KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team looks to build off a big game on Saturday afternoon with its matchup against the Akron Zips on Wednesday evening.

LAST TIME OUT
The Western Michigan University women's basketball team put together a monster second half to earn its first Mid-American Conference win of the season in an 83-65 victory over the Buffalo Bulls. A 30% turnaround in shooting from the first to the second half helped lead the Broncos to their first MAC win of 2025-26.

Senior guard Alli Carlson had a monster game for WMU, setting a new career high in scoring with 22 points, all scored in the second half. The Brown and Gold ended the afternoon with a season-high five players in double figures with Carlson leading the way. Also scoring double digits was sophomore guard Alli Harness (14), sophomore guard Kailey Starks (14), sophomore forward D'Myjah Bolds (13), and junior guard Nile Muguira Orbe (10).

SEASON HIGH SURPLUS
The Brown and Gold set multiple season-highs in their win over Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. In 40 minutes, Western Michigan made a season high 30 field goals to score a season high 83 points. Part of the Broncos season high on the floor included the program's first 50%+ shooting performance of the season, going 30-58 for 51.7% through four quarters.

Along with a strong performance on the floor, WMU also had a season high beyond the arc, making 10 three pointers. With scoring 10 of their 24 three attempts, the Brown and Gold had another scoring high with a three point shooting percentage of 41.7%. Western Michigan rounded out one of its best performances of the season with a season high in helpers, recording 22 assists.

SCORING ACROSS THE FLOOR
With 83 points on Saturday afternoon, the Broncos had five players in double figures for the first time since the 2022 season. WMU's last game with five players scoring 10 points or more came back on Nov. 27, 2022 when the Brown and Gold defeated Grace Christian 102-41.

You'll have to go back to Feb. 27, 2021 when Western Michigan defeated Northern Illinois 86-53. The Broncos five scorers in that game came from all five of their starters, guard Sydney Shafer, forward Taylor Williams, guard Maddie Watters, forward Reilly Jacobson, and guard Megan Wagner. 

CARLSON'S CAREER CONTEST
For the third straight game, senior guard Alli Carlson led WMU's offense. This time Carlson set a new career-high in scoring despite not scoring a point in the first 20 minutes of the game. Carlson put together a career-high 22-point performance against the Bulls in only the second half while also hitting her career-high in made field goals with six from the floor. 

While she only set two career highs, Carlson had a big game across the floor. She became the first member of the Brown and Gold to score 10 or more points, grab five or more rebounds, and assist on five or more baskets since last season. Along with 22 points, Carlson grabbed five boards and helped on six baskets. To finish out her stat line, Carlson had one steal in 40 minutes on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY 
Wednesday night marks the 52nd meeting between Western Michigan and Akron dating back to 1992. The Bronco's hold a 39-12 advantage over the Zips in the series and are currently on a four-game win streak. In the team's lone meeting last season, Western Michigan graduate student Hannah Spitzley became the 29th player in WMU women's basketball history to reach 1,000 points as she netted 22 points in the Broncos' 70-64 road win at Akron. Point 1,000 was a crucial one for Western Michigan as WMU had a 49-48 lead just a minute into the fourth quarter when Spitzley nailed a three to push the lead to 52-48. 

The Zips fought their way back to tie it up at 52-52 with 7:04 left to play. WMU responded with a 6-0 run thanks to free throws and a layup by Spitzley and a layup by Ali Carlson. There was no looking back for the Broncos, after a steal and triple by Carlson pushed the lead to 61-54, Akron never got within more than four of Western Michigan. 

SCOUTING THE ZIPS
Akron is still searching for its first conference win of 2026 going into Wednesday night with a 3-11 overall record. The Zips last win came against Le Moyne as part of the Hawk Classic hosted by Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia on Dec. 21. Le Moyne is the only Division I team that Akron has won against, as the team's other two wins came to Geneva (Division III) and Heidelberg (Division III). 

The Zips have two players averaging double figures through 14 games this season, sophomore forward Ni'Rah Clark and freshman guard/forward Monique Mitchell. Clark leads the entire team both on offense and on defense as she averages 11.5 points a game and 5.9 rebounds a game. Mitchell averages 10.5 points a game while junior guard/forward Keiryn McGuff averages 5.6 rebounds for second on the team in defense.