The Bobcats maintain their one-game lead in the MAC and extend their East lead to three.
The second rendition of the “Battle for the MAC East” looked more like a playground scuffle between a schoolyard bully and a hapless kid than a clash between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Mid-American Conference East Division.
But that’s what it was, at least on paper, as Ohio pummeled Akron 71-55 Saturday to maintain its one-game lead in the MAC, while extending the gap in the division to three.
The win comes one game after Ohio was upset at home by Eastern Michigan, which left coach Bob Boldon saying he thought his team would have no chance at Akron.
“I mean our kids just played hard,” Boldon said. “That is a heck of a bounce back after a tough loss at home and then come here … I thought we showed a lot of toughness and resiliency.”
To junior guard •Kiyanna Black, she looked at the loss, which snapped the team’s 10-game winning streak, as a needed wake up call as the season crawls to a close.
Black responded Saturday with her best performance this season, scoring a season-high 31 points in 32 minutes on the floor. She also made all seven of her free throw attempts.
“I just felt like the last three games I haven’t been aggressive enough,” Black said. “I was just trying to be aggressive and attack and get easy buckets.”
Even with her offensive productivity this year, she said she wasn’t focused on surpassing her career-high, 35 points.
“I don’t get too wrapped up in numbers,” she continued. “I just let it come. I had 31 with nine minutes to go, and I probably could’ve forced a few things and maybe get it but that’s not important.”
That selflessness has been the difference between an Ohio team that was picked preseason to finish fourth in the division and an Ohio team that has sweep the MAC East and West favorites convincingly.
Even with a rotation of just 10 active players, after freshman forward Kelly Karlis and sophomore forward Destini Cooper were redshirted because of injuries, the Bobcats have kept a fresh lineup that battles defensively and shuts down high-octane offenses.
In the first half alone, the team had already forced 15 Akron turnovers, their average per contest. It was also the fewest point total the Zips have scored this season, despite playing at home.
“We got exactly what we deserved,” Boldon said. “We didn’t play well enough and hard enough and we lost, and tonight, I think we got what we deserved. I think we did enough to win even though we didn’t shoot it spectacular.”
With four games remaining, the Bobcats play the same four opponents as Akron. Three of those four teams have losing records in conference (Bowling Green, Kent State and Miami), so two wins clinches the division outright.
If Ohio wins out, it’ll secure the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament and will receive byes until the semifinals.
“It was a big win because we knew losing to EMU left little room for mistakes,” Black said. “We just wanted to play hard, be aggressive and not have any slip ups.”
Perhaps it was the wake up call the Bobcats needed after all.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
