Nov. 7, 2006

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ATHENS, Ohio - In its first outing under the direction of new Head Coach Sylvia Crawley, the Ohio women's basketball team earned a 66-60 victory against West Liberty State in an exhibition Tuesday night in the Convocation Center.

In a contest that featured five ties and 12 lead changes, Ohio's Quintana Ward (Park Forest, Ill.) broke a 60-60 deadlock with a jumper with 55 seconds remaining, then gave the Bobcats some insurance with two free throws with 17 seconds on the clock. Lauren Kohn (Adrian, Mich.) tacked on two more free throws with five seconds remaining to seal the deal for Ohio.

Domenica Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) paced the Bobcat scoring effort in the victory with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 6-for-8 performance from the free throw line. Kohn contributed 18 in her debut in a Bobcat uniform, including 12 in the second half. Simone Redd (Warrensville Heights, Ohio) also reached double figures for the Bobcats with 11 while Rachel Frederick (Gibsonia, Pa.) grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds.

West Liberty State's Lena Kalvans led all scorers in the game with 26 points and Charity Street nabbed a game-high 15 boards for the NCAA Division II program from West Liberty, W.Va.

Ohio was able to gain an edge on the scoreboard early, but after leading 10-5, the Hilltoppers ran off eight of the game's next 10 points to grab their first lead of the night at 13-12 with 13:31 remaining in the period.

Silva took the game's momentum back to the home side, however, as she scored eight points in a 12-0 Ohio run in a span of just more than seven minutes. The run was capped by a Redd jumper at 6:09 that supplied the Bobcats with their largest lead of the game, 24-13.

West Liberty State made an attempt to regain the momentum heading into halftime and outscored the Bobcats 13-8 to head into the locker room with Ohio ahead 32-26.

Relying almost solely on the three-pointer, six of WLSC's 10 field goals made in the half were from behind the arc. Ohio was able to stay ahead on the scoreboard by making eight of nine free throw attempts, while the Hilltoppers did not make a trip to the charity stripe.

West Liberty State came out of the break on a 9-2 spurt to take its first lead since 13:31 of the first half at 35-34. Ohio did not get its first field goal of the half until the 13:43 mark, and after the Bobcats temporarily broke the WLSC momentum, the Hilltoppers ran off a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 45-39 with 9:12 remaining.

Behind two buckets in the lane by Frederick, the Bobcats answered with a 6-0 run of their own to even contest at 45, and the two teams traded baskets down the stretch. Kohn sank two key three-pointers to keep Ohio in it and set-up Ward's last-minute performance.

The Bobcats forced 19 turnovers by West Liberty State and converted that to 18 points. Ohio also had a distinct advantage at the free throw line as it outscored the Hilltoppers by a margin of 15-4.

Ohio will officially open its season this Friday against Navy. The Bobcat women will tip-off against the Midshipmen at 9 p.m., following the Ohio volleyball match against Miami. Fans are encouraged to come see the 19th-ranked Bobcat volleyball squad at 6 p.m., then stick around to cheer on Ohio women's hoops. Only one ticket is needed to attend both events.