KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team ran into a buzz saw in the form of the Akron Zips this evening, falling by a final score of 86-70. Tonight's result moves the Broncos to 12-9 on the season, and 6-6 in Mid-American Conference play.

The opening quarter featured a strong scoring performance from both teams, with the score after one leaning in favor of Akron by a slim 24-22 margin. WMU shot 7-11 (63.6 percent) from the field in the initial period, sinking four of four attempts from both three-point territory as well as the foul line. The Zips seemingly could not miss, netting 11-15 shots (73.3 percent) from the floor in the game's initial stanza.

The Broncos were bested in the second quarter as Akron continued its hot start, knocking down 10-14 shot attempts for 26 points in the period to take a 50-33 halftime lead while shooting 21-29 (72.9 percent) in the half. Sophomore guard Lauren Ross led WMU in scoring during the opening 20 minutes, going into the locker room with 10 points shooting 4 of 5 (80 percent) from the field to go with three rebounds. Redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Williams added nine points, three boards, and a pair of steals, while junior guard Sydney Shafer contributed seven points of her own.

Western Michigan emerged from the break with a recharge in determination, and cut into the Akron lead while winning the third 10 minutes 23-17. Ross put up 11 more points in just the third to give her team a boost as the Broncos continued to fight their way back into the ballgame. WMU ended the quarter on a 7-2 run, which was finished by a deep triple from sophomore guard Megan Wagner off a feed from senior guard Maddie Watters as the horn rang.

WMU continued to scrap in the final quarter, but the comeback effort was not enough to make up for Akron's big first half. Six Broncos tallied points in the final 10 minutes as Western Michigan cut the Zip lead to single digits on two separate occasions, but the team lost the final set 19-14 thanks to unweathering free throw shooting on the other side.

The Broncos were led offensively tonight by Lauren Ross, who finished with 23 points on 10-19 shooting (52.6 percent) to go with five rebounds during her 34 game minutes. Taylor Williams tallied 15 points, six boards, and three steals while junior guard Sydney Shafer added 13 points and a pair of boards. Senior guard Maddie Watters gave WMU solid minutes off the bench as well, cashing in on 3-5 from deep for nine points, two rebounds, and two assists in her night.

As a team, Western Michigan found nylon on 23-57 shot attempts (40.4 percent), including 8-17 (47.1 percent) from deep, and pulled in 26 rebounds on the night. WMU cashed in on 16-22 free throws (72.7 percent) and led Akron in second chance points, notching 10 of 70 points off of its own misses. The Bronco reserves also outscored the UA bench 23-19 on a combined 6-12 shooting. Furthermore, the Broncos scored 30 points in the paint this evening and swiped eight steals defensively.

Western Michigan now has an opportunity for something it has not experienced in weeks: consecutive days of practice on the home court. The Broncos' next opponent takes the shape of the Ohio Bobcats, who will host WMU this coming Saturday, Feb. 12 in Athens. Tip-off from the Convocation Center is set for 1 p.m. and will be available for streaming via ESPN3.

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