AKRON, Ohio- Western Michigan had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a hard fought 69-66 road loss at Akron.

Despite the loss, the Broncos remain in first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 7-3 league, 14-7 overall record. Ball State had a bye Wednesday night and is tied with Central Michigan for second place in the division, each with a 6-3 conference record. WMU hosts Central Michigan Saturday at 2 p.m.

Western Michigan led Akron by one at the break, 31-30, in what was a heavyweight blow-for-blow battle throughout the night. Akron was able to build a seven-point, 58-51 lead with 6:56 remaining, setting up a thrilling finale.

Freshman Teagan Reeves helped close the gap with back-to-back buckets down the stretch and WMU pulled even at 62-62 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Miracle Woods with 1:20 left. Akron's Anita Brown and Woods both made a pair of free throws for their teams over the next 40 seconds to again leave the game tied, 64-64, with 37 seconds left.

Akron sophomore guard Hannah Plybon hit the shot of the game for the Zips, burying a three with 21 seconds left. WMU ran a quick play inside to Woods for two and still trailing one, fouled Zip freshman Kerri McMahan with 5.4 ticks left on the clock. McMahan hit both to push Akron back up three and WMU ran a full court play for Jazmine Windham. Windham's three-point attempt at the buzzer was on line, but fell just short off the rim from the right wing.

Western Michigan got into foul trouble early and Akron took 17 trips to the free throw line in the game, making 12. Western Michigan made it to the line just eight times and connected on three.

Woods, WMU's leading scorer, played just three minutes in the first half after picking up her second foul at the 16:14 mark. Woods went on the register just nine minutes in the second half.

Bronco senior A.J. Johnson was whistled for three fouls in the first half and fouled out in the final minutes. She had eight points and four rebounds, both of which were team highs, before having to head to the bench shortly before halftime.

Western Michigan senior Marquisha Harris came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points, including 14 of those in the second half. Harris and Reeves (four points) tied for a team-high seven rebounds. Johnson ended with 11 points, six rebounds and tied a career-high with six assists. Woods had nine points and two rebounds.

Brown scored a team-high 21 points for Akron, followed by 19 points from Plybon, who hit five three's in the game. Akron post Sina King recorded 12 points and nine rebounds. The Zips improved to 17-4 overall, 7-3 in the MAC.

WMU and Akron split this year's meetings, as the Broncos defeated the Zips in the MAC opener in Kalamazoo, 67-61, on Jan. 3.

After playing its last two on the road, Western Michigan returns home to host rival Central Michigan Saturday at 2 p.m. The Chippewas (11-9, 6-3 MAC) defeated Bowling Green on the road in their game Wednesday,57-54.