Dayton rips Zips with 8 seconds remaining

Women's basketball

Dayton hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to crush the Zips' hopes of winning over a quality team.

Akron lost 58-57 in front of 349 fans at Rhodes Arena this afternoon.

I am no expert in scheduling, but you'd assume the women would have a much greater shot at drawing a crowd if the game was played on a weekday night -- when students are on campus. With a game this close, a few AK-Rowdies could've made the difference.

Anyhow, the Zips drew strong performances from Jessie Crooks, Sarah Tokodi, Niki McCoy and Riana Miller, all of whom scored in double figures. Tokodi added nine rebounds and six assists. McCoy pulled down eight rebounds with five assists.

The Zips (1-4) will host Pittsburgh (6-0) on Wednesday night at home. My guess is we'll see more than a few hundred fans.

Football

All four above-.500 teams from the MAC will play in a bowl.

As I reported last week, Central Michigan has accepted a bid to play in the Motor City Bowl. Ohio will play in the GMAC Bowl. None of that has been announced yet.

Western Michigan will probably get the nod at the International Bowl, Dave Ruthenberg of MACReportOnline.com says. Northern Illinois is going to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

A few bowls basically had guaranteed the Flashes a spot if they had beaten Ball State on Saturday, a member of Kent State's football staff told me last night. Instead, they were blown out.

Men's basketball

To quell some of your depression about the above post, remember Akron will face Oral Roberts Saturday with gobs of RPI goodness at stake.