Courtesy: Scott Horstman Baumgartner capped off a late rally for the Zips Wednesday night against IPFW.

AKRON, Ohio – A three-pointer by Kyle Baumgartner with three seconds left lifted the University of Akron women's basketball team to a dramatic 68-66 victory over visiting IPFW Wednesday night at Rhodes Arena.

Junior Kara Murphy had another big game for the Zips (3-4), leading all scorers with 27 points and six rebounds. But it was Baumgartner who came up with the clutch shot in the closing seconds.

Trailing 64-61 with 2:37 to play, Murphy started Akron's late rally with a lay-up, then assisted a fast break lay-in by Ayla Guzzardo following a steal by Jolene Tamboue to give UA just its third lead, 65-64, of the half with 15 ticks on the clock. After a pair of three throws by IPFW's Courtney Reed with eitght seconds left, Baumgartner hit the game-winner from the top of the arc off a feed from Tamboue.

"IPFW made the right call and put three players on Murphy on the final play, but Jolene made a great play and found Kyle, who was wide open," said UA head coach Jodi Kest. "Kyle is one of our best three-point shooters and made a big shot. But you have to give a lot of credit to IPFW because they played a great game."

Baumgartner, a member of the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman team in 2008-09, finished with 16 points to go with five rebounds. The center from North Canton, Ohio, is shooting 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from 3-point range this season.

Freshman Rachel Tecca joined Baumgartner and Murphy in double figures with 10 points as the Zips battled all the way back from a 10-point, second-half deficit. After shooting 35.7 percent (10-for-28) in the first half, UA rebounded by connecting on 43.3 percent (13-for-30) of its attempts – including 42.9 percent (3-for-7) from 3-point distance after halftime.

"I thought we played really well in the second half," Kest said. "But we've still got to find a way to play hard for 40 minutes."

IPFW (1-4) was led in scoring by Eva Ivanova, who recorded 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Jordan Zuppe also hit double digits with 14 points, followed by Stephanie Rosado, who finished with 10.

Akron had the hot hand early, connecting on six of its first 11 attempts, including a three-pointer by Baumgartner that gave the Zips a 9-4 lead at the 15:28 mark. Tecca connected on a pair of free throws to piush UA out to its largest lead of the half, 17-10, with 11:48 to play.

It was the first of three ties over the next minute as the game was tight the rest of the way. A steal by Tamboue led to a fast-break lay-up by Guzzardo with :15 left to give the Zips a 65-64 lead.

But the Mastodons answered with 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 22-19 lead and took a 33-28 advantage into the locker room. After its fast start, UA cooled off considerably, shooting 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from the floor for the half.

A 6-0 spurt by IPFW early in the second half gave the Mastodons a 10-point lead, 43-33, but an 8-0 run by Akron, capped off by four straight points from Tecca, pulled the Zips even, 47-all, with 9:57 to play.

The Zips will continue their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon when old rival Youngstown State comes to Rhodes Arena for a 2 p.m. (EST) tip.

Zips Notebook: Guzzardo was active all game with nine points, three rebounds, four assists and five steals in 38 minutes ... UA is 1-2 all time versus IPFW ... It was the third time Murphy has broken the 20-point scoring mark this season and the 26th time in 68 career games. The junior is sixth on the school's all-time scoring list and trails Toreeda Turner (1981-85) by just 13 points for fifth place.