While many people might not take the musical artist Tenacious D seriously, Miami learned how seriously it should have taken Ohio’s tenacious ‘D.’
The Bobcats allowed a pesky RedHawks squad to hang around for the first 20 minutes but quickly pulled away from their cross-state rivals after halftime, going on to win 76-47.
“I think our tenacity, we just picked it up. It just all came together, just the whole energy,” sophomore forward Alesia Howard said. “The defense is what started it, and it just carried us throughout the game.”
The Bobcats (8-21, 4-12 Mid-American Conference) had a slight edge in the first half with crisp passes and quick shots as their modus operandi. Miami tried to beat Ohio’s zone defense by firing 3-pointers, but the first five clanked off the rim. The RedHawks (11-18, 3-13 MAC) went only 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the half and finished the game 2-of-22.
“You’re challenging a team to beat you from the outside, and it worked out for us,” coach Semeka Randall said.
Ohio took a fragile one-point lead into the locker room. But after halftime, the Bobcats decimated any hopes the RedHawks had of sticking around.
They added some much-needed insurance in the opening minutes of the second half by combining staunch defense and opportunistic scoring.
Ohio started the half with an 18-2 run in the first seven minutes, during which Miami had no field goals. By the time Rachael Hencke scored the RedHawks’ first bucket of the period, the Bobcats were already in the bonus in fouls.
“I know it’s always special to beat Miami, but I just think now we have the monkey off our back in terms of we finally got a win,” Randall said. “We’re going into conference on an up versus being on a down.”
Ohio’s 76 points marked a season high, as did its 48 in second-half. Freshman Shavon Robinson set a new career high with 22 points.
With three blocks, senior forward Kamille Buckner moved into third place all-time on the MAC blocked shots list. She now has 191 blocks, one better than Bowling Green alumna Liz Honegger.
Coupled with Ball State’s loss, Ohio’s win lifted the team to 10th place in the MAC. The Bobcats will visit Northern Illinois in the first round of the conference tournament this weekend. The Huskies beat the Bobcats 56-48 Jan. 29.
The Bobcats will play Sunday at 8 p.m. All first-round games had been slated for Saturday, but with the MAC wrestling tournament in Dekalb, Ill., Ohio’s contest was re-scheduled for Sunday.
The same situation happened last year when the Bobcats visited Central Michigan.
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