ATHENS, Ohio ? Bobcat head coach Lynn Bria earned her first-ever win over the Kent State Golden Flashes as the Ohio women?s basketball team topped Kent State 56-50 Wednesday evening at the Convocation Center.

Seniors Erin Isbell (Gahanna, Ohio) and Kristian Kirkpatrick (Costa Mesa, Calif.), along with freshman Quintana Ward (Park Forest, Ill.), led the Bobcats to a 1-0 start in Mid-American Conference play as Isbell posted a career-high 16 rebounds, Kirkpatrick scored a team-leading 15 points and Ward dished out a game-high seven assists.

?It?s a good win and a good start for us,? commented Bria. ?It?s great to win at home.?

The Bobcats scored first and often with Kirkpatrick starting and ending a 12-2 Ohio run over the first six minutes of play. Kent State tried to get back in the game but the relentless Bobcat attack kept the Golden Flashes at bay.

Ohio opened the game up with a 9-2 run and extended their lead to fourteen points, 23-9, at 3:44. Kent State outscored the Bobcats in the remaining minutes 5-3 but Ohio led 26-14 heading into the locker rooms.

The Bobcats last held a team to under 20 points in the first half on Dec. 20 of last season at Cleveland State (27-16). Ohio went on to win that game by a 68-59 score.

?They?re bigger than us so we knew we had to be physical with them,? noted Bria. ?I thought we did a great job defending their post.?

Ohio held a 2-1 advantage in rebounds (30-15) as Isbell pulled down 10 of her career-high 16 in the first half. The Bobcats shot 33.3 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from behind the arc compared to the Golden Flashes' 25 percent shooting from the floor and 0-for-4 mark from three-point range. Six of Ward?s game-high seven assists came in the first stanza as six Bobcats contributed in scoring.

Kent State was the first to strike coming out of the break, though, cutting the Bobcat lead to eight, 26-18, at 18:28. Ohio took its largest lead of the night, 33-18, at 16:18 but the Golden Flashes were not going out without a fight.

The Bobcats, who led the entire game, saw their lead quickly fade as Kent State rallied for an 18-2 run over a four-minute span to cut the margin to four, 35-31, at 11:20.

?We wanted to mix up our defenses,? added Bria. ?They?re a good team and if you play them too long in one defense, I think they get really comfortable and get used to it.?

Ciara Iglehart (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Ward hit outside jump shots to put Ohio back up by eight with under 10 minutes to play, 42-34. The Golden Flashes again retaliated, coming within one point of tying the game, 44-43, at 6:57 as Kent State?s Lindsay Shearer hit a deep three-pointer followed by double-bonus free throws to fuel a 9-2 run.

Ohio countered the Golden Flashes with a 9-2 run of its own with Ward and Kirkpatrick each adding four points to put the Bobcats back up by eight, 53-45, with 2:30 remaining on the clock.

The Bobcats and Golden Flashes would exchange a couple sets of free throws in the remaining minutes but it was Andrea Johnson?s (Columbus, Ohio) jumper with well under a minute remaining that clinched the victory for Ohio.

?I thought Kent responded in the second half as we thought they would,? commented Bria. ?They started hitting some shots but I thought we responded to that and I was very proud of our team.?

Kent State?s Shearer led all scorers with 17 points while Melissa DeGrate also added 12 points. The Golden Flashes fall to 0-1 in MAC play and 7-5 overall, dropping their third-consecutive conference opener.

Ohio held a 46-30 advantage in rebounds as Isbell continued to dominate on the glass, pulling down 13 defensive rebounds and three offensive boards for a personal-best effort. Isbell?s rebounding performance moved her into sole possession of the sixth slot in Ohio?s career rebounding list, passing Holly Skeens?s 621 mark. She now has 636 career boards and is 13 shy of surpassing Kelly Weir to enter the top five. Isbell also matched a career-high with three blocks.

Bria on Isbell, ?I told her in practice that we needed at least 15 rebounds and she took me seriously.?

Ward was the only other Bobcat to score in double-digits, contributing 12 points. Johnson made a career-high and team-leading four steals to go with nine points and five rebounds. Junior Tiffany Byrd (Columbus, Ohio) made her first-ever block, denying Kent State?s La?Kia Stewart in the first half.

Rounding out the scoring for the Bobcats were Isbell, Simone Redd (Warrensville Hts., Ohio) and Iglehart each with five points, Lauren Revesz (Bridgeville, Pa.) with three and Angel Hornsburger (Columbus, Ohio) with two.

?Certainly Kent?s always a good team but I think what?s critical for us is that this is the first game of the conference and we?re at home,? continued Bria. ?I think that may be more critical than the fact that Ohio University hasn?t beaten them in a while.?

The Bobcats, who last topped Akron on Jan. 2, 2002, to start the MAC slate 1-0, improve to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in league play. Ohio will hit the road for a couple of conference match-ups versus Miami and Akron. The Bobcats first stop in Oxford, Ohio, to face the RedHawks on Sunday with tip-off set for 2 p.m. and then will travel to play the Zips in Akron on Tuesday at 7 p.m.