Jan. 17, 2009
Final Stats
KENT, Ohio-The Kent State women's basketball team used a 19-4 second-half run to catch a feisty Ohio's women's squad and outlasted the Bobcats with a 78-74 win at the M.A.C. Center Saturday afternoon. The Golden Flashes improved to 13-3 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ohio fell to 6-10 and 2-2 in the league.
"I was really proud of our kids' effort today," said Ohio head coach Semeka Randall. "They fought hard for 45 minutes. We just made a couple mistakes down the stretch. That was the difference today."
Ohio sophomore forward Kamille Buckner (Chicago, Ill.) had a career day for the Bobcats with 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for her first double-double. Junior guard Jennifer Bushby (Gahanna, Ohio) and senior forward Lauren Hmiel (York, Pa.) tallied 18 points apiece for Ohio, who has dropped 16 of its last 17 meetings at Kent. Freshman guard Da'Keisha Mann (Columbus, Ohio) also registered a career-high 10 points for the Bobcats, while senior center Chandra Myers (Sugarcreek, Ohio) also had a season-high 10 boards.
"Da'Keisha Mann played great off the bench," said Randall. "She played within herself and gave us a lift. Kamille was unbelievable."
Kent State was led by Jamilah Humes' game-high 20 points (9-15 FG) and five steals, while Rachel Bennett had 14 points and four assists and Stephanie Gibson had 10 points.
For the game, Ohio made 44.1 percent (29-65) of its shots, while Kent State connected on 39.9 percent (26-66). However, the Golden Flashes made up the difference from beyond the arc with a 12-22 effort (54.5 percent), including a 7-9 clip (77.8 percent) in the second half. Ohio made seven of its 20 (35 percent) 3-point attempts.
The Bobcats outrebounded Kent 45-36, but also committed 20 turnovers to just 13 for the Golden Flashes.
The Bobcats raced out to an early 11-2 lead on a layup by Buckner at the 14:27 mark, before Kent fired right back with a 7-0 run of its own over the next two minutes, 26 seconds to close to two on a 3-pointer by Jena Stutzman. Ohio widened the margin to double digits twice later in the half, the second on Mann's second 3-pointer from the left wing. That basket made the score 32-21 Ohio with three minutes, 45 seconds left in the stanza.
Ohio made 14 of its 31 field goal attempts (45.5 percent) in the first half compared to just 32.3 percent (10-31) for the Golden Flashes. The rebounding margin was the telling stat of the first half, as the Bobcats held a commanding 27-13 margin, powered by 20 from the combination of Buckner and Myers. The duo also held Kent State center Anna Kowalska, the MAC's third-leading scorer, to just four first half points.
Ohio had a chance to blow the game open in the early part of the second period after Bushby hit a fall-away jumper as the shot clock expired to put the Bobcats up 14 points at 42-28 with 17:54 remaining. However, Kent State responded with a 19-4 run over the next five minutes, 14 seconds to go up by one (47-46) on a 3-pointer by Gibson with 12:40 left. Bushby canned a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to stop the run but the Bobcats found themselves in a dogfight the rest of the way. The largest lead Ohio could muster after that was four, with the last coming at 68-64 on a jumper from Buckner with two minutes left in regulation. Kent State tied it on a Kowalska free throw and a Stutzman 3-pointer before Kowalska's game-winning putback attempt rimmed out, forcing overtime.
Ohio mustered a pair of two-point leads in overtime, but Bennett scored six of Kent State's 10 points in the extra session to thwart the Bobcats' bid at capturing a third overtime league win.
Ohio will be back in action Wednesday at Miami, the league's defending champion, for a 1 p.m. tip.
