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KENT, OH.– The Ohio Women's Basketball Team (6-20, 4-11 MAC) traveled to Kent State this Wednesday to face off against the Flashes (18-8, 10-5 MAC) at the Memorial Athletic Convocation Center. Ultimately, the Bobcats fell to Kent State after a hard fought road battle 56-82. Ohio was led in scoring once more by sophomore Yaya Felder (Hartford, Conn) with 24 points, followed by freshman Jaya McClure (Louisville, Ky.) securing 12. Felder also led the Bobcats in rebounds, totaling 6; 3 offensive and 3 defensive.
As a team, Ohio went 20-of-48 (41.7%) from the field, 4-of-19 (21.1%) from the three, 12-of-12 (100%) from the line, grabbing 31 rebounds, 7 steals, and collecting 8 assists.
To start the instate matchup, the Bobcats took the lead within the first two minutes of play off a driving layup from freshman Jaya McClure (Louisville, Ky.), followed by a three point jumper from Yaya Felder to get Ohio up 5-2. The Flashes retaliated forcing Ohio turnovers, before Head Coach Bob Boldon called a timeout with 4 minutes left in the first. Coming out of the timeout, Kate Dennis hit a three pointer off an assist from Yaya Felder and Casiddy Lafler had back to back defensive rebounds. Other rebounds in the quarter came from; Kate Dennis, Jasmine Hale, Cassidy Lafler, Kailah Johnson, and Yaya Felder.
The score stood at 15-17 going into the second ten minutes of play. The Flashes initiated the scoring in the second quarter with a jumper to get the lead at 19-15, before Abby Garnett made a three point jumper to get the Bobcats within one. Kent State picked up their defensive pressure, putting Ohio on a scoring freeze for the next 4 minutes of play. Jasmine Hale stepped up, putting two layups on the board for Ohio, followed by defensive rebounds to finish out the half. Overall, Ohio was led in scoring by Abby Garnett with 5, along with Jasmine Hale and Jaya McClure with 4 apiece in the second. The Bobcats were only down by 5 heading into the locker room at half, with the score at 30-35.
Coming out for the third quarter Ohio was led by Jaya McClure with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Other points for the Bobcats came from Abby Garnett, Yaya Felder, and Cassidy Lafler. Kent State kept the Bobcats to only 10 points in the quarter, and both teams matched at 10 rebounds apiece. Ohio's Jaya McClure closed out the period with a fast break driving layup to give the Bobcats a final wave of energy going into the fourth and final quarter.
Yaya Felder initiated the scoring for Ohio in the final 10 minutes of play with a driving layup off a fast break from a turnover in the paint. Abby Garnett and Jasmine Hale both grabbed defensive rebounds to give Ohio more scoring opportunities with 5 minutes left to play. Cassidy Lafler also held strong in the fourth for Ohio with a steal, 2 made layups, and defensive rebounds. The Bobcats started to close the gap in scoring against Kent but fell behind at the end of the 40 minutes, 56-82.
Up Next:
After closing out the Kent State matchup on Wednesday, Ohio will stay on the road and travel to Western Michigan for a Saturday (2/25) contest against the Broncos. Tipoff is set for 2 pm in Kalamazoo and can be streamed on ESPN3.
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