Miami University
Cincinnati
RedHawks Down Local Rival Cincinnati, 65-56
1/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2011
CINCINNATI - The Miami women's basketball team closed the non-conference portion of the schedule on winning note, defeating local rival Cincinnati, 65-56, Sunday afternoon. Maggie Boyer led the RedHawks with 18 points. Miami improves to 8-5 on the season, while the Bearcats fall to 7-6.
Winning the battle of the boards was the key to the victory for the RedHawks, as they outrebounded Cincinnati, 43-29. Kirsten Olowinski led Miami with 16 caroms.
It was a battle of jump shots early on as two buckets from Olowinski, along with shots from Rachael Hencke and Kristin Judson gave Miami a 9-8 advantage. Courtney Osborn expanded the lead to four when she rattled home a three-point basket from the top of the arc. In front 14-12, five points from Boyer were part of a 7-0 run that gave the RedHawks their largest lead of the first half at 21-12 with 8:49 remaining.
Cincinnati answered with an 8-0 run of their own to pull within one at 21-20. Miami would not allow the Bearcats to take the lead as three-pointers from Hencke and Haley Robertson put the RedHawks up 27-20 at the 5:26 mark. The teams would play even from there, and Miami took a 32-27 lead into the break.
Boyer led a balanced Miami attack with eight points during the first period. Olowinski recorded 10 rebounds during the frame.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to one at 34-33 early in the second half. Two free throws by Boyer and another three-pointer from Osborn gave the RedHawks a 39-33 lead with 16:23 remaining. Osborn and Boyer continued to hit shots as Miami expanded the advantage to nine at 46-37.
The lead remained around seven points until Cincinnati went on a run that pulled them to within three at 57-54 at the 4:08 mark. Boyer answered with a three-pointer to go in front, 60-54. The Bearcats would hit another layup, but Miami hit all but one of its free throws down the stretch except for one, and on that miss Lillian Pitts came up with a huge offensive rebound to seal the victory.
In addition to Boyer's 18 points, Osborn had 12 and Hencke had 10. Olowinski recorded her fourth double-double of the season, contributing 11 points to go with her 16 rebounds. Miami shot 40.8 percent for the game (20-for-49), while holding Cincinnati to 31.7 percent shooting (19-for-60).
The RedHawks begin MAC play on Wednesday when they travel to Kent State for a 7 p.m.
