After missing two free throws late in tonight's game with Akron, reserve guard Lauren Hmiel angrily tossed her headband into the seats at James A. Rhodes Arena.
It was the only thing that went wrong for Ohio in the second half.
Hmiel led a strong defensive stand that held the Zips without a field goal for a stretch of over nine minutes, helping the Bobcats (9-8, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) capture their first MAC road win, 66-55.
Coach Sylvia Crawley turned to Hmiel at halftime and asked her to shut down Niki McCoy, who had 8 points at the break for Akron (7-10, 0-5 MAC). McCoy was shut down in the second half, not scoring again until a meaningless pair of free throws late in the game. She finished with 12 points.
We really focused on (McCoy) in the second half
Hmiel said. I stepped up and kept her out of the paint so she would have to shoot.
Although Hmiel only scored two points, Crawley lauded her performance.
Lauren was the difference in the game tonight in my opinion Crawley said. We were able to switch up defenses with her in the game and keep Akron guessing.
The constant switching of defenses befuddled the Zips, who had tied the game at 38-38 on a Riana Miller layup. They did not score another field goal until Sarah Tokodi's layup with 1:24 left and the Bobcats holding a 55-46 advantage.
Offensively, the Bobcats were paced by Lauren Kohn's game-high 21 points. Kohn's strong performance followed a game in which she wass held to just nine points G
Kohn said about her second 21-point outing in three games.
Domenica Silva also contributed to the Bobcats' cause with 15 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots. She also hit five of six free throws to help extend a nine-point Ohio lead to 12 late in the contest.
Domenica was a monster on the court tonight
Crawley said. She was just everywhere G
we're hard to stop.
The game started with Akron jumping out to a 13-4 lead behind a quick six points from McCoy. Ohio contributed to Akron's hot start, turning the ball over six times in the first six minutes.
We got off to a really slow start
Crawley said. I jumped on them a little bit and told them to take care of the ball and get stops.
Ohio responded by going on a 12-0 run to take the lead, which they would hold throughout most of the first half on its way to a 28-24 lead at halftime. Quintana Ward led all scorers at the break with 11 points.
This was a huge win for us because it was our first conference road win
Crawley said. I'm proud of the way the team played tonight.
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