CLEVELAND ' Another familiar sight awaits the Bobcats in this year's Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Tonight, Ohio and Eastern Michigan will face off in the quarterfinal round for the second straight year.
And both teams will be looking for revenge.
The Eagles eliminated the Bobcats in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament, 76-66, in a game that Ohio never led. Meanwhile, it was Ohio (18-11) that won the teams' only meeting this season, 70-62, behind Lauren Kohn's 24 points and three other Bobcats scoring in double figures.
We beat them up at their place
so I'm sure they're going to come out ready to play looking for revenge and looking to get us back Kohn said. We need to come out ready to play a full 40-minute game.
Coach Sylvia Crawley said Sunday night's 55-51 first-round victory over Central Michigan would fuel the team's fire as the tournament goes on.
I definitely know that our players will be confident as we move further into the tournament because we'll face teams that we've already beaten before
Crawley said. It's just going to be a matter of coming out and starting the game intense and ready to go from the beginning.
Crawley added that she will likely have to use more of her bench against Eastern Michigan (15-12) to keep the team's energy level at its highest.
The Eagles feature an All-MAC Second Team selection in forward Sarah VanMetre, who averages 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Eastern Michigan also has the MAC Freshman of the Year in guard Alyssa Pittman (12 points and 2.3 rebounds per game) and the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in guard Patrice McKinney (67 steals and 25 blocked shots this season).
Eastern Michigan won three of its last four games coming into the tournament, its only loss being a 74-73 setback to West Division leader Ball State. The Eagles had a first-round bye after securing the No. 2 seed out of the West.
Ohio will try to keep one of its best seasons in school history alive. With 18 wins, this year's team now has sole possession of third place all-time for most wins in a season. Sunday's win ' the program's first in Cleveland ' was just another brick in the wall.
I think we've done a lot of things this year that people didn't expect us to or that we haven't done in the past
Kohn said. It's just another thing we can add on to our season.
The winner of tonight's game will play the winner of the Toledo/Bowling Green game, which is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., in tournament semifinals.
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Ohio guard Simone Redd looks to drive the lane during last Wednesday's game against Akron in The Convo. The Bobcats take on Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament tonight.
