Alumni Weekend

This past weekend marked the inaugural alumni weekend for the University of Akron Women's Basketball Program. We kicked off the festivities with our first ever Alumni game on Friday evening. The game was a huge success as former players laced up their sneakers, reunited with former teammates and showed that they still have game. Current seniors Ayla Guzzardo and Jolene Tamboue tested the waters of coaching, serving as head coaches for each team. Coach Guzzardo had the pleasure of coaching the youngin's while Coach Tamboue went with the "more experienced" group. Age was not a factor in the game as both teams competed til the very end. The close battle came down to a few free throws and a defensive stop by the youngin's to prevail them to victory. As you can see in the pics, the former players had a blast. After the game the alums and current coaching staff got together at a dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse. It was great to hear all the stories from years past.

On Saturday the Zips took on Miami Ohio in a key MAC conference game. The alumni and their families were recognized at halftime of the game. It was a great day to be a Zip as the team picked up their 10th conference win beating the Redhawks 72-65. With the win the Zips have now tied school records for most conference wins and overall wins. With one more conference game against OU the 2009- 2010 Zips can make some new history of their own!

We want to thank our alumni who came out and made this weekend very special. We can't wait for next year!!! GO ZIPS!!

AKRON "THINKS PINK"

Last week the Zips took the floor in the annual "Pink Zone" game. The Akron Women's Basketball team teamed up with the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across the University of Akron campus and the Akron community. As you can see from the pics above this event was a huge success. Our program raised a lot of money for a great cause. Our team wore pink shoelaces, pink wristbands, and pink shooting shirts to show their support for breast cancer awareness. It was a great day at the JAR, as fans packed the gym to cheer on the Zips! We want to thank everyone who came out and contributed to this great cause.

5-2!!!

2010 has been very good to the University of Akron Women's Basketball Team. After a big overtime win at Ball State last night, the Zips are now 5-2 in conference play. The 5-2 record keeps the Zips at the top tier of the MAC standings, currently in second place.

With wins over Miami, Buffalo, Kent State, Western Michigan, and Ball State the Zips are poised to continue their success throughout the remainder West games and into the East matchups! Below are the links to the Zips conference wins! We hit the road again on Saturday when we take on a very good Eastern Michigan team. We will return to the JAR Arena on Feb. 4th against Central Michigan. We hope to see you there!!! Until next time... GO ZIPS!!!

Akron tops Buffalo:

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204866962

Akron beats rival Kent State:

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204868821

Akrons gets road win at Miami:

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204870048

Defense prevails against Western Michigan:

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204873558

Akron gets another road win at Ball State:

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204875951

Holiday Party!!!

I hope everyone had a great Holiday season! Last week we had our annual Holiday Party at Coach Kest's House. It was a great night filled with laughs, good food, gifts, and even a little snow! This team is very special and so much fun to be around. Whenever we get together it is hard not to have stomach aches from laughing so much!

At our Holiday Party we finally revealed our Secret Santa identity and gave our big gifts. It was alot of fun to see the players and coaches try and guess who had them. I applaud the players that kept their secrets for this long. If you know our team this in itself is a daunting task! Their was great gifts given and even a few gag gifts. I am still trying to figure out if my 12 pack of diet coke is a gag gift? (Thanks Denver!)

It was a great weekend for the Zips! We got our first conference win against Buffalo on Saturday, beating the Bulls 72-56. Our Men's Team also had a great win against Bowling Green 71-45. Also, Men's Soccer player, Teal Bunbury, won this year's Hermann Trophy recognizing him as the best soccer player in the country.

This week we play Kent State on Wednesday night at home. Tip is at 7pm. This will be a great game not only because of the rivalry but because Kent is playing very well. We hope to see you in stands Wednesday!

- Coach Jackson

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from the Zips! The Akron Zips have had a good December going 4-1 heading into the Holidays. We recently topped off a 4 game winning streak by beating Chicago State on the road. Road trips to Chicago are always a fun bonding time with the team. We really get to know each other on the long bus trip. It is also a great time to get up to date on some current movies. Coach Kest loves movies so trips to Blockbuster are a must for our long road trips. During our trip to Chicago we kept with the Holiday spirit and watched Elf (Great Flick) and Four Christmas!

December is also a fun month with team because we do our annual "Secret Santa". At Akron we really get into it. We decorate our awesome lockeroom with a tree filled with ornaments. Each player has their own personal ornament as well as their own personal stocking with is hung in their locker. Throughout the month we receive clues and little gifts from our "Secret Santa's". It is always fun to try and figure out who has who. Most years it is always a struggle for the girls to keep who they have a secret. But this year it seems as if they have done a good job so far. Once we return from break we will have our annually Holiday Party at Coach Kest's House and reveal our Secret Santa's. This is fun time for all!

I hope you and your families had a great Holiday. The Zips are now back on campus and we are preparing for our last 2 non-conference games against Temple and Lehigh! These will be great tests as we head into MAC play! We hope to see you Monday December 28th at 7pm as we take on the Temple Owls!!!

Until Next Time... GO ZIPS!!!

- Coach Jackson

Signing Day!!!

Last Wednesday we welcomed our 2010 "Fab Four" Recruiting Class. Kacie, Sina, Hanna, and Carly are four very successful basketball players and great people. We are so happy to officially make them part of our Akron family. Above are a few pics from their signings! Also click on the link to read more about these great individuals! Until next time! Go Zips!

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=47196&SPID=4339&DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=204831684

- Coach Jackson

Halloween Akron Style!!!

Halloween is always a fun Holiday with the University of Akron Women's Basketball Team. As always the girls did a great job with their costumes. We had an array of creative costumes. The coaching staff also really got into it as well. As you can see in the pics we had everything from Aerobic instructors to Yoshi (That's me... Coach Jackson). Along with the fun of costumes we again had a great team dinner at Coach Kest's House. The team sure can eat!!! Luckily they do a great job burning off those calories on the court! I wish I could say the same! :) We hope everyone had a great Halloween!

- Coach Jackson