OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team fell 75-62 to Akron on Saturday afternoon in Millett Hall. The loss drops Miami to 11-17 overall and 4-12 in Mid-American Conference play. Akron improves to 14-13 overall and 7-9 in MAC action.
Peyton Scott led Miami with 14 points, while
Savannah Kluesner had 13 and
Lauren Dickerson chipped in with 12 points. Dickerson is now 14 points shy of breaking Courtney Osborn's school record of 2,166 career points. Kluesner had a team-high nine rebounds and two assists.
Biggest difference in the game came from behind the arc. Akron was 8-of-15, while the RedHawks connected on just 5-of-24 three pointers. Miami also had 23 turnovers to Akron's 11.
Miami got out to a quick start and led Akron 14-5 midway through the first quarter. Dickerson connected on a baseline jumper and Scott scored five quick points to put Miami up nine.
Miami's lead was down to six after one quarter of play and the Zips took an early 19-18 second quarter lead, but a three-pointer by Dickerson regained the advantage for the Red and White, 21-19 with eight minutes to go in the quarter.
Akron closed the quarter on an 18-3 run to take a 37-24 lead into the locker room.
The Zips pushed their lead to 15 and led 43-28 with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter, forcing Coach Hendrix to call a timeout. Whatever Hendrix said to the team worked.
Vannessa Garrelts made an outstanding defensive play and was rewarded with a pair of free throws and Scott came up with a steal and converted on a three-point play to shrink Akron's lead to 46-37 with five minutes to go in the third quarter. A Garrelts layup moments later cut the Zips' lead to 46-39, before Akron answered back and took a 55-44 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.
Miami had one final run in them to start the fourth quarter. Dickerson recorded back-to-back jumpers, Kluesner got open for a layup and
Abbey Hoff drained a pair of free throws for an 8-0 Miami run, cutting the Zips lead to just 57-54 with 6:26 to go.
Akron maintained its three-point lead at 61-58 with 5:16 to play and outscored the RedHawks 18-8 to finish the contest.
Miami returns to action on Wednesday, March 4 in a home contest versus Bowling Green as the RedHawks celebrate senior night. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m.
