Wednesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 72, Western Michigan 63
Ohio 85, Northern Illinois 79
Akron 70, Miami 62
Central Michigan 89, Eastern Michigan 82
Ball State 69, Buffalo 65
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Bowling Green 72, Western Michigan 63
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a game-ending 17-3 run to down Western Michigan University, 72-63, Wednesday evening (Jan. 22). The Mid-American Conference contest was held at the Stroh Center.
Juniors Angela Perry and Mari Hill combined for 36 points, but the victory was a total team effort for the Falcons (8-10, 1-5 MAC).
BGSU led for much of the night, but the Broncos (10-7, 3-3 MAC) took a five-point lead – WMU's largest of the game – on a corner three by Jordan Walker with 5:41 to go. But, freshman Olivia Trice answered with a three-pointer of her own on the next possession, beginning that game-ending run.
Hill hit a pair of free throws on BG's next trip down the floor to tie the game, and after Leighah-Amori Wool answered with a bucket to give Western the lead with 4:24 remaining, Hill's quick layup tied the score once again and began a 9-0 run for the Falcons.
With 2:47 to go, junior Madisen Parker – the nation's leader in three-point field-goal percentage – knocked down a triple to give the Orange and Brown the lead for good. Parker scored eight points and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the arc in the win.
Perry scored a game-high 20 points, while Hill had 16, just one off of her season high.
Sophomore Kadie Hempfling flirted with a triple-double, with eight points and game-high totals of 12 rebounds and nine assists.
For the Broncos, Breanna Mobley had 17 points to pace four double-figure scorers.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Falcons, who had led in the final few minutes of each of the final four games in that stretch.
Ohio 85, Northern Illinois 79
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Behind a career night from redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio), the Ohio women's basketball team (11-6, 4-2 MAC) took down NIU (5-12, 1-5 MAC), 85-79, on Wednesday evening at the NIU Convocation Center.
"Every win on the road just feels double nice," head coach Bob Boldon said. "There's nobody in this conference we look at and think, 'We're going to win that game.' I haven't looked at this conference like that in three years. There's just never a game you can think like that, because we could've easily lost tonight. I thought along with Erica (Johnson), our other kids shot it well too."
Johnson posted a career-best 32 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Johnson was 4-of-8 from the three-point line and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. Johnson made her first 10 free-throws in a row. Johnson pulled down six rebounds and added four assists while going +5 in 36 minutes on the floor. Her previous career-high was 26, which was set in Ohio's win over NIU last season.
"I think what Erica deserves credit for the most is that she scored 32 points on 16 shots," Boldon added. "That to me is what really stands out about this, that is incredibly efficient. I think that is when we're at our best, we have kids playing within themselves and we're sharing the basketball and passing the basketball. She's the kind of player that when she gets into a certain rhythm, you have to ride it out. I give her teammates a lot of credit because they ride that too. It can be really easy as an 18-22 year old and think, 'Well it's my turn to shoot too.' Her teammates have always done a good job of riding these out with her, they create space and do what they can to help her."
Four Bobcats – Johnson, redshirt junior Katie Barker (Cary, Ill.), junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) and senior guard Amani Burke (Columbus, Ohio) – all had double-figure points in the win. Barker was 5-of-8 from the three-point line for 15 points in her home state. Barker added one rebound and was +18 in 32 minutes on the floor.
Burris posted 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting and knocked down four free throws while pulling down a game-high eight boards. Burke was 5-of-13 from the field and hit one from deep for 12 points. Burke recorded five rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore forward Edecia Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had a season-high nine points and added three rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) added five points, four rebounds and four assists in a start for Ohio.
Overall, Ohio shot 28-of-60 (46.7 percent) from the field and 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the three-point line. Ohio was 19-of-30 from the free-throw line. The Bobcats held NIU to 29-of-61 shooting (47.5 percent) and 15-of-30 (50.0 percent) from deep. The Huskies were 6-of-12 from the free-throw line.
The Bobcats were outrebounded by NIU, 37-35. Ohio pulled in 13 offensive rebounds. Burris led Ohio with eight rebounds while Johnson had six and Burke pulled in five boards. Kroll had four rebounds and Beck had three.
Ohio had assists on 11 baskets, with Burke and Johnson providing four helpers each.
OU forced 25 NIU turnovers and recorded nine steals. Kroll had four steals while Burris had two.
Ohio started up 9-2 early after a Johnson triple and two threes from Barker. NIU was able to chip away and tie the game up 16-16, but an and-one layup from Beck was able to regain Ohio the lead at the end of the quarter, 21-19. NIU tied the game in the second quarter with 9:00 left. Ohio took a 28-25 lead with a Burke triple with 6:03 left in the first half, which triggered a 9-0 run by OU. The Bobcats were able to get the lead up to 13 with a Kroll layup with 1:19 left in the half. NIU hit back-to-back buckets before Barker knocked down a triple at the buzzer to go up 44-32.
Ohio was 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) from the field and 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from the three-point line. Johnson had 15 points at the break while Barker had nine points on three triples. Burke and Beck had seven each.
OU started the third quarter on a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 17 points at 49-32 with 8:50 left in third quarter, which was Ohio's largest lead of the night. NIU chipped away at the Ohio advantage and hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the quarter to be down just five at 63-58. NIU outscored Ohio 26-19 in the quarter.
The Bobcats started the fourth quarter on a 4-0 run after a Johnson layup and two free throws. After an NIU three, Ohio went on a 4-0 run to go up 73-61 with 7:13 left. The Huskies were able to get the lead down to seven at 75-68 with 4:05 remaining and then to six with 2:14 left. Burris knocked down a pair of free throws extend the advantage to 78-70 with 1:47 remaining. NIU was able to get the advantage back down to five with 40 seconds left but Ohio knocked down free throws down the stretch to win, 85-79.
Ohio will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 25 against Bowling Green. Tip-off at the Convocation Center is set for 1 p.m. and is the first game of a men's and women's doubleheader.
Akron 70, Miami 62
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio– The Akron women's basketball team got back in the win column emphatically snapping their losing streak Wednesday evening at James A. Rhodes Arena, powering past the visiting Miami RedHawks, 70-62, which was highlighted by senior Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recording her 1,000thcareer point.
Heading into the contests, Edmonds needed just eight points to reach the career milestone. Edmonds tallied her 1,000th career point knocking down two free throws just moments into the second half becoming the 18th player in program history to reach that mark. The last Zip to reach the 1K mark in program history was Megan Sefick just one year ago (2018-19), which also happened to come against the RedHawks.
Edmonds finished the night with 15 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Forwards Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.) and Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) led the Zips (9-8, 2-4 MAC) with 26 and 22 points, respectively. It was a career-best-tying scoring effort for Reinoehl, who matched the 26 she scored against Denver and Bowling Green earlier in the season. Dawson recorded her third career double-double as she also led the Zips with a career-high 13 rebounds.
Reinoehl was her usual dual-threat self, pacing her team for much of the night both in scoring and on the glass, where she tallied seven rebounds, including a team-best two on the offensive glass. Behind her efforts, Akron built a big lead throughout the first half, but Miami steadily battled back and made a game of it, closing to within two, 51-49, at the end of the third quarter.
Edmonds provided key points for the Zips early in the fourth quarter when she picked the pocket of Miami guard Peyton Scott and coasted in for an uncontested layup to pad the Akron lead to four points, a margin that quickly rose to seven when Reinoehl rained in her first three-pointer of the night to make the score 56-49, prompting a Miami timeout.
From there, Akron held on for the win, with Edmonds coming up clutch again with a three-pointer from the right wing with just under a minute left after Miami had closed to within three, 63-60.
For much of the night, it was the Akron defense that led the Zips, forcing the RedHawks into 19 turnovers and converted those miscues into 17 points. It was a defensive effort that took roots in the first quarter and grew from there as Akron held the RedHawks (8-10, 1-5 MAC) without a point for a 7:02 stretch in the first quarter, putting the squeeze on the visitors and forcing tough shot after tough shot while they steadily built a double-digit lead with a 14-0 run and ended the period with a 16-8 lead.
The Zips looked to feed the ball inside early, targeting Reinoehl with one post entry pass after another. The senior forward bullied her way to the hoop time and again, scoring nine points in the opening period and drawing four fouls.
Reinoehl continued her rampage in the paint in the second period, adding three more baskets to give her a game-high 15 first-half points to go with four rebounds and an assist, along with her usual strong interior defense.
She was joined in spearheading the Akron offense by Dawson, who was nearly as efficient as Reinoehl, scoring 11 points on just six field goal attempts and nabbing five rebounds. Combined, the two seniors needed just 14 field goal attempts to post 26 of their team's 33 points before the break, and they also snared more than half of the Zips' rebounds.
Still, it was the Akron defense that was the most consistent aspect of the opening half, limiting Miami to 29 points on 31.4-percent shooting in the first two stanzas.
The win capped a two-game homestand for the Zips and gave them a much-needed boost ahead of a road trip to Kalamazoo for a Jan. 25 contest against MAC West foe Western Michigan. The contest at Read Fieldhouse tips off at 2 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.
Central Michigan 89, Eastern Michigan 82
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Micaela Kelly scored 29 points and Gabrielle Bird came off the bench to post a double-double as the Central Michigan women's basketball team defeated Eastern Michigan, 89-82, on Wednesday in a Mid-American Conference game at the Eagles' Convocation Center.
The Chippewas won for the sixth-consecutive time and for the 12th time in their last 13 starters in improving to 13-4, 6-0 MAC. Eastern Michigan is 8-9, 3-3.
Down 66-61 entering the fourth quarter, CMU went on a 21-7 run during which they hit four of their five 3-point attempts. Bird and Kelly each hit a triple in the first minute of the quarter to spark the Chippewas.
The spurt left CMU in front, 82-73, midway through the quarter.
Eastern Michigan drew to within four points, 83-79, with just over a minute remaining. Bird and Molly Davis combined to make all six of their free throw attempts in the final 1:01 to keep the Eagles at bay as CMU won for the 12th-consecutive time over EMU.
Ball State 69, Buffalo 65
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - A strong third quarter that saw the Cardinals outscore the Bulls 27-13 to erase a three-point halftime deficit and earn a 69-65 Mid-American Conference crossover victory over Buffalo Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.
Ball State (12-6, 4-2 MAC) quickly heated up after halftime. Brown scored 12 points over a five-minute stretch that led to a 15-6 run, giving the Cardinals a 44-40 lead over Buffalo (12-5, 3-3 MAC). The Cardinals were then able to build themselves an impressive 56-45 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes of action. Junior Oshlynn Brown and sophomore Thelma Dis Agustsdottir closed out the third on a high note scoring back-to-back baskets in the final minute.
Buffalo threw some punches of its own in fourth quarter. By the 6:49 mark the Cardinals had been silent from the floor while only making one free throw. Buffalo had put together a not so pretty 6-1 run to come back to within six (57-51). Both teams were struggling to find their rhythm. A clutch 3-pointer from freshman Sydney Freeman with 5:50 on the clock gave BSU back its spark. Freshman Annie Rauch would find Agustsdottir for a 3-pointer at the 4:15 mark to put the Cardinals back up by 10 (64-54). BSU never lost sight of its third quarter lead despite Buffalo's efforts in the final stanza. The Bulls had made it a three-point ball game with under a minute to play. Both Rauch and Brown were resilient under the basket pulling down some key rebounds that ultimately sealed the win for BSU.
Buffalo started the game off strong in the opening 20 minutes of action and had built a 14-point cushion (28-14) by the 5:41 mark of the second quarter. The Cardinals struggled offensively the majority of the first half. Rauch, Freeman and Agustsdottir hit some crucial baskets in the second frame to bring the Cardinals within three (32-29) at intermission.
The Cardinals placed four in double figures tonight. Brown led all players with a game-high 24-point, 11 rebound performance, for her 26th double-double of her career and ninth of the season. Freeman chipped in 15 points while Agustsdottir and Rauch each had 13 apiece. Rauch's 13 points was a season-high, along with her nine rebounds.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference cross-division play when it hosts the Miami RedHawks, Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off in Worthen Arena.
