A win on Tuesday would have earned the women's basketball team its third-straight victory before entering the Mid-American Conference tournament.
With 40 seconds remaining the Bulls trailed by only three points, but a wide open look in the corner for three would prove to be the dagger to shatter their late season hot streak.
The Bulls (9-21, 4-12 MAC) rode their win streak into Akron, Ohio Tuesday night only to be denied by the Akron Zips (12-18, 7-9 MAC), 78-69.
The Bulls took a 41-35 lead into the second half. However, the Zips started the second half strong, outscoring 43-28 in the final frame.
The inability to maintain a lead near the end of the game is something head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald has seen all too often this season.
"We stopped attacking, we started to walk the ball down and we got very, very tentative." Hill-MacDonald said. "Our passes and cuts weren't crisp and that's when Akron was able to really intimidate and force us out of our offense."
Hot three-point shooting and strong defensive prowess gave the Bulls the lead throughout much of the game. They held the Zips to 9-of-27 from deep, and countered with a stronger outing, going 9-of-19.
Their demise appeared to be rebounding. The Bulls were dominated on the glass, 51-37.
Sophomore forward Nytor Longar was one of the only Bulls to help clean up the boards. She had an impressive double-double, dropping in 13 points and snagging 14 rebounds.
A 3-pointer with a little under five minutes left gave the Bulls a 67-66 lead. That shot would be the last field goal of the night for the Bulls, with their only other two points after that coming from the free throw line.
"All we needed to do was execute," Hill-MacDonald said. "We had the game secured and we got tentative."
Senior guard Brittany Hedderson had a typical outing, leading the Bulls in scoring with 16 points. She also contributed five rebounds and four assists to add to her stat line. But with her last made field goal coming in at the 15-minute mark, the Zips were able to shut down the Bulls leading scorer.
The bright spot on the evening for the Bulls was junior sharpshooter, Nicki Hopkins. Hopkins' minutes off the bench are generally scarce, but when she enters the game she is an immediate threat from behind the 3-point line. Hopkins amassed only 19 minutes, but was able to drop in 14 points, including a notable four 3-pointers.
The Bulls have had a less than stellar season thus far, but a late season spurt has given them high hopes entering this weekend. Back-to-back wins over Kent State and Ohio were impressive, but they'll need to play cleaner then they did last night to have any chance at success in the tourney.
The no. 11 seed Bulls will look to avenge their loss to no. 6 seed Akron on Saturday in the first round of the MAC tournament. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
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