Game #15: Akron Zips (6-8, 0-1 MAC) vs. Buffalo Bulls (4-10, 0-1 MAC)Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • Sat., Jan. 9, 2010 • 2 p.m. (EST)
The Opening Tip
The University of Akron women's basketball team will
host East Division-foe Buffalo Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Arena. The
Zips and Bulls will tip off at 2 p.m. (EST).
On the Radio
Saturday'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
Fans can also listen on-line on www.GoZips.com as part of the Zips Zone subscription package.
Series Breakdown
Series: UA trails 8-19 since 1991-92
UA Series Streak: 1L
Last 10 Meetings: 2-8
Notes: The Zips and Bulls will be meeting for the 28th time Saturday ... UA is 4-8 against UB at Rhodes Arena all-time ... Akron snapped a seven-game losing streak to Buffalo last year with a 62-56 win at Rhodes Arena.
Coaches
• Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock, '84) is in her fourth season at Akron and 18th season overall as a head coach. She is 34-69 (.330) in 103 games at UA and 260-222 (.539) in 482 games for her career. She led the Zips to an 11-19 record, Including a 6-10 mark in MAC play, last winter.
• Linda Hill-MacDonald (West Chester, ‘70) is in her fifth season at Buffalo where she has a record of 47-86 (.353) with the Bulls. Hill-MacDonald led UB to a 8-24 record, including a 2-14 mark in MAC play last winter.
The Last Time Out
The Zips suffered a 74-62 defeat to Bowling Green in Anderson Arena Wednesday night in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
Freshman Rachel Tecca led all scorers with a personal-best 26 points - 20 coming in the second half - but it wasn't enough to overcome a 19-4 run by the Falcons to end the first half in an otherwise close contest.
Tecca connected on 11-of-15 attempts from the floor and 4-of-8 from the free throw line while also adding five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.
The Falcons were led in scoring by Lauren Prochaska, who recorded 23 points. Tara Breske (14) and Tracy Pontius (13) also reached figures for BGSU.
UA, which out-scored Bowling Green 34-31 in the second half, shot 38.8 percent (26-for-67) from the floor, 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from 3-point range and just 46.2 percent (6-for-13) from the free throw line. Conversely, the Falcons connected on 41.0 percent (25-for-61) from the field, 37.5 percent (6-for-16) from long range and 94.7 percent (18-for-19) from the charity stripe.
About The Bulls
Like UA, Buffalo (4-10) enters play still looking for its first MAC win of the year after a 62-55 defeat at home against Miami (Ohio) Wednesday night.
RedHawks freshman guard Courtney Osborne burned the Bulls for 30 points - on 11-for-17 shooting - in that affair as MU shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) from the floor and 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from long distance. All-conference forward Kourtney Brown led the Bulls with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The loss snapped a modest two-game win streak for UB, which had posted back-to-back wins at Stetson (65-53) and against Bucknell (64-51).
Buffalo and Akron shared four common non-conference opponents. The Bulls defeated Niagara (87-79 in OT) and Youngstown State (92-38) and suffered setbacks to Temple (65-55) and St. Bonaventure (78-57).
As a team, Buffalo is averaging 63.4 points per game (10th in MAC) while allowing 66.5 (seventh). The Bulls are shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and 30.8 from 3-point range. Brown is fifth in the MAC in scoring (16.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (11.3 rpg).
Last Year Versus Buffalo
The Zips snapped a seven-game losing streak to Buffalo last season while splitting a pair of games against the East Division foes. Each team won on its home court with Akron prevailing 62-56 at Rhodes Arena in the first meeting and the Bulls picking up a 69-49 decision at Alumni Arena in the latter.
Junior Kara Murphy excelled against UB last year, averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest. The forward did most of her damage from the free throw line where she shot 82.4 percent (14-for-17).
UB's Kourtney Brown averaged 25.5 points and 14.0 rebounds against UA last year.
On The Line
A win Saturday against Buffalo would...
... snap UA's current four-game losing streak.
... be UA's first in league play this year.
... be UA's second against UB in three meetings.
... be the first time UA has won its home league opener since the 1998-99 season (W, 59-57 vs. Western Michigan on Jan. 2).
Record Watch
Junior Kara Murphy enters Saturday's game in fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list. With 1,225 career points, the all-conference first-teamer now trails Casey O'Connor, who scored 1,228 points in 106 games from 1979-83, by three points for third place on the prestigious list. Murphy, who began the season ranked 10th all-time, has led the Zips in scoring six times in 13 games this season and 41 times in 75 games (54.7 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• True freshman
Rachel Tecca has reached double digits in scoring in each of her last four games and eight times in 14 games overall this season. She enters play ranked 20th in the league in scoring (11.9), 10th in rebounding (6.6) sixth in field goal percentage (.500) and ninth in offensive rebounding (2.93).
Her 26-point effort at Bowling Green Wednesday was UA's highest output by a freshman since Kara Murphy scored 31 against Miami (Ohio) in 2007-08.
Since scoring 20 points and grabbing 18 rebounds against Lake Erie College on Dec. 14, Tecca is averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in 25.5 minutes while shooting 52.8 percent from the floor in six games.
• The Zips will be looking to improve on their 4-1 home record this season. Akron is averaging better than five full points per game (65.0-59.7) at Rhodes Arena this winter where it has posted a +8.2 scoring margin.
Dating back to last season, UA - which recorded the second-highest home win total in program history (8) in 2008-09 - is 7-2 in its last nine games at on its home floor.
• Senior forward Jolene Tamboue recorded a career-high 13 rebounds against the Falcons Wednesday night. It was the second straight game the former transfer standout has posted double-digits in rebounding (11 at Lehigh) and the eighth time she has accomplished the feat in an Akron uniform.
Tamboue is third on the team and 18th in the league with an average of 5.7 rebounds per contest.
• After being out-rebounded in their first four games of the season, the Zips have won the battle of the boards eight times in their last 10 games overall. Oddly enough, UA was defeated at Niagara (Dec. 20) despite out-rebounding the Purple Eagles by 20, 53-33.
The Zips are 4-4 when out-rebounding their opponent and 2-4 when they don't.
• This season's magic number appears to be 70. When the Zips score 70 or more points, they are 3-0. Conversely, when they allow 70 or more points, they are 0-4.
• Sophomore center Kyle Baumgartner is ranked 26th in the league for scoring (9.9), 12th for rebounding (6.3) and ninth for defensive rebounding (4.36).
• Wednesday's game at Bowling Green marked just the second time in eight contests UA allowed more than 66 points to an opponent. Akron, which is 4-2 when its opponent scores 60 points or less, is ranked fifth in the MAC for scoring defense - holding foes to an average of 61.4 points per contest.
Courtesy: John Ashley Photography
