Women's basketball: Illness-hampered Ohio comes up short at Toledo

The Bobcats weren't the same without Jenny Poff yesterday.

The junior guard didn't make the trip to Toledo because she was sick with the flu and the Bobcats lost 60-51 at Savage Arena.

We need Jenny Poff

coach Semeka Randall said. But we had plenty of opportunities to win this basketball game.

Ohio was forced to start freshman Da'Keisha Mann in her place. Freshmen Danielle Woodmore and Tracy Snider helped fill in for Poff.

But it still wasn't the same.

There were points in the game where we really needed a 3-point shot forward Lauren Hmiel said. I think that we did miss her but we have people who are totally capable of stepping up.

It was Ohio's other two starters that had to carry the load.

Hmiel played 39 minutes and scored 18 points, which tied for the game high, off of8-of-14 shooting. She also picked up seven rebounds.

Jennifer Bushby played 37 minutes in the game, scoring14 points on6-of-12 shooting. She also tallied a game-high six assists.

I was fighting as hard as I could

Hmiel said. I wanted to get the win. I wanted to be there for my teammates

and without Poff

I really wanted to step up and show her that we have her back.

Despite the production of Ohio's starting guards, the amount of time played showed.

In the last five minutes of the game, Ohio scored only one field goal.

During that span, Toledo(13-9, 7-2 Mid-American Conference) went on a 15-5 run. The Rockets were down one before the run and took the lead for good with 4:56 remaining in the game.

The Bobcats also had trouble with free throws.

Ohio shot just 4-of-10 from the charity stripe.

The Bobcats(8-13, 4-5 MAC) also had problems converting layups. They missed eight layups during the course of the game.

When you go four for 10

how are you going to win basketball games? Randall said. When you miss layups

you're making it hard to win basketball games. There were some key plays when it's just you and the basket.