AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zips Women's Basketball team has faced more than its share of adversity. But thanks to a little help from programs around the university, and a player from the Land Down Under, the team has been able to continue fighting this season.
Injuries have plagued the Zips from the start of the season, many of which were season-ending. By December, the team had lost seven players.
Each game was a struggle for the women on the court. There were few breaks. Every move, every play, had to be made with extreme caution.
It was a battle for availability—both ahead of games and during them.
"[There] was a time where we were just thinking about just not fouling because if one fouled out we would just have to play with four," said forward Shelbee Brown.
With players exhausted, both literally and figuratively, head coach Ryan Gensler had to get creative.
"I just shot an email out to all the women's sports head coaches. Got back messages—golf coach Jenny [King] said, 'Hey, we probably don't have anyone for you,'" Gensler chuckled. "A few others had some exploratory ones to look at."
An email sent to fellow Zips seeking players for the team. In the end, it was the Zips' volleyball team that answered the call, specifically Ellen Kinnaird.
Kinnaird had exhausted her eligibility in volleyball after playing four years with the team. She was on her high school hoops team but hadn't played since.
"Obviously dedicated a lot of my time to volleyball. I wasn't expecting to jump back into it, but I'm loving it," Kinnaird said.
Kinnaird's role is simple. Be a body and bring energy to a depleted roster. It's a role she's come to truly enjoy as she plays a sport she grew up loving but had some time away from.
"Just doing anything I can to help them because I know that they're tired. Like they've only got seven full players before we came in, so just trying to relieve some of their minutes and keep energy high, spirits high," she said.
It wasn't just Kinnaird who stepped in to help.
Liz Murphy traveled around the globe to take the court for the Zips much earlier than she anticipated.
Murphy hails from Yackandandah, Australia. The 18-year-old was planning to play for Akron, but having just finished her season in Australia in December, was going to be a redshirt freshman.
Instead, she hopped on a flight to Akron and began playing for the Zips in January.
"They offered me to come [in] January, start school early, get some training reps in and I was like 'Yeah, I'll take that,' so now here I am. And I'm playing, which I didn't expect," Murphy said. "They were like 'Liz, we've got about six or seven players,' and I was like 'Oh, what's this mean?' and they were like 'We want you to play.'"
An unexpected timeline has turned into Murphy playing nearly 12 minutes a game. She's fully embraced the early start and is ready to grow in this role as a true freshman.
The Zips women's basketball team has found ways to survive this season. They've embodied resilience and fight. And while they haven't been winning many games, they refuse to quit.
"We're a very resilient team and we're not going down without a fight," said guard Alexus Mobley.
