Ohio tries to start winning streak

by Jenny Hugenberg
Staff Writer

The Eastern Michigan Eagles bring the Mid-American Conference West Division's Player of the Week to Athens to take on the Ohio women's basketball team tonight.

Ohio (5-12 overall, 2-4 MAC) is coming off a 99-78 road win against Central Michigan last Saturday to play in front of its home crowd. The Bobcats will face guard Stephanie Smiley, who captured the Player of the Week award for the Eagles.

"It's better to play at home, especially after returning from a road win," coach Lynn Bria said. "It definitely helps with the player's confidence; they are glad to be home where they are more comfortable."

The Eagles (10-6, 3-2) won last year's meeting between the two teams 83-67 when Ohio traveled to Eastern Michigan.

"Eastern Michigan is a good all-around team," guard Cathy Szall said. "They have a couple good guards and shooters."

Smiley averaged 17 points, 7.5 assists, five rebounds and two steals in Eastern Michigan's last two games.

The Eagles have four players averaging double-figure scoring for the season. Smiley averages 10.9 points per game, while forward Shani Charles has a 12.3 average, guard Kristy Maska averages 12.1 points per game, and guard Dru Bishop averages 10.6.

"They have a good post game," Bria said. "They get the ball inside and score. If we guard them too much inside, they will kick it out to the shooters."

The Bobcats know what else to watch for from the Eagles, though.

"They will probably come at us with a zone defense," Moorman said. "We've been playing pretty well against zones in the past few games, but it's something we have to watch for."

Bria said the Bobcats are working on key areas in practice, which will help them against Smiley and the Eagles.

"We're working on things that we've needed to work on for a while," she said. "We're getting better offensively, but we need to move the ball better. We work on a little defense each day."

Eastern Michigan has the third best record in the MAC West, behind Ball State and Toledo.

"Eastern Michigan is definitely one of the best teams in their division," Bria said. "We are going to have to play team defense if we want a chance of staying in the ballgame."

Tip-off is set for 7 tonight at The Convo.