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The Basics:
Score: Ohio 67 (14-3, 5-1 MAC), Northern Illinois 40 (6-9, 2-3 MAC)
Location: The Convocation Center - Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: Ohio women's baskestball's defense locked down Northern Illinois to its lowest point total of the season en route to a 67-40 victory at the Convocation Center. It was the Bobcats' eighth win in nine games.

OHIO STARTERS: #2 Mariah Byard, #4 Kiyanna Black, #5 Quiera Lampkins, #10 Lexie Baldwin, #14 Kat Yelle
NORTHERN ILLINOIS STARTERS: #12 Danny Pulliam, #31 Ally Lehman, #22 Amanda Corral, #20 Jenna Thorpe, #Renee Sladek



How It Happened:
- Ohio's defense was rock solid in the first ten minutes of the first half, holding the Huskies to one made field goal until the 9:43 mark of the half and building an early 14-4 lead.
- Northern Illinois began the game shooting 3-of-16 from the field and fell behind Ohio by as much as 15, but a 9-0 run brought the Huskies back within a 21-15 deficit.
- The Bobcats answered with an 11-0 run of their own, powered by eight points from Mariah Byard.
- The Huskies had no answer for Ohio's backcourt trio of Kat Yelle, Kiyanna Black and Byard in the first half. Yelle scored a game-high nine in the first half while Black and Byard each added eight.
- Ohio carried a 36-17 lead into the half, limiting Northern Illinois to 6-of-25 (24 percent) shooting.
- The second half featured much of the same action as the first, with Ohio dominating defensively, holding the Huskies to 10-of-35 shooting (28.6 percent) in the final 20.
- For the game, Ohio shot 27-of-56 from the field (48.2 percent), while the Huskies made 16 of their 60 shot attempts (26.7 percent).
- Hannah Boesinger led the Bobcats with 13 points.
- The Bobcats had four players in double figures, with Boesinger (13), Black (12), Yelle (11) and Byard (10) all making significant contributions on the offensive end.
- Jasmine Weatherspoon led the Bobcats with seven rebounds.
- Black tied a season high with four steals
- Amanda Corral paced the Huskies offense with a game-high 15 points, while Ally Lehman led the team with a game-high 17 rebounds.
- Northern Illinois had 14 turnovers compared to 10 for the Bobcats.
- Ohio shot 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from behind the arc while the Huskies hit 3 of their 18 attempts (16.7 percent).
- The Bobcats outscored the Huskies 36-14 in the paint.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Ohio reached the 14 win mark for the first time since 2011-12.
- The win improved the Bobcats' record to 5-1 in the MAC and put them alone in first place of the East Division.
- Black reached a double-digit point total for the 15th time this season and the 46th time in her Ohio career.
- It was the fourth time Ohio held an opponent below 20 points in the first half this season.
- Ohio has scored at least 60 points in 15 of its 17 games this season.
- Ohio defeated Northern Illinois at the Convocation Center for the first time since 2009, snapping a three-game home losing streak to the Huskies at home.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Bob Boldon:
- "I thought we did a good job of guarding their guards on the initial catch. They do a tremendous job of moving without the basketball and we talked all week about guarding early, guarding before the catch, which is the complete opposite of what we did against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan."

Sophomore guard Kiyanna Black:
- "Once I get a steal, I can play in transition whether it's attacking the basket or creating offense for my teammates."

Sophomore forward Hannah Boesinger:
- "I came off the bench and really wanted to try running as much as I could and rebounding. I guess it worked out for us and Kat did a really good job of passing me the ball and other players the ball and running the floor."

Junior guard Kat Yelle:
- "Like coach tells us, we've got to take it one game at a time and that game at that specific time is the most important game of the season. So just keep working at it one game at a time and not getting ahead of ourselves and that's how we're going to go with this season."



COMING UP
Ohio hits the road for its next matchup, traveling to Muncie, Ind. for a game against the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 4:30 p.m.

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