2023–24 Akron Zips women's basketball team

2023–24 Akron Zips women's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Record9–16 (4–10 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jessica Jenkins
  • Sarah Jones
  • Erin Mills-Reid
Home arenaJames A. Rhodes Arena
Seasons
2023–24 Mid-American Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Toledo 17 – 1   .944 28 – 6   .824
Ball State 16 – 2   .889 28 – 6   .824
Kent State † 13 – 5   .722 21 – 12   .636
Buffalo 10 – 8   .556 19 – 14   .576
Bowling Green 10 – 8   .556 16 – 15   .516
Northern Illinois 8 – 10   .444 15 – 16   .484
Ohio 8 – 10   .444 11 – 19   .367
Western Michigan 7 – 11   .389 12 – 18   .400
Miami (OH) 6 – 12   .333 9 – 20   .310
Akron 6 – 12   .333 11 – 18   .379
Central Michigan 4 – 14   .222 6 – 22   .214
Eastern Michigan 3 – 15   .167 7 – 22   .241
† 2024 MAC tournament winner

The 2023–24 Akron Zips women's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Zips, led by first-year head coach Ryan Gensler, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference.

Previous season

The Zips finished the 2022–23 season 17–13, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.[1] In the MAC tournament, they were defeated by Ball State in the quarterfinals.[2]

On February 21, 2023, the school announced that head coach Melissa Jackson's contract would not be renewed at the end of the season, ending her five-year tenure with the Zips.[3] On March 29, Illinois assistant coach Ryan Gensler was named the team's next head coach.[4]

Roster

2023–24 Akron Zips women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Kaia Woods 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) Jr Washington State Tiffin, Ohio
G 2 Alexus Mobley 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Danville Area Community College Indianapolis, Indiana
F 3 Annie Watson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So St. Vincent–St. Mary High School Akron, Ohio
G/F 4 Leila Jones 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Westerville South High School Westerville, Ohio
F 5 Lanae Riley 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Middle Tennessee Akron, Ohio
G 10 Alexis Stewart 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School Hamilton, Ontario
G 12 Dacia Lewandowski 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr North Catholic High School Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
C 14 Liisa Taponen 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) So Illinois Tampere, Finland
G 15 Morgan Haney 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Sr Albany Piqua, Ohio
G 22 Teniesha Clarke 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Niagara Prep Burlington, Ontario
G 23 Zakia Rasheed 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Bishop Chatard High School Avon, Indiana
G 24 Olivia Brown 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Hamilton Southeastern High School Fishers, Indiana
G 25 Tahmala Thorpe 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Sr St. Francis Xavier Mississauga, Ontario
F 34 Reagan Bass 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Strongsville High School Strongsville, Ohio
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: February 25, 2024

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2023*
7:30 pm 		Walsh W 77–51  –
 James A. Rhodes Arena (736)
Akron, OH
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Oakland L 87–91 2OT 0–1
 James A. Rhodes Arena (797)
Akron, OH
November 11, 2023*
3:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southern Miss
MAC-SBC Challenge 		L 60–77  0–2
 Reed Green Coliseum (1,375)
Hattiesburg, MS
November 15, 2023*
11:00 am, ESPN+ 		at Robert Morris W 63–58 OT 1–2
 UPMC Events Center (510)
Moon Township, PA
November 24, 2023*
11:00 am, FloHoops 		vs. Wichita State
Daytona Beach Classic 		L 61–63  1–3
 Ocean Center (200)
Daytona Beach, FL
November 25, 2023*
1:15 pm, FloHoops 		vs. Pittsburgh
Daytona Beach Classic 		W 75–72 OT 2–3
 Ocean Center (200)
Daytona Beach, FL
December 3, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Tennessee State W 55–49  3–3
 James A. Rhodes Arena (–)
Akron, OH
December 6, 2023*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Youngstown State L 52–53  3–4
 Beeghly Center (1,761)
Youngstown, OH
December 10, 2023*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Cleveland State L 62–71  3–5
 Wolstein Center (262)
Cleveland, OH
December 21, 2023*
4:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Bellarmine W 88–65  4–5
 James A. Rhodes Arena (1,685)
Akron, OH
December 30, 2023*
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Canisius W 53–48  5–5
 Koessler Athletic Center (520)
Buffalo, NY
MAC regular season
January 3, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Ohio L 58–67  5–6
(0–1) 		Convocation Center (308)
Athens, OH
January 6, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Ball State L 64–71 OT 5–7
(0–2) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (802)
Akron, OH
January 10, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Central Michigan W 70–62  6–7
(1–2) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (649)
Akron, OH
January 13, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Buffalo L 57–59  6–8
(1–3) 		Alumni Arena (1,146)
Amherst, NY
January 17, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Bowling Green L 59–70  6–9
(1–4) 		Stroh Center (2,035)
Bowling Green, OH
January 20, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Kent State L 60–69  6–10
(1–5) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (1,059)
Akron, OH
January 24, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Western Michigan L 51–60  6–11
(1–6) 		University Arena (675)
Kalamazoo, MI
January 27, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Northern Illinois W 61–59  7–11
(2–6) 		Convocation Center (980)
DeKalb, IL
January 31, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Toledo L 66–88  7–12
(2–7) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (1,004)
Akron, OH
February 3, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Miami (OH) L 48–58  7–13
(2–8) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (847)
Akron, OH
February 7, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Eastern Michigan W 68–67 OT 8–13
(3–8) 		George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,431)
Ypsilanti, MI
February 10, 2024*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Arkansas State
MAC-SBC Challenge 		L 67–81  8–14
 James A. Rhodes Arena (813)
Akron, OH
February 17, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Buffalo W 65–54  9–14
(4–8) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (749)
Akron, OH
February 21, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Bowling Green L 68–74  9–15
(4–9) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (837)
Akron, OH
February 24, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Kent State L 51–73  9–16
(4–10) 		MAC Center (2,080)
Kent, OH
February 28, 2024
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Ball State Worthen Arena 
Muncie, IN
March 2, 2024
4:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Northern Illinois James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
March 6, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Ohio James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
March 9, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Central Michigan McGuirk Arena 
Mount Pleasant, MI
MAC tournament
March 13–16, 2024
 ESPN+/CBSSN 		vs.  Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 
Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Hot Shooting Propels Ball State Past Akron in MAC Tournament Quarterfinals". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  3. ^ "University of Akron decides Melissa Jackson won't be back as its women's basketball coach". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  4. ^ "Illini WBB assistant Ryan Gensler named head coach at Akron". 247Sports. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  6. ^ "Akron Zips 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 25, 2024.