RedHawks Win Fifth Straight, Defeat Akron 70-58
By: Jack Mueller
(Photo Courtesy of: Akron Athletics/Miami Athletics)
The Miami RedHawks picked up their fifth straight win, defeating Akron on the road 70-58. Coach Glenn Box’s team moves to 16-8 with the victory, the first time a Miami team has reached that win number since 2019.
Despite the scoreline indicating a comfortable win, it was anything but for the first 33 minutes of play. Until the RedHawks pulled away, the largest lead for either side was just five points. In the final seven minutes of play, Miami put together a 19-4 run, sealing the victory.
Akron relied on Shelbee Brown in the first 20 minutes, and she rewarded them. The former Memphis forward scored 20 points, just under 66% of her teams total points in that time. Box and his coaching staff made defensive adjustments at the break, and completely minimized her impact. In the last two quarters, she managed just four points.
Four players reached double figures for Miami, registering 57 points, 80% of the RedHawks’ total offense. Maya Chandler led the scoring with 17, making three huge threes in the second half as the RedHawks built their lead.
Amber Tretter had one of her best nights of late, scoring 15, eclipsing double-digits in the points column for just the second time in the last six games. While the offense returned, the rebounding ability never went away. She pulled down 10+ boards (11 vs. Akron) for the third straight game, making it her fourth double-double of the season.
Despite not connecting from beyond the arc, Enjulina Gonzalez shot 66% from the field from inside the three point line, scoring 16. She also registered 5 assists and a steal while on the floor. Gonzalez remains at #3 in the MAC in points per game.
Katey Richason was literally all of Miami’s offense off the bench. The senior forward scored 12 points and pulled down six boards in 28 minutes. While Cori Lard didn’t get on the scoresheet, she did find teammates for buckets four times in her eight minutes on the floor.
How It Happened
Both teams got off to a fast start offensively, with Gonzalez and Tretter getting on the board for Miami, and Brown hitting a layup for Akron, all within the first minute of play. Ilse De Vries marked her return to the starting lineup by getting a layup to fall, making it 6-2 Miami.
Two minutes, and three combined free throws later, Akron flipped the lead in their favor following Shelbee Brown’s first three of the game. Maya Chandler went on her own mini-run, scoring six of Miami’s next eight points, making it 15-10. Akron responded immediately, rattling off five straight points through an Alexus Mobley layup and Zakia Rasheed three.
Tretter’s go-ahead layup was cancelled out by two free throws for Emily Hall, and back to back makes for Brown gave her team a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. In those ten minutes, Brown registered 14 points.
She didn’t slow down in the second. Brown found space for another layup, making it 23-18 less than two minutes into the quarter. Gonzalez’s midranger and Tretter’s and-one tied the game, but that’s as close as they would get. Both teams went almost five minutes without scoring after Akron took a 25-23 lead. Gonzalez tied the game again, but back-to-back Brown layups gave the Zips a 4-point lead. Tretter hit a layup with ten seconds left, making it 31-30, which is where the score would lie as the teams went to the locker rooms.
Akron put up five points in the first three minutes, but Tamar Singer had four points of her own to keep it at a two point game. She played a role in tying the game too, feeding Gonzalez in the lane for an easy layup. Tretter took the lead for Miami from the charity stripe, and Richason extended it with a post layup. Maddie Vejsicky cut the lead to one, but a Singer layup and two more free throws for Gonzalez made it 44-39.
Emily Hall’s steal and layup put the wheels in motion for Akron to tie the game, which she had a chance to do from the line. Her miss on the second free throw allowed Maya Chandler to connect from three, only Miami’s second of the day. Hall made up for it, going 2/2 on her next chance, sending the teams into the final ten minutes with Miami leading 49-47.
Ni’Rah Clark and Katey Richason traded buckets to start the final period, but Hall hit her first three of the game to take the lead for Akron. Maya Chandler responded with a three of her own to retake the lead, which was extended after Amber Tretter converted an and-one. Chandler’s third three of the game made it 60-54, giving the RedHawks their largest lead of the night.
Gonzalez and Chandler each took advantage of an Akron turnover to connect on a mid-range jumper, giving Miami an 11-point lead with less than three minutes to play. Richason all but ended the game with a three, making it 68-55 with less than a minute to play. Gonzalez was allowed to hold the ball until the final buzzer with the scoreline showing a 70-56 win.
Up Next
The RedHawks will play their first home game in over two weeks on Saturday. The next team to face Miami at Millett Hall? The Buffalo Bulls. Box's team will be looking to avenge their loss against the #2 team in the conference, a game in which the RedHawks held a late lead before giving up 16 straight points in the final quarter.
The game will take place in Oxford on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+.