Ohio (4-16, 2-7 Mid-American Conference) was victorious Wednesday evening against Eastern Michigan (11-9, 3-6 MAC), who had won two of its last three games. After Ohio's last game against Ball State, freshman Jaya McClure and sophomore Kate Dennis emphasized the importance of sticking together as a team. They also mentioned the impact the team could still have on the season and finishing MAC play strong, that was evident in the team's performance tonight.
Starting off the game, Ohio scored 10 points in the first quarter, a period of the game which has plagued the team all season long. Luckily for Ohio, Eastern Michigan struggled in the first quarter as well, having just a two-point lead after the first.
The game maintained a back and forth nature as the Bobcats and Eagles traded buckets in the second. After a pickup offensively for both teams, Eastern Michigan maintained its two-point lead going into halftime.
At the start of the third, Ohio came out stronger than Eastern Michigan. After almost four minutes of scoreless basketball from Eastern Michigan and confident shots from Ohio, the Bobcats took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Ohio kept up the strong pace as its lead grew to 15. Eastern Michigan was running out of time and to cut into the lead and implemented a full court press. It immediately paid dividends as back-to-back turnovers from Ohio gave Eastern the opportunity to cut the lead to eight. A quick timeout gave an opportunity to regroup for Ohio as head coach Bob Boldon put the ball in the hands of his leaders: Yaya Felder and Caitlyn Kroll.
That was the right move for the Bobcats as time ran off the clock and Ohio maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Felder led the Bobcats with 24 points and four assists. Aside from Felder, Ohio was led offensively by Abby Garnett, who had 10 points and six rebounds, and Jasmine Hale, who had nine points and four rebounds.
