Wednesday's Scoreboard
Central Michigan 66, Northern Illinois 60
Miami 92, Toledo 83
Kent State 61, Bowling Green 47
Ohio 75, Eastern Michigan 65
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Central Michigan 66, Northern Illinois 60
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Sometimes, it's about the grit and grind rather than the glamour.
Still, a win is a win and the Central Michigan women's basketball team remains unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play.
The Chippewas overcame a sub-par shooting night and a wide discrepancy in rebounds on Wednesday in holding off Northern Illinois, 66-60, at McGuirk Arena.
"It definitely wasn't our best game of the year," CMU coach Heather Oesterle said. "But it's a game that we found a way to win. I'm proud of the way we found a way to win, but I do know there's a lot to work on."
The Chippewas won for the 16th time in their last 17 starts, improving to 17-4, 10-0 MAC. They maintain a three-game lead over Ohio in the overall MAC standings and are 3 ½ ahead of Ball State in the West Division.
Miami 92, Toledo 83
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team (11-11, 4-6 MAC) exploded for a season-high 92 points in a 92-83 win over Toledo on Wednesday night.
Peyton Scott had a career-high 28 points to lead a trio of RedHawks with 20-point games. Lauren Dickerson and Savannah Kluesner also reached the 20-point plateau with 23 and 21 points, respectively.
After Toledo scored an early basket, Miami put together eight-straight points to lead 8-2 at the media timeout with 6:16 to play in the opening quarter. The RedHawks defense held the Rockets without a point for 4:27 during the 8-0 run. Miami would not relinquish this lead.
Miami scored the next 11 points to take a 19-4 lead with less than three minutes remaining in the period. Scott accounted for six of these points while Abbey Hoff had the lone Miami three-pointer.
Kent State 61, Bowling Green 47
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – Kent State's defense swarmed visiting Bowling Green in a 61-47 victory on Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center. The victory puts the Golden Flashes (12-8) at 5-4 halfway through the Mid-American Conference schedule and alone in second place in the East Division standings.
The Falcons, which entered as the second highest-scoring team in the conference, were held to the lowest scoring performance of the season and 27 points beneath their average. Kent State rejected a season-best nine shots while limiting Bowling Green to 31.8-percent shooting from the floor. Sophomore Lindsey Thall, who scored a game-high 19 points, anchored the defense with four swats, while freshman Katie Shumate matched her career-high with three. Freshman Nila Blackford and junior Monique Smith added one block apiece.
"This was a good win against a tough BG team," head coach Todd Starkey said. "We really showed a lot of guts defensively. Our defensive intensity was phenomenal in the third quarter, and I thought that carried over to the rest of what we did. When we start to knock down good looks while playing defense like that, we are going to be as tough of an out as anybody in the conference."
Sophomore Asiah Dingle had one of her most efficient games in a Kent State uniform, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes of action. Nila Blackford grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds. Lindsey Thall had seven boards, while Monique Smith was right behind with six to match her career-high.
Sophomore Mariah Modkins led the Flashes with four assists and was up to the challenge of shutting down Falcons guard Madisen Parker, one the nation's top three-point threats. Parker has connected on 3.5 three-pointers per game this season but was held scoreless while being limited to one attempt from beyond the arc in a team-high 32 minutes of action.
The Flashes will play four of the next five games on the road, beginning Saturday at East Division leader Ohio. Tip from the Convocation Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Ohio 75, Eastern Michigan 65
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Ohio women's basketball team (14-7, 7-3 MAC) earned a road win at Eastern Michigan (10-11, 5-5 MAC), 75-65, on Wednesday evening at the EMU Convocation Center.
"It's a road win in the conference and every single one is important," head coach Bob Boldon said. "It feels twice as important on the road. We didn't have any consecutive possessions with turnovers and I was very pleased with our care of the basketball tonight."
Redshirt sophomore guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) led the way with her fifth double-double of the season after posting 20 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson had 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and was 2-of-5 from behind the three-point line. Johnson added two assists and one steal in 35 minutes on the floor.
Junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) had 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting while hitting three free throws. Burris added six rebounds, including two offensive boards.
"I thought Gabby (Burris) did a tremendous job of taking good shots," Boldon said. "She was 8-of-9 from two, that's a great night. She didn't turn the ball over tonight either."
Junior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio) had 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and knocked down one three. Hooks had six boards, four assists and three steals.
Senior guard Amani Burke (Columbus, Ohio) was the fourth Bobcat in double figures with 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting with three made threes. Burke added five rebounds and two assists.
Redshirt junior Katie Barker (Cary, Ill.) had seven points and knocked down two threes.
Overall, Ohio was 26-of-66 (39.4 percent) from the field and 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) from the three-point line. OU held EMU to 24-of-63 (38.1 percent) shooting and 7-of-25 (28.0 percent) from deep. Ohio was 15-of-19 from the free-throw line while EMU was 10-of-19 from the charity stripe.
EMU outrebounded Ohio 46-39. Johnson led the way with 10 rebounds while Burris and Hooks each had six. Burke pulled down five rebounds while Barker had four. Redshirt sophomore Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) and freshman guard Peyton Guice (Westerville, Ohio) each had one rebound apiece.
Ohio assisted on 12 baskets. Hooks had four helpers while Barker, Johnson and Burke each had two.
Ohio forced 17 turnovers and only turned the ball over 10 times. Ohio had seven steals led by Hooks with three while Burke had two and Johnson and sophomore forward Edecia Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) each had one. Ohio scored 20 points off of turnovers while EMU only had two.
The Bobcats outscored EMU 22-15 in the first quarter. Ohio started the game up 14-6 but EMU was able to cut the Ohio lead to 14-12 with 2:50 left. The Bobcats allowed just one more bucket in the quarter and hit a buzzer-beating three from Barker to take a 22-15 advantage into the first break.
Ohio was led by Burris who had eight points in the quarter while Ohio was 9-of-18 from the field. Johnson posted six points while Barker had four. Johnson added a team-high five rebounds in the first frame.
OU pushed its lead to 31-18 with a Burke made three early in the second frame. Ohio was able to push the lead to 38-28 with 3:12 left in the quarter and neither team scored for the final 3:12 of the period. The Bobcats outscored EMU 16-13 in the second quarter.
Ohio was 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from the field in the second quarter with Johnson leading the way with eight points.
Burris pushed the Ohio lead to 12 with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter. Ohio was able to hold a 12 point lead until 6:32 remaining when Burke and Hooks hit back-to-back threes to go up 53-35.
Two Hooks free throws got the lead to 20 with 3:50 remaining in the frame but a 14-7 run from EMU to end the quarter made it 62-49 at the end of the third. Ohio outscored EMU 24-21 in the frame.
The Bobcats were 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from the field in the third quarter and were led by Hooks with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Johnson and Burke each had five.
EMU outscored Ohio 16-13 in the final frame. Ohio took a late 75-61 lead on a Barker three with 2:52 left but EMU ended the game on a 4-0 run for the final score, 75-65.
OU was 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) in the final frame while Burris led the way with four points.
The Bobcats are back in action on the Convocation Center on Saturday, Feb. 8. Tip-off against Kent State is set for 1 p.m.
