Purdue Fort Wayne
Akron
Last Second Shot Downs `Dons 68-66
12/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2009
Akron, OH – A Kyle Baumgartner three-point basket with three seconds remaining took a one-point IPFW lead, and turned it into a two-point Akron win, as the host Zips topped IPFW 68-66 in non-conference action on Wednesday night.
Eva Ivanova scored a team-best 15 points in the losing effort, as Jordan Zuppe scored 14 and Stephanie Rosado 10. Sarah Haluska pulled down seven rebounds, with Rosado and Ivanova each grabbing six. Courtney Reed and Anne Boese each dished out four assists, as Ivanova blocked four shots, and Reed and Zuppe had two steals each.
Akron jumped out quickly in the game, leading for the first 8:14 of the game, including by as many as seven at 17-10, before the Mastodons mounted a rally, out-scoring the Zips 12-2 over the next four minutes.
IPFW took the lead and ran with it, leading by as many as seven in the second half, the latest coming with 42 seconds on the first-half clock, before the hosts cut the gap to five heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Mastodon lead grew to as many as 10 following an Ivanova lay-in with 16:32 remaining in the game. The ‘Dons led by eight at 47-39 following a Zuppe lay-in, before Akron scored the next eight to knot the game at 47 apiece. Akron took their first lead since the first half on a pair of Kara Murphy free throws, two of her game-high 27 points, before the Mastodons quickly answered back, taking a five-point, 60-55 lead with just under five minutes to play in the game.
Akron, trailing by one at 64-63, used a Ayla Guzzardo lay-up to take a one-point lead with 15 seconds remaining in the contest. Guzzardo followed up her basket by fouling IPFW guard Reed, who calmly sank both free throws, helping IPFW re-take the lead with eight seconds on the clock.
The Mastodon one-point lead set up the Baumgartner heroics, as Zuppe’s three-point attempt at the buzzer didn’t fall, giving Akron their first win over IPFW in program history.
Murphy scored 27 points on 8-of-17 field goals, and a perfect 10-of-10 night at the charity stripe. Baumgartner scored 16 points, as Rachel Tecca added 10.
IPFW out-rebounded Akron 35-29 and made all 11 of their free throw tries; however, the team’s 23 turnovers proved costly in the narrow loss.
The Mastodons travel back to Fort Wayne for a women’s/men’s double header against Oakland University on December 5, with tip-off for the women’s game slated for 4:30 PM at the War Memorial Coliseum.
~Dons~
