Jan. 9, 2002

Stats

AKRON, Ohio-Miami University's women's basketball team advanced to 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference for the first time since the 1998-99 season Wednesday at the University of Akron's JAR Arena, handling the Zips 103-67.

In a high-octane first half, the RedHawks claimed the lead out of the gates and never trailed. Colleen Day (Independence, Ohio/Holy Name) tallied five points in the first three minutes to stake Miami to a 13-4 lead by the 15:48 mark, and the RedHawks led by as many as 23-12 by 11:57.

Despite the early run, Miami could not pull away from the Zips, who closed to within 29-23 by the 8:32 mark. Akron, which shot a stellar 63 percent from the floor, used 15 first-half points from Lindsay Hemmelgarn to remain within striking distance until a brief Miami run pushed the RedHawks to their biggest lead at 56-40 by the half. The 56 first-half points tied a Miami record for points in a half. Melanie Kozlowski (Parma, Ohio/Holy Name) paced Miami with 13 first-half points.

Akron came out with a head of steam in the second half, closing to within 56-48 with an 8-0 run. Day broke the run with a bucket at 17:12 and Miami never really looked back. Following a more than five-minute Zip scoring drought, the RedHawks built their lead to as high as 88-58. Akron scored just 11 points over the final 12:08, while Miami cleared the 100-point barrier for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

Junior Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo), who finished with a season-high 25 points became the 13th Miami player to reach 1,000 for her career with a 3-point basket at 9:12 in the second half.

Kozlowski notched her first career double-double with season-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jana Butler (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty-Benton) and Day each notched 15. Katie Schwegmann (Melbourne, Ky./Bishop Brossart) rounded out Miami's five double-digit scorers with 10.