Despite a late second-half charge, Ohio fell to Akron for its tenth straight loss on Saturday.
The Bobcats (8-17, 3-11 Mid-American Conference) went on a 17-5 run at the end of the game to tighten the game to 81-76 with 44 seconds remaining, but the Zips used the free throw line to seal an 88-76 victory.
Akron (17-8, 11-3 MAC) rode the waves from shooting guard senior Hanna Luburgh, whoc scored a game-high 32 points and began the game by scoring the Zips' first 10 points. They rode her momentum to a 41-30 lead at halftime.
Ohio played its best game offensively of the 10-game skid running their offense fluidly. The Bobcats attempted 76 shots and their fluid offense led to 44 points in the paint, as the guards penetrated the lane with ease.
“I thought we executed things pretty well throughout the night,” coach Bob Boldon said. “It was just a matter of if we made the shot or missed the shot. I thought across the board did a good job attacking and trying to get to the rim. Sometimes we got there and didn’t get anything out of it.”
Sophomore guard Kiyanna Black led the way with 26 points on 9 of 21 shooting. She kept the team close at the beginning of the second half as she drained a pair of threes to cut the deficit to four with 17:26 remaining. She also had a career high in rebounds (nine) and steals (five).
Sophomore forward Lexie Baldwin continued her hot streak of play as she had 17 points to go along with her nine rebounds. Over the past few games she has played a lot better and so has the team as a collective whole.
“We’re just doing a lot of things different,” Baldwin said. “We’re making adjustments during the game that have helped us and we’re just trying now instead of just doing our own little things.”
That team play showed up on the floor today as the communication improved from some of the past games leading to a better run motion offense.
Defense was still an issue for Ohio as it allowed more than 40 points in each hal, but Akron capitalized in the mid-range area as the Bobcats protected the paint well, by allowing just 28 points.
Foul trouble was once again something that hampered Ohio, though, as it committed 25 fouls and allowed Akron to get to the free throw line 39 times. The Zips capitalized on their chances and where tallied 29 points from the line.
“For us there are plenty of things we need to get better at,” Boldon said. “We’ll watch this tape and there should be four or five things that stick out that cost us to give up 47 points in the second half and caused us to miss shots.”
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