Jan. 17, 2018 Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
OXFORD, Ohio - A 31-point performance by Lauren Dickerson led the way as the Miami women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak by topping Akron, 75-67, on Wednesday night.
The RedHawks improve to 10-8 and 2-4 in Mid-American Conference play.
Trailing 4-3 in the early going, Dickerson drained her first two three-pointers of the night to hand Miami a 9-4 lead midway through the first quarter.
A Baleigh Reid free throw along with a Molly McDonagh layup extended the MU run to 9-0 and handed it a 12-4 lead with 3:29 left in the opening frame. Akron (6-11, 0-6 MAC) eventually whittled the deficit down to 14-11 with 1:18 to go until the horn and kept it within three late, but a buzzer beating bucket by Savannah Kluesner bumped the lead to 18-13 after the first.
Dickerson opened the second quarter with a steal and score to extend the lead to 20-13. The sophomore point guard later found Kendall McCoy for a baseline jumper to make it a 22-13 lead with seven and a half left in the half. UA pulled within seven a couple times over the next few minutes, but a jumper by Dickerson and a transition bucket by Reid extended the advantage to 28-17 with 2:53 to play until the break.
The final run of the half would go to the Zips as they netted six in a row to trim the RedHawks' lead to 28-23 at halftime.
Two Zip free throws made it a one-possession game early in the third, but a 7-2 RedHawk spurt extended their lead back to eight. After a pair of UA free throws, Dickerson then connected from beyond the arc to make it a 38-29 MU lead with just over three minutes gone by in the second half.
Akron continued to stay within striking distance and used an 11-4 run to pull within 42-40 with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter. Dickerson made a jumper on the next possession and eventually the Red and White went back up by five at 45-40. With a 45-42 lead in the waning seconds of the third, Dickerson again connected from long range to make it a 48-42 ballgame through 30 minutes.
After trading baskets early in the fourth, the RedHawks eventually ballooned their lead to 56-46 when Reid put down a jumper with 7:52 left to play. That lead was eventually stretched to 60-46 with six minutes remaining. Miami led by as many as 15 points and Akron did not get within single digits until there was just over a minute left. The Zips got as close as six, but no closer the rest of the way.
After a poor shooting first half, both teams performed better in the second with MU hitting 40.4 percent from the floor to Akron's 40 percent clip. Neither team shot well from long range with Miami going 4-of-17 from beyond the arc while Akron shot 3-of-18 from three. The RedHawks had a 45-32 rebounding advantage while the Zips forced 21 turnovers while committing 18 of their own.
Dickerson led all scorers with 31 points on 9-of-18 shooting while Reid chipped in 15 of the bench and McCoy posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Red and White hit the road for their next tilt as they take on Western Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.
