Northern Illinois is giving up points the way Ohio State used to admit students: fast and furious. And it's to the Bobcats' benefit.
When the two teams whose home arenas share the same name meet tonight in DeKalb, Ill., it will be yet another opportunity for Ohio to pick up a much-needed win away from Athens.
The Bobcats (6-17, 2-8 Mid-American Conference) have been felled by cold shooting at the wrong time lately, and they let Saturday's home tilt with Toledo get out of hand too quickly.
Conversely, the Huskies are missing junior Ebony Ellis, who is out with an undisclosed injury. They allow opponents to shoot nearly 44 percent from the field, and also yield around 71 points per game.
In other words, they've been playing defense like a shoot-around.
Northern Illinois is one of the West Division's best rebounding teams, and it's a test for Ohio's markedly improved post players.
Their post players killed us on the boards last year (a loss to the Huskies at home)
forward Kamille Buckner said.
We're looking forward to a rematch on the boards. We didn't play too well against them last year so that's been on our minds.
It has seemed like what could go wrong has gone wrong, but although Ohio has just six wins this season, it has shown flashes of a high competitive level, sticking with better teams late into games.
Coach Semeka Randall has constantly challenged the team to take improvement one step at a time, but it has come in spurts.
Our mentality is just coming out and playing hard Buckner said.
We haven't played our best yet on the road this season
and all we're thinking about is getting a win.
Whether the Bobcats score 40 points or 80, the formula for winning more games will always boil down to their defensive unit.
When they come out and frustrate teams in the full-court press or a tight 2-3 zone defense, success usually follows.
The Toledo game was one of the rare blowouts -- the majority of the Bobcats' games this season have been tightly contested and down to the wire.
Ohio is 2-10 in games decided by 10 points or fewer, and tonight it faces a team that has been rowing a similar kind of boat.
We know that if we have a good defensive game
it will be easier for us to win
Buckner said. Our coaches have talked to us about driving to the basket and penetrating.
We thrive off our defense, and that creates our offense.",",2,Sports,Rob Mixer,30559b.jpg,",",",",","
30559,2010-02-09 23:49:00,Women's Basketball: 'Cats hope to hammer Huskies,Northern Illinois is giving up points the way Ohio State used to admit students: fast and furious. And it's to the Bobcats' benefit.,Northern Illinois is giving up points the way Ohio State used to admit students: fast and furious. And it's to the Bobcats' benefit.
When the two teams whose home arenas share the same name meet tonight in DeKalb
Ill.
it will be yet another opportunity for Ohio to pick up a much-needed win away from Athens.
The Bobcats (6-17
2-8 Mid-American Conference) have been felled by cold shooting at the wrong time lately
and they let Saturday's home tilt with Toledo get out of hand too quickly.
Conversely
the Huskies are missing junior Ebony Ellis
