The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team struggled offensively and lost to the Ohio University Bobcats by a score of 71-64 in an early Mid-American Conference meeting on Wednesday night in Ypsilanti, MI.
The Eagles (10-4; 2-2 MAC) guard Phillis Webb got the offense going early in the game scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds as Eastern Michigan led 19-14 to end the first.
Both teams started slow offensively as each struggled shooting the ball. Neither team scored a basket within the first two minutes of the second quarter.
Scoring gaps hit the Eagles and the Bobcats (12-3; 4-0 MAC), seeing both teams going through scoring droughts throughout the second quarter.
Rachel Kehoe gave the Eagles a spark to close out the half, finishing with six points and six rebounds as EMU led 31-29 going into the break.
The Eagles got off to a quick start, picking up its offense – beginning the second half on a 7-2 run. The Eagles went up as many as eight points, but the Bobcats chipped away the deficit. The away team still trailed after three quarters, 48-47.
The Bobcats scored five quick points to take a 52-48 lead at the start of the third quarter. But the Eagles went on 8-0 run of its own to take the lead back up by four.
Under the final four minutes of the game, the Eagles gave up its lead and trailed by as many as nine, trailing 65-56. But Ohio then cut the deficit to five.
Eastern fought in the final minute, but came up short. Dropping it's second conference game, as the Eagles continue to struggle with in-conference opponents.
Eastern could not get it going offensively, shooting 29 percent (23-80) from the floor and 33 percent (6-18) from beyond the arc.
“You can’t shoot 23 out of 80 and expect to win a basketball game,” said head coach Tori Verdi after the game.
Coach Verdi knew his team did a poor job executing against the Bobcats offensively.
“We had 10 shots blocked and gave up 10 steals and have 18 turnovers – it adds up to a bad basketball game,” said Verdi. “I thought we did a good job in the half-court, but when we don’t score we let it affect us defensively
“Every time we went to drive they switched and stayed in front of us and couldn’t get to the basket all that much – which frustrated our guards offensively."
The Eagles got the job done on the glass, pulling down 60 rebounds while only allowing 38 for the Bobcats. Phillis Webb led the way for the Eagles on the boards with 15 rebounds and had a team-high 17 points.
Cha Sweeney's fourth consecutive 20-point game was cut short as the junior was held to a season low nine points in the ball game. Sera Ozelci finished with nine points and Chanise Baldwin provided 10 points off the bench.
Quiera Lampkins led the way for the Bobcats with 20 points and her teammate Kiyanna Black finished with 17 points.
Looking Forward:
The Eagles look to bounce back after its loss as they host the Golden Flashes of Kent State University on Jan. 16 at the Convocation Center.
The Golden Flashes have not won a conference game this season.
