on 41.5 percent of its attempts from the field - and its ability to take care of the basketball.
Against Youngstown State and Lake Erie, the Zips have posted a turnover margin of +6.5, while averaging 10.0 steals per contest.
Tecca - Not Your typical Freshman
True freshman Rachel Tecca recorded the first double-double of her career with 20 points and 18 rebounds, the 12th-highest total in school history, against Lake Erie College Monday night. Kim Knowles grabbed 28 rebounds against Wittenberg during the 1976 season to set the program high mark.
In doing so, she shot 52.9 percent from the floor (9-for-17) and also recorded an assist, a block and three steals in the 25-point victory. Seven of her 18 rebounds came off the offensive glass.
She has now reached double-digit scoring in four of her last five games, averaging 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds during that time.
Tecca is ranked highly in a host of categories among her peers in the MAC, including scoring (22nd, 10.1 ppg), rebounding (16th, 6.0), field goal percentage (9th, .478) and offensive rebounds (11th, 2.56).
Guzzardo Dealin' Dimes
Senior guard Ayla Guzzardo matched the ninth-highest, single-game assist total in school history with nine helpers against Lake Erie College Monday. Lori Anderson (vs. Ashland, 1981) and Abby Hoy (vs. Bowling Green, 1998) share the school record with 12.
The native of Hammond, La., has led the Zips in assists seven times in nine games this season and is ranked third in the MAC with an average of 4.56 assists per game.
Record Watch
With 1,178 career points, junior Kara Murphy currently sits in fifth place on the school's all-time scoring list and trails Diane Hollish, who scored 1,195 points from 1984-88, by 17 points. Murphy, who began the season in 10th place on the prestigious list, has led the Zips in scoring six times in nine games this season and 41 times in 70 games (58.6 percent) for her career.
Cheryl Bowles is the school's all-time scoring leader with 1,712 points in 115 games from 1997-01.
Zips Notebook• UA has won three straight games and four of its last five.
• For the first time since the second game of the season, the Zips will enter play with more than one double-digit scorer. Murphy, the MAC's reigning scoring champion, leads the pack with an average of 16.6 points per game while freshman Rachel Tecca checks in at a 10.1 clip.
• Akron is 4-0 at home this season where it has posted a winning margin of +13.3 at Rhdoes Arena. Dating back to last season, UA - which recorded the second-highest home win total in program history (8) in 2008-09 - is 7-1 in its last eight games at on its home floor.
• Murphy is ranked highly in the MAC in a number of categories, including scoring (6th, 16.6 ppg), rebounding (19th, 5.7 rpg), 3-pointers made (10th, 1.78/game) and minutes played (6th, 33.56/game).
• In addition to being ranked third in the league in assists (4.56/game), Guzzardo is also ranked eighth in steals (2.33/game) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.71).
• The Zips have won the battle of the boards four times in their last five contests after posting a +7 margin against Lake Erie College.
• UA set season highs for points (79), field goal percentage (.459), 3-pointers (10), assists (21) and steals (13) in its 79-43 win against Rider on Nov. 27.
Murphy Turning 20
Murphy has scored 20 or more points three times in nine contests this season. But that impressive feat has become commonplace for the All-MAC First Team selection as Murphy has scored 20 or more points 26 times in 70 career games (37.1 percent).
In addition to breaking UA's single-season scoring record (580 points) last season, Murphy became the youngest player in program history to record 1,000 career points after doing so in just 61 games.
Courtesy: Scott Horstman
