March 6, 2011
Final Stats
DEKALB, Ill.-Ohio freshman Erin Bailes nailed five of seven 3-point attempts and all eight of her free throws en route to a season-high 23 points as the 10th-seeded Ohio women's team defeated seventh-seeded Northern Illinois 72-56 Sunday evening in first round action of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.
The Bobcats improved to 9-21 and will face second-seeded Bowling Green in a quarterfinal matchup Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET in Quicken Loans Arena. The Falcons defeated Ohio 66-54 in Athens on Jan. 5 and 77-63 in Bowling Green on Feb. 16.
Tenishia Benson had 12 points and Kamille Buckner posted 10 to join Bailes in double digits. Benson recorded seven rebounds and three steals and Buckner added three blocks. Shavon Robinson chipped in five assists as well.
NIU was led by Ebony Ellis' 18 points and 15 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive end.
Ohio led wire-to-wire in this one, making half of their shots (24-48), while NIU connected on just 30.2 percent (19-63). The Bobcats' first double-digit lead came at the 9:26 mark of the first half on a Bailes 3-pointer to give Ohio a 20-10 advantage. The Bobcats led 35-20 at the break.
The lead grew to as many as 19 twice in the second half, the last time coming on a Robinson layup at the 13:24 mark (47-28). NIU drew to within 10 (54-44) on an Ellis layup with 5:06 to go, but Ohio hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep the home team at bay.
NIU outrebounded Ohio 43-34, including 20-7 on the offensive glass. Bailes' scoring explosion gave Ohio a 32-13 in bench scoring as well.
