The Kent State women’s basketball team let a 17 point lead dwindle down to one, but held on for a 77-76 win over rival Akron Saturday at the M.A.C. Center.

Within the final 18 second of the game, the Zips (12-17, 6-9 Mid-American Conference) got off three looks off three offensive rebounds to win while down one. As the buzzer rang, Akron’s Taylor Ruper got off a three pointer that didn’t fall and the Flashes’ seven game losing streak was in the past.

Putting in a team effort, five Flashes (6-19, 5-10 MAC) finished with double-digit points. Led by junior forward Leslie Schaefer’s career high 16 points and a career high 12 rebounds, freshmen guard Itziar Llobet followed with 14, junior guard Tamzin Barroilhet added 13 points, freshman guard Dena Droste came off the bench to score a career high 12 points off 3-6 shooting from beyond the arch. Junior guard Trisha Krewson added 11 points.

The team win came with a much improved 19 assists as well as decreasing turnovers to 15. Also crucial to the win was the three point shooting that the team managed to sink 10-28 shots (35.7 percent).

Defensively, the Flashes let Akron get off 71 shots on the afternoon, but the Zips only sank 26 shots and shot 36.6 percent from the floor to the Flashes’ 44.8 percent on 26-58 shooting.

The win prevented Akron of its first ever season sweep of the Flashes in 35 years of competing against one another.

Finishing out the season at home, the Flashes will host Bowling Green on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to determine the team’s final seeding for the MAC Tournament.

Contact Matt Lofgren at [email protected] and @MLofgrenDKS.