Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography Baumgartner led the Zips with 20 points against Rider last weekend.

Game #7: Akron Zips (2-4) vs. IPFW Mastodons (1-3)
Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • Wed., Dec. 2, 2009 • 7 p.m. (EST)

On the Radio
Wednesday'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 0-2, since 2003-04
UA Series Streak: 2L
Last 10 Meetings: 0-2
Notes: The Zips and Mastodons will be meeting for the third time in the series history ... Strangely, both the previous two meetings between the schools have also came on Dec. 2 (2003 and 2004), the date of this year's meeting ... UA is 0-1 versus IPFW at Rhodes Arena after a 55-54 setback during the 2003 campaign.

Coaches
• Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock, '84) is in her fourth season at Akron and 18th season overall as a head coach. She is 30-65 (.316) at UA and 256-218 (.540) for her career. She led the Zips to an 11-19 record, Including a 6-10 mark in MAC play, last winter.

• Chris Paul (Saint Francis, '94) is in his fourth season at IPFW. Paul led the Mastodons to an 16-15 record, including 10-8 mark in the Summit League last winter.

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

The Opening Tip
After playing their last five games on the road, the University of Akron women's basketball team returns to Rhodes Arena to host IPFW Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (EST).

About The Mastodons
The Zips will be facing IPFW (1-3) for the first time since 2004 and for just the third time overall Wednesday. The Mastodons come to town having lost their last three games after defeating Wright State (83-67) in their home opener. During their current skid, IPFW has been defeated by Butler (65-57), Northwestern (78-58) and Eastern Illinois (68-64).

The Mastodons, who were 16-15 a year ago, were picked to finish fifth in the 10-team Summit League this season.

Junior guard Chelsey Jackson is a preseason first team all-conference performer after averaging 13.3 points per game in 2008-09. She enters play Wednesday second on the team in scoring with a 12.5 average. Sophomore forward Stephanie Rosado leads the team in both scoring (14.3) and rebounding (8.0)

As a team, IPFW is averaging 66.6 points per game (fourth in the Summit League) while shooting 40.3 percent (fifth) from the floor. Defensively, they have allowed an average of 69.5 points per game (fifth).

The Last Time Out
Despite a gutsy 14-2 run late in the second half, the Zips dropped a 70-64 decision to Tulsa Saturday on the second day of the Florida Gulf Coast Thanksgiving Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.

Trailing 63-49 with 5:19 to play, the Akron outscored the Golden Hurricane by 12 over a four-minute span, slicing the lead to 65-63 with 1:13 remaining. Following a Tulsa turnover, Kara Murphy's 3-pt. attempt form the left corner that would have given the Zips the lead out with 40 seconds left was off target.

After Jasmine Mushington rebounded Murphy's miss, her follow-up shot rolled off the rim and Tulsa would hang-on for the six-point win.

Murphy tallied game-highs in scoring and rebounding for the Zips with 21 points and 8 boards, while Jolene Tamboue finished in double figures in the scoring column with 10. As a team, the Zips struggled from the field, connecting on just 30.5 percent (18-for-59) of their attempts but were aided by a 48-31 rebounding advantage that led to 16 second-chance points.

Conversely, Tulsa was efficient on offense, hitting 48.1 percent (26-for-54) of their attempts, including 45.5 percent (5-for-11) accuracy from 3-point range.

Home Sweet Home
For the first time since Nov. 13, the Zips will be back at Rhodes Arena Wednesday to tip off a much needed three-game homestand. It will mark just the second home game of the season after spending the last 18 days on the road.

Despite playing their next three games in Akron, the Zips are still in a tough stretch of having just four home games from Nov. 15 to Jan. 9.

Akron is 1-4 away from Rhodes Arena this season (0-3 in away games and 1-1 at neutral sites) after being 2-12 in road games and 1-1 at neutral sites last season.

On the flip side, UA defeated IUPUI 63-49 in its lone home contest this winter and matched the second-highest total for home wins in a season (8) in school history a year ago.

Murphy Turning 20
With a 21-point effort against Tulsa last weekend, junior forward Kara Murphy broke the 20-point mark for the second time this year. But that has become commonplace for the All-MAC First Team selection as Murphy has scored 20 or more points 25 times in 67 career games (37.3 percent).

Murphy Movin' On Up
With 1,121 career points, Murphy currently sits in sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list and trails Toreeda Turner, who scored 1,161 points from 1981-85, by 40 points. Murphy, who began the season in 10th place on the prestigious list, has led the Zips in scoring four times in six games this season and 39 times in 67 games for her career.

Cheryl Bowles is the school's all-time scoring leader with 1,712 points in 115 games from 1997-01.

Baumgartner Breaks Out
Sophomore Kyle Baumgartner led the Zips with 20 points in their 79-43 rout of Rider last weekend. The center was especially efficient on the floor, connecting on 7-of-11 of her attempts, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Her four threes were a personal high for the MAC All-Freshman Team honoree and led to the second 20-point performance of her career.

Following Suit
Backed by Baumgartner's career day, the Zips turned in their best performance of the season. UA set season highs for points (79), field goal percentage (.459), 3-pointers (10), assists (21) and steals (13).

Zips Notebook
• UA has posted a positive rebounding margin in its last two games. The Zips were +3 (47-44) against Rider and +17 (48-31) versus Tulsa.

• Akron recorded 20 assists on 25 field goals against Robert Morris and 21 assists on 28 field goals against Rider.

• Senior guard Ayla Guzzardo has recorded three or more assists in all but one game this year. She posted six in back-to-back contests fat Robert Morris and at Wright State and leads the team with 24 on the year.

• Akron's other senior, Jolene Tamboue continued her steady play with her fourth double-digit scoring game of the season at Tulsa after doing so just three times in 30 games all last season. She is shooting 54.3 percent (19-for-35) from the field, which is tops on the team and is third with an average of 4.8 rebounds per contest.