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AKRON, Ohio – The Miami University women’s basketball team could not overcome early foul trouble and Akron’s hot shooting from behind the arc as the Zips defeated the RedHawks, 67-55, Wednesday evening. The loss broke Miami’s three-game winning streak. The Red and White are now 7-21 on the season, 4-13 in the Mid-American Conference. Akron is 21-7 overall and 11-6 in the MAC.
The loss spoiled a strong game from freshman guard Kayla Brown. She was 7-for-15 from the field for a team-high 19 points. She also had four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 31 minutes of action.
Despite an early layup from Brown, the RedHawks offense was slow getting started out of the gate. Akron built a 10-3 advantage before freshman forward Molly McDonagh put in the layup. She was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to make it 10-6 with 14:52 left in the first half.
Trailing 16-9 with 9:32 to go, a pair of free throws from junior forward Hannah McCue got the offense moving. Brown found redshirt sophomore forward Tamira Ford down low for a layup and then hit two free throws to pull the RedHawks to within one at 16-15. With several foul calls, the teams traded free throws until it was 24-21 Zips at the 2:51 mark.
Trailing 29-23, Brown made a layup and a three-pointer to make it a one-point contest once again. On the next possession, Akron was fouled away from the ball just as Hannah Plybon drained a three-pointer. Sina King converted the two free throws for a rare five-point play. The Zips made it an eight-point lead on two more free throws, before senior point guard Courtney Larson drained a couple free throws of her own to send Miami into the break trailing, 36-30.
Brown led Miami with 14 points in the first half. The RedHawks were 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) from the field in the period, and 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from the free throw line. Akron was 11-for-34 (32.4 percent) from the field, but built its advantage by going 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc.
The Zips came out firing to begin the second half, going on an 11-2 run to open up a 47-32 advantage. Larson drained a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, but Akron eventually pushed the lead to 16 at 51-35 with 13:17 to go.
The RedHawks had one final run left in them. McCue started it off with a pair of free throws, while back-to-back layups by freshman guard Ana Richter and Brown made it 51-41 with 11:49 remaining. After a bucket from the Zips, McCue hit a jumper to make it 53-43. Miami’s shot went cold from there as Akron went on a 6-0 run to put the game away at 59-43. Larson hit a three-pointer and a layup late, but the Zips held on to finish off the 67-55 win.
In addition to Brown’s 19 points, Larson finished with 10. McCue scored eight points, brought in eight rebounds and had two assists, two blocks and a steal in 27 minutes of action.
Miami finished the game 17-for-49 (34.7 percent) from the field, while Akron was 22-for-54 (40.7 percent). That included a 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) performance from three-point range. The Zips held a 38-26 advantage in rebounding and was led by Hannah Plybon with 19 points.
The RedHawks complete the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Ohio for the “Battle of the Bricks.” Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Tim Bray’s call can be heard live on WMOH, as well as Miami All-Access for those who have a subscription.
