Women's Basketball

Second Half Run Pushes Ohio Past Miami

March 2, 2011

Final Stats

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ATHENS, Ohio - An 18-2 run to begin the second half turned around what had been a tight game as Ohio defeated Miami in the regular season finale for both teams, 76-47. Miami falls to 11-18 overall and finishes 3-13 in the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats improve to 8-21 overall and 4-12 in the MAC.

The RedHawks will be the 12th-seed in the MAC Tournament. They will open up first round play at fifth seed Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the MAC quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland to take on fourth seed Kent State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Both teams struggled to hit shots early on as Ohio took a 5-2 lead with 16:42 left in the first half. Layups from Erica Almady and Kirsten Olowinski, along with a three-pointer from Rachael Hencke put Miami in front, 9-5. Ohio answered with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 12-9 lead, but a layup from Pitts would help the RedHawks spark a 6-0 run to take the lead right back. Hencke would hit three more buckets to provide more Miami offense as the teams would trade the lead back-and-forth five more times. Two free throws by the Bobcats with 10 seconds remaining would send Ohio into the break in front, 28-27.

Miami was unable to hit a field goal for the first seven minutes of the second half. The RedHawks kept Ohio from hitting a field goal for the first three minutes of the period, but a three-pointer from Ashley Fowler would get the Bobcats' offense going. The 18-2 run would build the advantage to 46-29 before Hencke hit a layup to stop the bleeding. A three-pointer by Courtney Osborn and back-to-back layups from Olowinski and Lillian Pitts were part of a 9-0 run that would pull the RedHawks to within eight at 46-38 with 10:50 remaining. From there, Miami's shot went cold again and a 15-3 run by Ohio would put the game out of reach.

In addition to Hencke's 19 points, Olowinski and Almady each finished with eight. Olowinski had a team-high 12 rebounds, while Almady had 11. The RedHawks shot only 25.4 percent (17-for-67) for the game, including 9.1 percent (2-for-22) from three-point range. The Bobcats shot 38.6 percent (22-for-57) for the game and were led by Shavon Robinson with 22 points.

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