Ohio wins second in a row

by Jenny Hugenberg
Staff Writer

The Ohio women's basketball team dribbled through the Eastern Michigan Eagles last night, winning 91-83.

The Bobcats (6-12 overall, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) forced 31 turnovers from the Eagles (10-7, 3-3), while only committing 14 themselves.

"We put a full court press on them in the second half, forcing some turnovers," coach Lynn Bria said. "They are a very good team though; it was just our day. I'm glad it was them with 31 turnovers and not us."

Forward Beckie Fischer snagged the tip-off for Ohio, but Eastern Michigan guard Kristy Maska grabbed the ball and went down the court to score a three.

Eastern Michigan went ahead 5-0 before guard Cathy Szall netted a three for Ohio. Szall picked up two early fouls though, forcing her to sit for a few minutes. Guard Candace Bates replaced Szall, and gave Ohio its first lead of the game, 12-11 with 13:26 left in the first half.

The Bobcats and the Eagles traded threes from that point, until Ohio was in the lead 18-17. Eastern Michigan forged ahead to a 24-18 lead, but Ohio rallied back and finally tied the score at 36 and then again at 40. A free throw by Bates and a jump shot from Szall put the Bobcats ahead at the half 43-42.

"I thought we gave away too many transition baskets in the first half," Bria said. "I didn't like the 43-42 score at halftime, I thought we gave them too many points."

The Eagles came out on the court after the break and scored four quick baskets. Ohio fought back to tie the score at 48 and then pull into the lead 53-50. The Eagles stayed close, however, and the score was again tied at 55 and then three more times at 57, 61 and 63. From there it was all Ohio.

The Bobcats, whose biggest lead was11 at 80-69, closed out the game with a score of 91-83.

"We're peaking at exactly the right time," forward Lori Moorman said. "We're really doing a good job at coming together as a team."

Guard Heather Laughlin had a season-high 20 points, just three away from her career-high. Four other Bobcats also scored in the double figures. Szall led the team with 22, while Moorman tallied 15. Bates and guard Ronita Whitfield each scored 11.

"Tonight my shot felt really good, which in the past few games it hasn't," Laughlin said. "Our shooters are really feeling it and hitting the shots when we need them. We are all starting to have a lot of confidence in each other, which is good."

Ohio also hit 30 of 40 from the free throw line, a .750 average for the game.

"We've really been practicing free throws in practice," Moorman said. "It's enabled us to really come through in the pressure situations in our games."

The Bobcats now travel to Miami.

"We have so much adrenaline pumping through us right now," Szall said. "This was a huge win for us. We will go into the Miami game with a lot of confidence and hopefully get a winning streak started."

Ohio takes on the RedHawks at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Oxford.