After Saturday's disappointing 49-81 loss to Toledo, Ohio women's basketball coach Lynn Bria said that the season's last five games would be a gut check for her team.
Last night at Kent State, her team spilled its guts for a desired victory, even with four players on the floor in overtime, but could not knock off the Golden Flashes.
Sarah Burgess hit two three-pointers to begin overtime and give the Flashes an early six-point lead. They never looked back, holding off a feisty Bobcat squad, 73-66.
The win gives Kent State (16-7, 9-3 Mid-American Conference) a first-round bye in this year's conference tournament, while it is the fifth consecutive loss for Ohio (7-16, 4-8 MAC). Despite the streak, Bria was impressed with the way her team played.
Our defense was outstanding
and we executed a great gameplan Bria said. We played tough and we played well together.
The first half began with a lot of whistles, as the Flashes racked up five fouls within the first five minutes of the game, allowing Ohio to score eight of its first ten points from the free throw line. Quintana Ward's second free throw, with just over 16 minutes left, gave Ohio its biggest lead of the half at 10-4.
Kent State fought back and took the lead at 18-17 on a Lindsay Shearer three-pointer. The teams then exchanged baskets the rest of the way in the first half, with Kent State taking a 31-27 lead into halftime on a Kacie Vavrek three-pointer, just before the buzzer.
The second half saw more of the same exchange of baskets, as neither team held more than a three-point lead during the period. Ohio held Kent State to one point over the final four and a half minutes to set up overtime tied at 54. However, Lauren Revesz and Rachel Frederick fouled out late in the half, severely hurting the Bobcats' chances once overtime came.
Burgess hit the two shots from behind the arc to boost the Flashes early, and when Domenica Silva and Ciara Iglehart fouled out, leaving the Bobcats with only four players on the floor, the game was pretty much sealed in Kent State's favor.
Silva posted a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and she saw some positive things from the team's effort.
I think we played well tonight
Silva said. Our defense did a good job
and they had a lot of trouble scoring on us.
Rachel Frederick scored 15 points in the loss, but credited her team for its performance against a tough Kent State squad.
It definitely felt good to come in and give them a game
Frederick said. Giving Kent State a tough time in their place meant a lot to us.
Shearer scored 25 to lead the Golden Flashes.
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