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Box Score (PDF)

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Ohio women's basketball team (13-7, 6-3 MAC) fell in overtime on the road to Central Michigan (16-4, 9-0 MAC), 92-90, on Saturday afternoon at McGuirk Arena.

"It was a great basketball game and both teams made big shots," head coach Bob Boldon said. "Every time we play them it's a close game. I thought every kid that played for us today gave us great effort. When you hear this arena, every time they make a shot it gets louder and louder. I thought we did a good job of weathering the storms and did a good job of executing down the stretch."

Junior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) produced a career-high 35 points on 14-of-29 shooting. Hooks was 7-of-11 from the free-throw line and added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Hooks had seven points in the fourth quarter and five in overtime for Ohio. Hooks was able to cut the CMU lead on a layup with 22 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to 80-79. Junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) put Ohio up one with 11 seconds to go on a layup of her own, but CMU earned free throws with one second left and was able to send the game to overtime. In overtime, CMU pushed its lead to five with 58 seconds left, but Ohio had a Johnson and Burris layup to make the game 91-90. After one Chippewa free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining, Ohio was unable to convert the alley-oop to sophomore forward Edecia Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) at the buzzer.

Beck also had a career-high, producing 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting in her first career start. Beck tied her career-high in rebounds with eight, including three offensive boards.

Redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) produced 21 points off the bench in 37 minutes of play. Johnson was 9-of-22 from the field while knocking down three from deep. Johnson added five rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Redshirt sophomore guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) added nine points and hit two threes. Burris added seven points and tied her career-high with 11 rebounds. Redshirt junior guard Katie Barker (Cary, Ill.) hit two threes for six points.

Overall, Ohio shot 36-of-86 (41.9 percent) from the field and was 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) from the three-point line. Central Michigan was 39-of-64 (60.9 percent) and 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from deep. Ohio was 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the free-throw line while CMU was 6-of-10 (60.0) from the charity stripe.

Ohio forced 19 turnovers and only turned the ball over nine times. Ohio had 17 points off of turnovers and nine steals. Hooks and Johnson each had three steals.

The Bobcats outrebounded CMU, 44-38. OU had 20 offensive rebounds while CMU pulled down four. Burris led the way with 11 while Beck had eight. Hooks pulled down seven and Johnson at five.

CMU started the game up 28-17 after the first quarter. CMU pushed the lead to 13, its largest lead of the game at 23-10 with 1:53 left in the quarter. Ohio was able to cut the lead to nine after a Johnson three with 32 seconds left but CMU hit a layup at the buzzer to take a 28-17 lead into the break.

Ohio went on a 15-2 run to take the lead in the second quarter. The runn was capped at 36-34 on a Hooks fast break layup. CMU tied the game at 39-39 with 1:50 left but Johnson hit a three with 1:04 left at 42-39. CMU made a layup with 44 seconds left and OU took a 42-41 lead into halftime.

Hooks and Johnson combined for 33 of Ohio's 42 points in the first half. Johnson had 17 and Hooks had 16. Ohio was 17-of-37 (45.9 percent) from the field while CMU was 17-of-27 (63.0 percent) from the field.

Ohio pushed its lead to nine – its biggest lead of the night – with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter after Beck layup at 54-45. CMU chipped away at the Ohio lead for the rest of the quarter and Ohio went into the final 10 minutes up 64-60. 

Central Michigan tied the game at 69-69 with 6:39 remaining in regulation and took the lead immediately after that bucket. Burris put Ohio ahead with a left-wing three with 5:32 remaining but CMU was able to push the lead to four with 2:24 remaining. Kroll got Ohio to 77-76 with a three and then both teams traded layups. Burris gave Ohio the lead with 11 seconds left, but CMU made one-of-two free throws with one second left to send the game to regulation.

CMU scored first in overtime with 4:10 left, but Hooks tied the game with two free throws with 3:51. A Hooks layup gave Ohio a one point lead. CMU hit two-straight jumpers to go up five but layups from Johnson and Burris put Ohio within one at 91-90. CMU hit one free-throw with 0.6 seconds left to o up 92-90. Ohio tossed an alley-oop from half court to Beck but the layup did not fall and CMU won, 92-90.

Ohio will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at Eastern Michigan.

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