It was enough to make the Central Michigan women's basketball coach cry. Shocked and teary-eyed, Eileen Kleinfelter declined to attend a post-game press conference and went home with her Chippewas, who had just lost the game on a late shot by Ohio's Kristian Kirkpatrick.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so painful if Central Michigan hadn't led for the game's majority. The shot, which was made with 1.9 seconds left, gave the Bobcats a 71-70 win and their first lead since 33 seconds into the game when the score was 2-0.
Central Michigan (7-8 overall, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) controlled the game for the first half and most of the second, breaking down Ohio's defense and piercing through its lagging full-court press. Ohio's poor shooting, 12 turnovers and zero first-half free throws contributed to a 42-27 halftime deficit, which was the largest of the day.
We didn't play hard
coach Lynn Bria said. I can handle mistakes but I can't handle (poor) effort.
One can imagine what took place in the locker room to fire up the struggling Bobcats (7-8, 3-1 MAC), because a transformation was apparent on the court.
They played harder and shot better, setting the nets ablaze in the second half with a 54.5 percent field goal percentage. They chipped away at the Chippewa lead with precision.
Four 3-pointers in the second half, three of them by Lindsay Wight and one by Simone Redd that cut the lead to four, kept the game close. With eight minutes left, Andrea Johnson made a layup that brought Ohio within one and The Convo's crowd to its feet.
Despite the Bobcats' unrelenting attack, however, it was difficult not to doubt their comeback when they relinquished control and allowed a 9-0 run by the Chippewas that increased the lead to 10 with 5:45 to play.
But a pesky Ohio squad refused to be swatted, cutting the lead to two with two minutes left. One minute later, Ohio down four, Johnson once again gave the crowd something to stand up for when she made a layup and a free throw to make it a one-point game. My jump shot was off today so I went to the basket
Johnson said.
On the subsequent play, she blocked a shot, and Ohio regained possession. A timeout allowed the Bobcats to set up the play that led to Kirkpatrick's game-winning layup.
We ran the play that Coach called for us
Kirkpatrick said. I saw the lane and took the ball to the basket.
With the win, the Bobcats are now first in the MAC East Division over 2-1 Miami. Tonight they will travel to play Marshall, against whom they have won seven of their last 10. Tip-off time is at 7 p.m. at Marshall's Cam Henderson Center.
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Patrick Bourland
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Andrea Johnson drives to the basket against Central Michigan Saturday. The Bobcats defeated the Chippewas by one point.
