Women's team deserves more support

[mes102]

And that team is the women's basketball team. Everyone is getting frustrating about the men's basketball team, so why not support the team that is producing wins and decent basketball? The women's team is 8-2, and here is their schedule/results on who they've played so far:

v Hiram W, 83-24

@ Tennessee Tech W, 78-67

v Bryant W, 78-56

@ St. Francis(PA) L, 73-74

@ Providence W, 81-78

@ St. Peter's W, 103-57

v Canisius W, 81-72

@ George Mason W, 65-49

v Wright State L, 71-73

v Cincinnati W, 67-54

They've had two hiccups against St. Francis(PA) and Wright State. Their only two losses are by a combined 3 points. They host a top 25 team in Dayton(#17) tuesday night at 5:30 in the JAR. Everyone should come and support the team in their quest for the MAC title and a high seed in the NCAA tournament...

[mes102]

Here's the Cincinnati highlights:

[mes102]

Yeah...this is what I thought...No one wants to talk about the positives in Akron athletics...all people want to talk about is the negative...go ahead, but I'm done with the negativity...I'm going to support the teams that are going in the right direction, and also the teams that aren't. HOWEVER, the difference is I will talk about the teams going in the right direction, instead of the teams going in the wrong direction. It's easy to coach from your computer chair, but when things go right, I give kudos to where it is deserving, and the women's basketball team deserves that...

[GoZips]

I have to agree with your comments. All Zips athletic programs deserve our unflagging support.

I attended the women's game this past Saturday. They blistered Cincinnati from the opening tip. Great job, Ladies.

Tuesday is gut check time for the Lady Zips as the Dayton Flyers (10-0 and ranked) come in. It is well worth any Zips

fan's time to head for the JAR to support the Lady Zips. This is their Creighton game. Dayton has already dispatched

Toledo (79-76), the MAC favorite.

I believe that the degree of separation among the top MAC schools is minimal. No one has "blown out" our Ladies this year.

Akron has a real chance of winning; especially if many Zips fans come early to the men's game and lend their support.

[skip-zip]

Not many people like watching women's basketball. I don't think that's ever going to change. A big supporting fanbase only happens in very rare instances across the country, with teams that have a high level of national success.

I wish it were different. It is what it is. I try to attend a women's game here and there, but honestly I just have a difficult time getting into the games.

[ZachTheZip]

Most of the time WBB is a low-scoring, slow-paced, game with very little in the way of highlights.

Akron, however, is 13th in the nation in scoring offense at 78ppg. They are fearless under the basket and have excellent guard play and lights-out shooting.

They are the opposite of almost every stereotype of women's basketball.

[Zipmeister]

Most of the time WBB is a low-scoring, slow-paced, game with very little in the way of highlights.

Akron, however, is 13th in the nation in scoring offense at 78ppg. They are fearless under the basket and have excellent guard play and lights-out shooting.

They are the opposite of almost every stereotype of women's basketball.

Plus, less than half their field goal attempts are three-point set shots.

[mes102]

Not many people like watching women's basketball. I don't think that's ever going to change. A big supporting fanbase only happens in very rare instances across the country, with teams that have a high level of national success.

I wish it were different. It is what it is. I try to attend a women's game here and there, but honestly I just have a difficult time getting into the games.

To me, basketball is basketball. It's my most passionate sport, so maybe that's why I don't understand how people prefer one over the other. But I guess people still have the prejudging of female athletics still, which I guess is understandable since we aren't too far away from the beginning of Title IX, but still...just seems like I'm the only "true" basketball fanatic...

[zippy5]

To me, basketball is basketball. It's my most passionate sport, so maybe that's why I don't understand how people prefer one over the other. But I guess people still have the prejudging of female athletics still, which I guess is understandable since we aren't too far away from the beginning of Title IX, but still...just seems like I'm the only "true" basketball fanatic...

Don't hit your head on the ceiling, that pedestal is pretty high that you're standing on.

[Z.I.P.]

Not many people like watching women's basketball. I don't think that's ever going to change. A big supporting fanbase only happens in very rare instances across the country, with teams that have a high level of national success.

I wish it were different. It is what it is. I try to attend a women's game here and there, but honestly I just have a difficult time getting into the games.

Tell the truth, Skip! Didn't you just go back and use any of about a dozen of your old posts from the Zips Soccer forum as the template for writing this? I now look forward to Bobbyake producing a scintillating statistical analysis to prove that women's basketball is on the verge of taking over the sporting world!

A quick note before leaving to watch the Rainbow Wahine. I probably watch more basketball games than anyone I know, and about 2/3 are women's games. They are just more interesting and entertaining to me. Now, if they wore one-piece suits like women's volleyball used to, there would be even more (male) viewers.

[MDZip]

An absolute beatdown by Dayton. They have definitely improved but have a long way to go before becoming a really good team.

[GoZips]

An absolute beatdown by Dayton. They have definitely improved but have a long way to go before becoming a really good team.

Let us give credit where credit is due. Jodi Kest's Lady Zips are a far cry from where she started with this team.

While it is true that they are not a Top Twenty-Five program; they are not the dregs of the MAC any longer. They

about the fourth or fifth best team in the MAC. There is still a long way to go. They will get there if we as fans

support and encourage them.

On paper, Cincinnati should have waxed the Lady Zips. They did not. They got their butts handed to them. It was

a nice "beat down" as you crowed.

Dayton is truly one of the top women's teams. They were bigger, taller and stronger than our gals. They, however, did not

out hustle or out work our gals. Hats off to the hard working Lady Zips and the coaching staff.

[mes102]

They are about the fourth or fifth best team in the MAC.

Right now i agree with you. At the moment, I feel Toledo, CMU, and Miami(OH) are better. However, people said Cincinnati was better than Akron too People said Michigan was better than Akron a few years ago, but by the post-game press conference by the Michigan coach, we saw what that outcome was on that day.

[ROCK1]

Attendance needs to improve. Toledo is averaging 3,800+. Wow.

[MDZip]

The women put a beatdown on OU last night for their first conference opening win in 14 years. There are definitely some changes underway. The only team who looks to be clearly better is of course, BGSU, but I wouldn't even put that past the Zips right now (I would have had Toledo in that category but they lost to an average CMU team last night). They legitmately look to be a contender and should easily dispatch Can't State on Sunday.

Jodi Kest has done a great job. They have an interesting team with a lot of parallels to the men's team (and both are 10-4 and 1-0 in conference). Can't win the biggest OOC games, but do a great job in steady play with the others now. Sina King is their Zeke Marshall (without all of the blocked shots), steady, not flashy and very dependable. Rachel Tecca is Tree, beast on the boards and a terrific scorer (might be giving Tree too much credit here ), Kacie Cassell is Alex Abreu, nice three point shooter and gives lots of assists (third in the country in assists per game, had nine last night and very hard nosed like Alex, drives to to the basket well). Hanna Luburgh is Nick Harney, kind of unassuming but capable of blowing up any night (21 last night) and you look at the box score and wonder how she had that many points and Taylor Ruper is Brian Walsh, good all round game in rebounding, assists and a three point specialist. Looks to be a fun year, would really be cool to have two MAC champions this year. They have a way to go but the MAC isn't that strong - it is possible we could have two NCAA tournament teams this year. Congrats, ladies!

[mes102]

Here's some national stats from NCAA site that involve our Lady Zips, either individually or as a team.

-Kacie Cassell, out of Vandalia Butler HS, is THIRD in the nation in Assists Per Game at 7.5 APG, behind Nikki Moody(Iowa State, 7.6 APG) and Haley Steed(BYU, 7.9 APG). She's also 13th in the nation in Assists-Turnover Ratio(2.46).

-Sina King, out of Waterford HS, is tied for 21st in the nation in Double-Doubles, with eight(out of 15 games). She's also 28th in the nation for Field Goal Percentage(54.2).

-Rachel Tecca, out of Akron Hoban HS, is 19th in the nation in Field Goal Percentage(55.7). She's also 38th in the nation in Points Per Game(18.7).

-Hanna Luburgh, out of Tri-Valley HS, is 29th in the nation in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage(41.8).

-In Assists Per Game, they're ranked NINTH in the nation(18.1 APG).

-In Assists-Turnover ratio, they're ranked 18th in the nation(1.11)

-As for Field Goal Percentage, they're ranked 23rd in the nation(44.4)

-40th in the nation for Free Throw Percentage(73.8)

-As in the least amount of total personal fouls per game, the Lady Zips are 12th in the nation(13.1)

-23rd in nation in scoring margin(15.9)

-The Lady Zips are ranked TENTH in the nation in Scoring Offense(78.0 PPG)

-Tied for 37th in the nation(w/Syracuse) for Three-Point Field Goals Per Game(6.9)

[Sergeant Zip]

Women's team receiving votes in Mid-Major poll. New poll should post today.

[MDZip]

Women won a gut check game tonight. Down by one to EMU with about 13 seconds to play, EMU had the ball and Zips had no timeouts. Zips stole the ball on an inbound (Carly Young tipped the ball away to Kacie Cassell) and scored, EMU raced down and scored and the Zips brought up back up the court and it was knocked out with 2 seconds to play. Jodi Kest substituted Carly Young (who had 23 points and I am not sure missed a three pointer) back in to inbound the ball and found Rachel Tecca under the basket who converted. Guttty, gutty win. Give the Player of the Game to Carly Young, easily. And with Miami losing, the Zips are tied for first and that sets up Saturday's game as a battle for the East lead.

[CincyZip]

It really was a fantastic game. I was worried that the cheaters were going to end up winning.

The next two games are very important for the team. The Zips take on Miami Saturday after the men, and will play for first place in the MAC East conference. After that game, the following week, they will play Ball State--currently in first place in the West, but could only be a game above UA after they lose (hopefully) to Toledo. They will play that game in Akron.

I would love to have Akron in both the men's and women's championship game in Cleveland before I graduate. I think that would be a swell time as they both would play on the same day for titles.

[GP1]

Schedule

Since mid December, the lady Zips' game results are odd. They have things like a three game winning streak followed by a three game losing streak. They need to improve upon not letting a loss after a winning streak send them into a slide, because if they slide late in the season, they might just slide right out of the MAC Tournament after one game and let a decent season go for nothing. I believe this would be a good opportunity for improvement.

[CincyZip]

Schedule

Since mid December, the lady Zips' game results are odd. They have things like a three game winning streak followed by a three game losing streak. They need to improve upon not letting a loss after a winning streak send them into a slide, because if they slide late in the season, they might just slide right out of the MAC Tournament after one game and let a decent season go for nothing. I believe this would be a good opportunity for improvement.

I don't think it is too odd. Besides Western Michigan, the Zips have beaten teams they are better than and lost to teams that are not.

[MDZip]

Schedule

Since mid December, the lady Zips' game results are odd. They have things like a three game winning streak followed by a three game losing streak. They need to improve upon not letting a loss after a winning streak send them into a slide, because if they slide late in the season, they might just slide right out of the MAC Tournament after one game and let a decent season go for nothing. I believe this would be a good opportunity for improvement.

This is a really tough portion of the schedule coming up which could easily lead to another three game skid, at co-leader Miami, home to 7-1 Ball State and on the road again to good and perenially tough Bowling Green. These next few games will show where the team really stands. Even if they lose these three they still will have a shot of getting to 20 wins which hasn't happened in well, ever. The team record is 18 two years ago, they should at least be able to tie that. This is a team of mostly juniors so I do look forward to seeing them next year as well.

And on a lark, here are the combined standings for the men and womens teams.

Akron 15-3

Toledo 14-4

Ball State 9-8

CMU 9-8

BGSU 9-8

WMU 9-8

Miami 9-9

Buffalo 8-9

EMU 7-10

Ohio 7-10

Can't State 4-13

NIU 4-14

[msopher]

Not many people like watching women's basketball. I don't think that's ever going to change. A big supporting fanbase only happens in very rare instances across the country, with teams that have a high level of national success.

I wish it were different. It is what it is. I try to attend a women's game here and there, but honestly I just have a difficult time getting into the games.

Part of what you are saying is true but you don't have to have a top tier program to draw fans. Toledo averages about 4,000 a game (top 30 nationally) and we haven't been to the big dance in ten plus years. BG also averages a few thousand.