Feb. 17, 2005

Box Score

Feb. 16, 2005

OXFORD, Ohio--Behind a brilliant defensive effort that sparked its offense, Miami University women's basketball team halted Eastern Michigan's four-game winning streak while extending its own string of victories to three and improving its record to 12-11 and 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference with a 73-55 win.

Eastern Michigan caught Miami on its heels early, scoring the first six points of the game in less than two minutes. The RedHawks finally got on the scoreboard with an Amanda Jackson (Springfield, OH/South) steal and Cindi Merrill (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville) layup and rallied to within 6-4 by the first media timeout. Though the score would not reflect it, a fast-paced back-and-forth game ensued over the next several minutes with Miami briefly rallying to take the lead at 11-10 with a Jackson jumper at 11:36. EMU responded quickly, tallying eight unanswered points and forcing a Miami timeout with the score at 18-11.

Miami, which trailed by as many as nine, would go nearly four minutes until Kim Smith (Gary, IN/West Side) ended the drought with a shot in the paint. Jackson would follow with a jumper and Amber Miller (Vermilion, OH/Vermilion) completed a three-point play as the Red and White charged back again, closing to within 20-18 by the six-minute mark. A Sarah Hull (Greenfield, OH/McClain) 3-pointer as the shot clock was running down put the Red and White back in front at 22-21 with 4:01 left in the half. Miami's lead would peak at five points on two occasions before EMU closed to within 30-27 with a pair of free throws before the half.

Merrill paced the RedHawks in the half with a remarkable first-half double-double of 11 points and 10 of Miami's 18 rebounds. Nicki Motto (Dayton, OH/Oakwood) added five first-half steals.

The RedHawks scored the first four points of the second half, building their biggest lead and forcing an Eagle timeout with 18:26 to play. EMU would twice rally to within four, but Miami responded with treys by Merrill and Motto to rebuild its seven-point edge both times. The RedHawks would hit eight of their first 13 shots over the first eight minutes of the half and built their edge to 52-36 after eight straight points from Motto capped a 22-9 RedHawk run.

EMU would rally to 12 but Miami surged back again and pushed its edge to a game-high 18 points after a Laura Markwood (Perrysburg, OH/Perrysburg) put-back with 7:04 to play. There would be no comeback, as Miami totaled a whopping 21 steals on the night--tied for seventh in program history--and got 27 points off turnovers, while holding the league's top field goal percentage team to 34.6 percent from the floor. Eastern Michigan, which suffered its worst loss of the year, dropped just its fifth game of the season, falling to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in the MAC.

Miami was led by Merrill's 22 points and Motto's 21 points, as two RedHawks surpassed the 20-point barrier for the first time this season. Merrill also contributed 13 rebounds and five steals, while Motto finished with six steals. The RedHawks cleared 70 points scoring for the third straight game, while winning for the fourth time in the past five outings.