Ohio relinquished an early lead to suffer defeat at the hands of Duquesne by a score of 62-55 Sunday.
The Dukes (4-1) went on a 13-0 run deep in the second half behind the efforts of Duquesne sophomore guard Belma Nurkic, who hit a pair of three-pointers to cut the Bobcats’ lead down to three points with 8:41 remaining.
The Bobcats, which were held to just two field goals in the game’s last 10 minutes, lost the lead for the last time with 3:14 left in the game after Nurkic scored another three points to put the Dukes ahead 52-50.
“You can’t give good shooters like Nurkic a good look too many times, because she’s going to burn you,” Ohio assistant coach Jeffrey Marshall said.
The Dukes’ run, which started inside the half’s 10-minute mark, lasted until Ohio (1-3) junior guard Shavon Robinson converted a foul shot with 1:40 remaining in the game.
Duquesne senior forward Jocelyn Floyd converted a critical steal into a layup with 50 seconds remaining to put the Dukes ahead 58-53.
Still, the story was all about Nurkic, who took over for Duquesne in the second half, finishing the game with 19 points.
The Bobcats’ scoring drought was eerily similar to its lack of execution against University of Nevada, Las Vegas last weekend.
“We have to get better at not having those sections when we sort of go idle,” Marshall said. “We can’t have that lack of scoring for seven to eight minutes.”
Robinson opened the game by scoring its first four points on a free throw and a three-pointer. She finished the day with a team-high 18 points. Ohio sophomore guard Mariah Byard followed up her effort by draining a three of her own to put the Bobcats in the driver’s seat early.
Duquesne began the game by shooting 1-for-10 from the field.
The Bobcats were hot from beyond the arc to begin the game, shooting four-for-four from long distance in the game’s first five minutes. Byard was responsible for two of the long-range conversions.
The Bobcats’ lead was diminished with time winding down in the first half, though, as Floyd cut Ohio’s lead to three with a layup in transition with seven minutes remaining in the half.
Ohio and Duquesne battled for the lead for the remainder of the first half, and the visitors took a 32-31 lead into the break.
“I thought for 35 minutes we played probably our best basketball,” Ohio coach Semeka Randall said. “We competed, (but) it’s just down the stretch we didn’t make the plays when they made big-time plays.”
Ohio had a seven-point lead with 11 minutes remaining in the game, but lost it because of its inability to convert on the offensive end of the floor.
At the end of the day, the Bobcats weren’t poised enough to get the win.
“We competed tonight,” Marshall said. “Unfortunately they knocked down some big shots and we didn’t towards the end.”
jm296009@ohiou.edu
