March 14, 2008
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - It took two overtime periods and dodging a potential game-winning shot, but Quintana Ward (Park Forrest, Ill.) and the Ohio women's basketball team shocked the top-seeded Bowling Green Falcons, 68-66, in double-overtime at Quicken Loans Arena.
With the score at 66-66 and just less than 20 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, Ward drove the lane for a lay-up and the Falcons could not answer on the other end. They missed both a three-point shot and a fade-away jumper from outside the paint, giving the Bobcats the victory and a championship match-up with archrival Miami. The RedHawks defeated Toledo in the first semifinal game of the day.
The last time a women's MAC Tournament semifinal game went into double-overtime was in 2000 when Kent State defeated Eastern Michigan, 96-94.
Ward led the Bobcats with 16 points, while Jenny Poff (St. Johns, Mich.) and Lauren Hmiel (York, Pa.) added 15 and 12 points, respectively. Poff also added 11 rebounds for the first double-double of her career.
Bowling Green's Lauren Prochaska, the MAC Freshman of the Year, led the Falcons with 15 points, while Tara Breske and Kate Achter, the MAC Player of the Year, added 14 and 11, respectively.
The last time the Bobcats went into double-overtime was in 1983 when Ohio defeated Bowling Green by one point, 81-80.
The Bobcats shot out to an early lead in the first half of the game, but Bowling Green put together a late run to close the score, 30-25, at the half. The Falcons came out hot in the second half as well, taking a seven-point lead at the 8:35 mark. The Bobcats rallied, and with the score tied with less than seven seconds left in the game, Ward stole the ball from a Falcons player in the paint and dished a pass to Lauren Kohn (Adrian, Mich.), who missed the potential game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key.
In the first overtime the Falcons again rushed out to a quick lead, starting strong as they did in the second half, but once again the Bobcats came back. Hmiel scored on a lay-up despite being fouled and made the free-throw attempt to take a one-point lead. Bowling Green's Tracy Pontius made one of two free-throw attempts with just seconds left, and Ward could not get a tough lay-up in traffic to fall.
In nearly the same space on the floor, Ward drove the lane with the game tied and just 1.1 seconds left on the shot clock for the eventual game-winning lay-up with 14 seconds left on the clock.
Ohio's championship match-up with Miami will be the first time the `Cats have played in the MAC finals since the 1985-86 season, when they defeated Central Michigan in overtime, 92-85. Tip is set for 1 p.m.
