In a game between two teams who haven’t experienced a Mid-American Conference win this season, one will shed the losing label and walk out of The Convo with a victory Wednesday.
Northern Illinois (5-16, 0-8 MAC) will pay a visit to Athens in hopes of attaining its first in-conference win, while Ohio will host them with the same aspirations.
The Bobcats (5-15, 0-8 MAC) haven’t won since Jan. 5 at Xavier. Sunday’s game against Kent State almost resulted in a win for the Bobcats, but Ohio blew a four-point lead with 44 seconds left in the game and lost 57-55.
The Huskies are in the same boat as the Bobcats, and the waters have been rough. They haven’t won since Dec. 29 against Norfolk State, though their margin of defeat has been substantially less than Ohio’s.
The Huskies are led by senior forward Satavia Taylor, who is averaging 16.5 points per MAC game. The Bobcats held her scoreless last year, but achieving that feat again is unlikely.
“(Holding Taylor scoreless) was a good defensive effort on our part, and a kid struggling to score the basketball. It would be awesome for us to be able to mimic that same thing a year later,” Ohio coach Semeka Randall said. “But, knowing (NIU), they’re probably licking their chops when they see Ohio on the schedule.”
Junior guard Shavon Robinson and sophomore guard Mariah Byard are both back from injuries, but aren’t 100 percent healthy yet.
“They’re slowly trying to get back into the form of things, but it’s good to have them out there,” Randall said. “Hopefully their condition will get to where they’re comfortable out there and they’ll start to show what they’re capable of doing.”
Senior forward Tina Fisher has been leading the team during the losing streak and she appreciates the minutes that Robinson and Byard can now contribute.
“It’s a stress reliever. We know that we’re not going to have to be playing six people at 30-plus minutes every game,” said Fisher.
For Ohio to win, they’ll need to play well for the entire game and avoid getting discouraged.
“At the end, we have to finish. Regardless of someone making a run on us or not, we still have to be able to finish plays out,” Randall said.
jm296009@ohiou.edu
