Written by: Sartaj Aujla

Akron’s women’s basketball team was able to pull off a win by holding a lead in the final minutes of the game to beat the Canisius Golden Griffins 81-72.

“It was a really good win for our program,” said head coach Jodi Kest. “We told our players to come out and be aggressive.”

Akron improves to 6-1 and Canisius falls to 2-4.

Canisius came out strong with a 5-0 run within a minute, but Akron’s Hanna Luburgh delivered a layup to bring the score to 5-2.

The Zips then went on an 8-point run of their own to bring the score to 10-5.

Late in the first half, Taylor Ruper made a 3-pointer. The Zips finished the half 40-38.

In the middle of the second half, Golden Griffin Jen Morabito made a 3-pointer to give Canisius a 52-50 lead.

Trailing by one with two minutes to go, Luburgh delivered a successful three to return the lead to the Zips, 72-70.

Akron clamped down on Canisius’s offensive rhythm for the remainder of the game, and Canisius struggled to make any shot in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

The Zips offense did not settle down.

They went on a 7-0 run to end the game 81-72 and win their sixth game of the season.

“The last two minutes, we picked it up defensively and made some stops,” Kest said. “It was really nice for our team and for our defense to make some offense.”

The Zips will be back in action on Wednesday, when they will travel to Fairfax, Va. to take on the George Mason Patriots.