Women's Basketball Embarks on Stretch Run Wednesday at Akron
2/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2007
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Wednesday, February 21, 2007
7 p.m. (EST) at James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron, Ohio
HITTING THE ROAD: Entering the stretch run of the regular season, the Miami University women's basketball team (12-14; 6-7 MAC) plays its second straight road game when it travels to face the Akron Zips (9-16; 2-11 MAC) Wednesday at 7 p.m. Miami is coming off a 13-point loss to Ohio and is looking to complete a sweep of the regular-season series with Akron.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS: Led by first-year head coach Jodi Kest (Slippery Rock `84), Akron returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last season's team, which finished 5-23 overall and 2-14 in the Mid-American Conference ... This season, Akron is 9-16 overall and 2-11 in MAC play ... Akron is coming off back-to-back losses to Bowling Green and Kent State but has won two straight at James A. Rhodes Arena ... Akron has two players averaging double-figure points, led by sophomore guard Niki McCoy at 15.8 points per game. McCoy also leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 caroms per game ... Freshman guard Sarah Tokodi ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and leads the team with 3.8 assists per game. Tokodi also has a team-high 123 turnovers.
AT LOOK AT THE SERIES: Miami and Akron are meeting for the 30th time in series history, with Miami holding a 25-4 series edge ... The RedHawks won the team's first meeting this season, as career-best scoring efforts from Jenna Schone and Ashley Hawkins lifted Miami to a 79-73 win on Jan. 10 at Millett Hall ... Miami is 12-1 all-time at Akron, with its only loss at Akron coming in the 2004-05 season ... Last season, Akron and Miami split the season series, with each team winning on the other's home floor ... head coach Maria Fantanarosa is 11-2 against Akron during her nine-year tenure.
LAST MEETING WITH AKRON: Miami 79, Akron 73 (Jan. 10, 2007)--Career-best scoring efforts from sophomores Jenna Schone and Ashley Hawkins carried Miami to a 79-73 win over Akron at Millett Hall ... junior Amanda Jackson notched 16 points and scored her 1,000th career point, getting her milestone point on a driving layup with 16:08 remaining in the game ... Akron shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and took a 34-28 lead into halftime, but Miami reeled off a 19-6 run to start the half, giving the RedHawks a 47-40 lead with under 15 minutes to play ... The Zips got as close a four points before a 13-4 RedHawks run pushed their advantage to 71-58 at the three-minute mark ... Miami weathered a late Akron run, as the Zips got as close as six with 34 seconds remaining, but Schone hit seven free throws over the final 31 seconds to seal the win.
A MIAMI WIN OVER AKRON WOULD:
- Give Miami a regular-season sweep of Akron
- Snap Miami's five-game road losing streak
- Move the RedHawks' conference mark back to .500 at 7-7
- Raise Miami's season record against MAC East opponents to 5-3
A MIAMI LOSS TO AKRON WOULD:
- Be Miami's fifth loss in six games
- Extend Miami's road losing streak to six games
- Drop Miami's overall record to 12-15
- Drop Miami's conference record to 6-8
THESE GUARDS ARE GOOD: Miami's backcourt has stepped up over the past two games, as they have shouldered the bulk of the scoring load. Miami's three starting guards combined to score 53 of the team's 71 points in a three-point win over Buffalo (Feb. 14) and followed by notching 52 of the team's 74 points in Sunday's loss at Ohio (Feb. 18). Against the Bobcats, all three Miami starting guards hit double figures, led by junior Amanda Jackson with a team-high 26 points. Sophomores Jenna Schone and Ashley Hawkins chipped in 19 points and 12 points, respectively. Sunday's game was the second straight in which all three Miami starting guards hit double-figure points, and it was the fifth time in MAC play Jackson, Schone and Hawkins have scored in double figures in the same game.
RACE TO THE MAC TOURNAMENT: With three games remaining in the regular season, the MAC Tournament picture is beginning to grow clearer by the day, although numerous tournament seedings are still up in the air. With a 6-7 conference mark, Miami stands fourth in the East Division and trails third-place Ohio (8-5) by two games. Bowling Green has already clinched the MAC East Division title and the No. 1 seed in the East Division. The following are the first-round matchups for the MAC Tournament were the season to end today:
- Miami (East #4) vs. Toledo (West #5)
- Northern Illinois (West #3) vs. Akron (East #6)
- Western Michigan (West #4) vs. Buffalo (East #5)
- Ohio (East #3) vs. Central Michigan (West #6)
- Ball State (West #1) vs. Miami/Toledo
- Kent State (East #2) vs. NIU/Akron
- Bowling Green (East #1) vs. WMU/Buffalo
- Eastern Michigan (West #2) vs. Ohio/CMU
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: After forcing 19 Ohio turnovers in Sunday's loss, Miami stands at +6.46 in turnover margin, which ranks second in the conference in MAC-only games. Even more impressive is the fact that Miami has forced an opponent into 15 or more turnovers in every MAC game this season, including 20 or more turnovers six times. Miami also is converting defense into offense, as it is averaging 19.6 points per game off turnovers in conference play. The RedHawks turned 19 Bobcat turnovers into 18 points on Sunday.
MASTER OF THE SWIPE: Though it had only six steals in Sunday's loss at Ohio, Miami still leads the MAC in steals during conference play with 11.23 thefts per game. With a defense predicated on ball pressure and disrupting the passing lanes, the RedHawks have reached double-digit steals in six of the past seven games and 17 times this season. Miami is 9-8 this season when forcing double-digit steals and 6-5 in MAC play when it finishes with more steals than its opponent. Miami ranks third overall in steals with 10.69 steals per game and is led by junior guard Amanda Jackson, who averages 2.69 spg.
FINISHING STRONG: Noted for her ability to score points in bunches, junior guard Amanda Jackson has been Miami's most impressive second-half performer this season. The 5-foot-9 guard has posted nine second-half double-figure scoring efforts during MAC play, including 12 second-half points in Sunday's loss at Ohio. Jackson is averaging 12.4 second-half points per game and has been held under 10 points only four times in conference action.
PLAYER MILESTONES: Having scored 1,197 career points, junior guard Amanda Jackson continues to move up the career scoring chart and now ranks 11th on the Miami all-time list. With 21 points against Ohio on Feb. 18, Jackson overtook Gaby Downey (1982-86, 87-90) for 11th place and needs only 12 points to pass Linda Mallender (1981-85) and move into the top 10 on Miami's career scoring list ... With 215 career steals, Jackson ranks sixth all-time at Miami ... Jackson's career scoring average of 14.1 points per game ranks third on the Miami all-time list ... Sophomore Jenna Schone has 85 career 3-point field goals and needs 15 more to reach 100. She ranks ninth on the Miami career list for 3-point field goals made ... Scoring 10 points against Buffalo (Feb. 14), Schone topped 500 points for her career. The sophomore point guard has 525 career points in her two seasons with the Red and White.
SEASON MILESTONES: In addition to her career milestones, junior guard Amanda Jackson is on pace for numerous single-season records ... With 445 points this season, Jackson ranks ninth on the Miami single-season chart and needs 80 points to top Heather Cusick's single-season record of 524 points. Miami is guaranteed to play at least four more games, including its first-round MAC Tournament game ... Jackson's .866 free throw percentage (97-for-112) ranks third on the Miami single-season charts ... With 10 20-point games this year, Jackson needs two more to tie Cusick's single-season record of 12 20-point games ... Sophomore Jenna Schone has an opportunity to break into the Miami single-season top-10 list for assists, as she needs only nine more helpers to post the 10th-best single-season total of 130 assists.
