Jan. 30, 2010

Final Stats |  Notes

ATHENS, Ohio - Jennifer Bushby scored a season-high 23 points, and Jenny Poff added 14 of her own as Ohio picked up its first interdivisional win of the conference season with a 62-59 win over Ball State Saturday afternoon in the Convo.

The `Cats' defense did their part as well, holding the Cardinals to just 59 points on the day, marking the third-straight MAC opponent Ohio (6-15, 2-6 MAC) has held under 60 points. The Green and White's solid all-around effort included 43.6 percent shooting from the field and outrebounding BSU 40-29, including 19 on the offensive glass.

Bushby's 23 points led all scorers, while the Gahanna, Ohio, native also added seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks to her line. Poff (St. John's, Mich.) knocked down three treys en route to her 14 points, extending her streak to 13 straight games with a 3-pointer. Kamille Buckner (Chicago, Ill.) added six points and six rebounds, while Carolyn Barnett (North Chicago, Ill.) chipped in five points and five rebounds off the bench. Maxine Ohakim (Westerville, Ohio) registered a career-high three steals on the afternoon, while also pulling down five rebounds to go with her four points.

BSU began the afternoon with a 7-0 lead, making the most of its early attempts in addition to converting on two free throws. Tina Fisher (Cottage Grove, Minn.) was able to break up this run as she was fed a nice pass by Ashley Fowler (Cincinnati, Ohio) on the low block and laid it in for Ohio's first points of the day.

The Cardinals (9-12, 3-5 MAC) stretched the lead to 15-7 at one point before Poff came up big with a 3-pointer from the corner. Bushby followed her teammate immediately and emphatically with a trey of her own to cut the visitor's lead to two at 15-13.

The Bobcats grabbed their first lead of the game at 17-15 when Poff stepped into a Cardinal passing lane and drove the length of the floor for a fast-break layup. Ball State promptly called a timeout in an attempt to quell this 10-0 run.

Heading into the locker rooms at halftime, Ohio held a 33-31 lead. Bushby led all scorers to that point with 12 points on 5-10 shooting from the field. The Bobcats forced the Cardinals into ten turnovers while only committing seven of their own. In addition to this, Ohio was the more opportunistic ball club in the first half, scoring 13 points off turnovers to Ball State's two. Both teams shot well in the first half as the `Cats were operating at a 45 percent clip and the Cardinals were not far behind at 44 percent.

The second half began with back-to-back baskets from long range as Audrey McDonald drained a three from the corner and Bushby answered back immediately with a corner three of her own.

The Cardinals retook the lead on another McDonald 3-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining. Poff connected on one from downtown just seconds later to reclaim the advantage at 51-49.

BSU nearly converted on back-to-back three-point plays right around the four minute mark, as Ty'Ronda Benning scored five of a possible six points in a 30 second stretch. Buckner was then able to add a basket of her own through contact and then, after a missed free throw, was able to score again on the same possession. That put Ohio up 60-58 with 2:30 on the clock.

The Cardinals' McDonald cut the lead to one with a free throw, but Poff iced the game by knocking down two freebies with 1:16 left, before Ohio's stopped BSU from tying the action.

Emily Maggert led all BSU scorers with 16 points to go with seven rebounds, while Benning added 10 points.

Ohio will be back on the road as it heads to Western Michigan Wednesday to continue its stretch of cross-division games. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.