Jan. 19, 2012
Final Stats | Photo Gallery
ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio Women's Basketball picked up a thrilling overtime win on Thursday, defeating the visiting Akron Zips by a final score of 72-71. Tenishia Benson extended her streak of scoring 10 or more points in a game to 12, finishing with a game and season-high 23 points. Sophomore Shavon Robinson (Canton, Ohio) and freshman Mariah Byard (Mannington, W. Va.) also finished in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Ohio shot 26-of-61 (42.6 percent) from the floor and connected on 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) three pointers. Benson was very effective, shooting 10-of-14 while dishing out three assists and collecting three steals. The 'Cats collected 14 offensive rebounds and swatted away five Akron shots throughout the contest.
Robinson (Canton, Ohio) kicked off the scoring for the Bobcats with an early fast-break layup after quick dish from Benson. An inside score from Tina Fisher (Cottage Grove, Minn.) and another steal-layup combination from Robinson put Ohio up 10-4, forcing the Zips into an early timeout.
Ohio (9-10, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) kept its foot on the gas pedal early, connecting on seven of its first 10 shots in the first six minutes of play thanks to more jumpers from Benson and Robinson. The `Cats led by as much as nine in the first half, but the Zips responded with hot three-point shooting midway through to cut Ohio's lead to 21-19 at the 7:56 mark.
Akron (8-11, 2-3 MAC) would keep up its streaky shooting and take the lead at the 4:28 mark after a three from Hanna Luburgh resulted in a 26-24 advantage. A three from Byard helped Ohio tie things up at 28 apiece before Tenishia Benson scored a tough layup inside to send the `Cats into the locker room leading 30-28.
Both teams shot the ball evenly in the first half with Ohio going 12-29 (41.4%) and Akron going 10-25 (40%). Ohio led the rebound category (17-16) at the half, but Akron held the hot hand from three-point range, connecting on four of eight opportunities.
Robinson opened up the second-half scoring with a shifty inside drive, followed by Byard's third three-pointer of the game to maintain an early four-point lead for the `Cats. Ohio went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first ten minutes of the second half including back-to-back three pointers from junior Symone Lyles (Silver Spring, Md.) at the 12:22 mark.
With under six minutes remaining, Benson nailed a long jumper to push the Bobcats' lead to 57-53, but Akron responded by connecting from the free throw line to regain the lead in what would be the 13th lead change of the game. Benson would find Alesia Howard (Columbus, Ohio) off a screen to go up 62-60 with two minutes remaining, however, Akron held the final possession of regulation and capitalized on an inside drive with eight seconds remaining to send things into overtime.
Overtime saw the Zips' Taylor Ruper open up play with a long three pointer, but Robinson answered soon after with a jumper of her own, followed by a Benson layup to put the `Cats up 67-65 with 2:28 left to play. With the score knotted at 71-71, Benson continued her heroics on the night by getting to the line and sinking one of two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining in overtime to seal the win over the Zips.
Ohio closes out its three-game homestand on Sunday, Jan. 22. The Bobcats will open up the MAC-West portion of their schedule by battling the Toledo Rockets at 2 p.m.
