AKRON, OHIO. - The Western Michigan women's basketball team was victorious in its first Mid-American Conference road game on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the University of Akron, pulling off a fourth-quarter comeback and earning the win by a score of 56-51.

The Broncos outscored the Zips 16-5 in second chance points and earned 16 points off turnovers, out-rebounding their opponents 54-36 to set a new season high. Western Michigan shot 28.3 percent from the field (17-for-60) and tied a season high of 19 points scored off 25 free throw attempts. Both teams struggled beyond the arc, the Broncos going 3-for-22 from long range while the Zips had two made baskets off of 15 attempts.

Breanna Mobley led the Broncos with 15 points and 11 rebounds, good for her tenth double-double of the season She also tallied a season-high four blocks. Jordan Walker notched 11 points and was just one rebound shy of a double-double, adding a team-high three assists and four steals, one short of a career-high. Fellow starter Leighah-Amori Wool had 14 points and eight rebounds. Reilly Jacobson brought in a team-high ten points off the bench, adding seven rebounds.

"I didn't expect us to struggle at the arc or to win a game with 28 percent shooting, but credit to our kids for figuring out how to get to the free throw line, we made it up with a really good percentage there," Head Coach Shane Clipfell commented. "That clearly was a difference maker. It was a great effort. Bree (Mobley), you just can't stop her. But collectively, we defended well and clearly that was a big factor in the game."
 
Akron came out of the gate with the advantage, holding the Broncos to just eight points in the first frame. With a 5-0 run to open play, the Zips scored five more after back-to-back baskets from Mobley to force an early timeout at 10-4. WMU trimmed their opponent's lead to six before the Zips pulled away, closing out the first quarter with a ten-point lead at 18-8.

Western Michigan bounced back in the second quarter, opening the frame with six straight points off baskets from Mobley and Walker. Jacobson drew a foul after a made basket to put the Broncos within three points of Akron, on the way to a 7-0 run with more points scored by Wool and Mobley. WMU outscored the Zips 17-12 in the quarter, heading into the locker room trailing the home team by five.

Scoring in the third quarter was nearly even as Akron tallied 14 points to Western's 13. All three of WMU's made baskets from long range came in the third frame, with shots from Walker and senior Kamrin Reed. Despite strong shooting, the Zips began to pull away on a 7-2 run to close out the quarter with a narrow 44-38 advantage.

The comeback victory for the Brown & Gold came in the final frame of play. Akron opened the quarter with a fast break layup before the Broncos took over the court. Holding the Zips scoreless for over seven minutes of play, WMU went off on a 15-0 run, helped by 10-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe. Wool made all six of her free throw attempts, while Mobley put up eight points during the steak, including 5-of-6 shooting from the line. The breakaway came when the redshirt senior scored back-to-back on a pair of layups and two free throw shots to put the Broncos ahead 52-49. From there, WMU held on to score five more points and shut out Akron until the final seconds, ending the quarter outscoring the Zips 18-7 and securing the victory.

Up next, Western Michigan (9-4, 2-0 MAC) looks to win on the road again, traveling back to Ohio to face Kent State (7-6, 0-2 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.