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AKRON, Ohio – Junior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) tied the single-game scoring record of 41 points, but Ohio women's basketball (17-8, 10-4 MAC) fell to Akron (13-12, 6-8 MAC), 79-76, on Saturday afternoon at the James A. Rhodes Arena.
Hooks' 41 points came on 17-of-26 shooting. Hooks was 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line and 4-of-8 from the free throw line. Hooks tied former Bobcat Marlene Stollings, who scored 41 points against Robert Morris in 1997. Hooks added five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
"She was awesome today," head coach Bob Boldon said. "It's a shame she couldn't play for us the last five minutes but what she did was special. It's nice to see kids have a record day like that. It's really nice when it's your kids, but it's great to see anyone who's out here playing college basketball have a program day like that. It's a shame we couldn't win it for her. It was a heck of a day by Cece."
Redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) had 16 points and knocked down three from deep. All of Johnson's 16 points came in the second half. Johnson added eight rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists.
Senior guard Amani Burke (Columbus, Ohio) produced 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 3-of-5 from deep. Burke added five rebounds.
Junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) had six points and three rebounds.
Overall, Ohio shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the field and 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from the three-point line. Akron was 27-of-63 (42.9 percent) and 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from the three point line.
Akron outrebounded Ohio, 49-33. Johnson led Ohio with eight total rebounds while Hooks and Burke had five each. Redshirt sophomore guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) had four boards.
Ohio forced 14 turnovers and turned the ball over 12 times. OU had eight steals while Hooks had four and Johnson had two.
The Bobcats started the first quarter up 23-15. Burke started the game out with a three and Ohio took an early 7-0 lead. Two Burris free throws were able to get Ohio up an eight-point lead with 4:24 left in the game. Hooks put the lead at 19-10 but a couple of baskets from each team gave OU the 23-15 lead heading into the break. Hooks had 14 points for the Bobcats in the first quarter alone.
Burris' layup to start the second quarter brought the Ohio lead to 25-15, OU's largest lead of the night. Akron answered with a 15-0 run to take a 30-25 lead with 4:53 remaining in the half. Ohio stabilized and traded buckets with Akron until Hooks ended the half with a layup to cut the Zips lead to 40-37. Akron outscored Ohio in the second period, 25-14.
Hooks had 24 points for Ohio at the half on 10-of-14 shooting and 2-of-4 from deep. As a team, Ohio shot 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) and 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from the three-point line.
OU tied the game out of the break with a Johnson three, and a Burke three on the next possession gave Ohio a 43-42 advantage. Ohio pushed the lead to 50-44 on a Johnson runner with 6:56 left. Akron cut the Ohio lead down to one but Ohio took a 62-56 lead into the fourth quarter.
Akron knocked down a three out of the break but Ohio was able to push the lead back to six. A 7-0 run by Akron with 4:09 remaining gave control back to Akron, but Johnson immediately made a jumper to go up 69-68. Akron separated themselves with 2:28 left after an Alyssa Clay three. A burke three and Johnson free throws helped Ohio tie the game with 1:18 remaining. Akron pulled ahead with three free throws, and Johnson missed the game-tying shot. Ohio was outscored by Akron 23-14 in the fourth quarter.
Hooks had 17 points in the second half and Johnson had 16.
Ohio will continue Mid-American Conference play at Bowling Green on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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