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CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday (Nov. 16) on the road against Cincinnati. The Bobcats defeated the Bearcats 73-62 behind 27 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals by Erica Johnson. Cece Hooks added 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals while playing all 40 minutes. Gabby Burris also scored double-digit points, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. 
 
"I was happy with our defense for a majority of the game and thinking about where we were defensively in the Notre Dame game to where we are today, we're definitely better defensive team," said head coach Bob Boldon after the game. "I thought we came with a lot of energy. And Cincinnati just better than us for the first four or five minutes and I thought we did a very nice job of responding to that. And then maintaining that intensity throughout the rest of the game."

Johnson opened the scoring on Tuesday morning, draining a three pointer just over 90 seconds into the contest. The two teams started slow offensively, with the score knotted at 5-5 at the 7:25 mark in the first quarter. Cincinnati's offense woke up first, as the Bearcats took advantage of a 9-0 run to take an early 14-5 lead heading into the first media timeout. Ohio responded out of the break however, going on a 17-2 run to finish out the frame, giving Ohio a 22-16 lead after the first ten minutes of play. 

The second quarter started with more of the same from Ohio, as the Bobcats scored the first seven points on two three pointers by Johnson and a layup by Hooks to extend their lead to 30-16, making it a 25-2 run spanning the first and second quarters. Cincinnati was able to cut the Bobcats' lead to as low as 10 in the second quarter, but Ohio's offense responded with a quick 7-0 run to push their advantage back up to 43-26 with just over a minute left in the half. 
 
The two teams headed into the locker room with Ohio in possession of a 45-29 lead, the Bobcats first halftime lead of the season. As a team, Ohio shot 41.2% from the field (14 for 34), 33.3% from beyond the arc (6 for 18), and 84.6% from the charity stripe (11 for 13).

The Bobcats stayed hot to start the third quarter, going on an 11-0 run after conceding the first three points of the half to give Ohio a 56-32 lead with 5:42 remaining. The Bearcats closed the quarter on a 11-3 burst, cutting the Bobcats lead to 16 at 59-43 heading into the final quarter of play. Six different Ohio players scored in the third quarter, helping the Bobcats hold on to the lead they established in the first half. 
 
The Bearcats cut Ohio's lead to 10, 59-49, after an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of the 4th quarter. The Bobcats quickly responded however, with a 9-3 burst that gave Ohio a 68-52 lead with 5 minutes left in the game. Cincinnati got Ohio's lead to within single-digits for the first time since the start of the second quarter courtesy of free throws with 28.1 seconds remaining, but the Bobcats made late-game free throws of their own to secure the victory. 
 
"We were a little sloppy last two and a half to three minutes and that was frustrating," noted Boldon. "But we had put ourselves in a situation that if we were sloppy, we still won the basketball game instead of giving it away. I think the team knows that this was good but they're still things to improve on, which is a good spot to be in as a coach. To know that we can go into practice on Thursday and try to correct stuff and that the players are open to correcting anything."
 
Ohio finished the game shooting 37.7% from the field (23 for 61), and 32.1% from beyond the arc (9 for 28). As a team, the Bobcats shot 78.3% from the free throw line (18 for 23), grabbed 43 rebounds, dished out 15 assists, and forced 19 turnovers. 
 
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Ohio will play their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 20, as they welcome Mercyhurst into the Convocation Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m., being broadcast on either ESPN3 or ESPN+. 

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