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Do IT this week: Layering
Losing streak to KSU ends after 10 years
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Thursday, Jan 22, 2009
Both coaches said one team wanted it far more than than the other.
As a result, a long, long losing steak is over.
The University of Akron women's basketball team had been beaten by archrival Kent State 18 consecutive times, last winning on Jan. 16, 1999.
That changed Wednesday night when the Zips (7-11, 2-3) hustled from the opening tip to the closing buzzer to defeat the Golden Flashes 64-62 in a Mid-American Conference game at Rhodes Arena.
''Our kids, from the beginning to the end, wanted it more,'' said UA coach Jodi Kest, who earned the 250th victory of her college coaching career. ''I told them before the game we had not beaten Kent State in 10 years. This is your opportunity.
''It was a great win for these kids. They played hard for 40 minutes. That's all you can ask.''
Bob Lindsay, who has a 366-208
coaching record in 20 years at Kent State, saw his team get outrebounded 42-27, make only 2-of-14 on 3-pointers and get outscored 40-34 in the second half.
''We were outplayed. There is no other way to put it,'' Lindsay said. ''Akron played harder than we did and wanted to win the game more than we did. They deserved to win.''
Amber Witt, a sophomore guard from North Canton Hoover, led four UA players in double figures by sinking four 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 19 points.
Witt had heard about the long losing streak against the Zips' primary rival and is happy it will no longer be a conversation piece.
''It means a lot to be the first team to beat Kent State in 10 years,'' Witt said. ''That says a lot about our team. It's very satisfying . . . this will be good for the morale of the team.''
Also in double figures for the Zips were sophomore forward Kara Murphy (11), freshman center Kyle Baumgartner (10) and senior forward Ashley Veal (10).
For the Flashes (13-4, 2-3), senior center Anna Kowalska (19), sophomore guard Jamilah Humes (13) and sophomore guard Stephanie Gibson (12) led the way.
The Zips, who trailed 32-28 at halftime, were behind 48-47 with 6:50 to play when a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-point play by Witt, made it 54-48.
Humes led a KSU charge that got it down to 62-60 with 34 seconds left. Witt made two free throws with 15 seconds left to make it 64-60, but the Flashes' Chenel Harris made a jumper with 10 seconds remaining to cut the margin to two.
The Flashes fouled Murphy with 6.6 seconds left, but she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. KSU got the rebound, but could not get off a shot.
''It's huge. We knew coming in that we had to play hard the whole game,'' Murphy said. ''We knew we had to give effort for 40 minutes and we did that.''
The Zips won despite not shooting that well, making 27-of-66 from the floor for 40.9 percent. But their defense, which ranks high in the MAC in points allowed, field-goal percentage allowed and 3-point percentage allowed, rarely allowed easy shots.
''These kids work real hard on defense,'' Kest said. ''They know that's what we have to do to win.''
Both teams begin their six-game stretch against the MAC West with home games Saturday. The Zips meet Ball State and the Flashes play Western Michigan.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Both coaches said one team wanted it far more than than the other.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 07:46 AM, 01/22/2009
Congrats to the Lady Zips. These types of wins will make this a good season despite the overall record.
