Ohio lost its Mid-American Conference opener to Akron Thursday, 81-54.
Pregame
After snapping a two-game losing streak Saturday at Xavier, Ohio will begin Mid-American Conference play Thursday against Akron.
The Bobcats (5-7) will play in The Convo for the first time in more than a month, as they are coming off four consecutive road games. Ohio is 3-3 at home this season.
Akron (9-4) is tied with Bowling Green for the best record in the MAC East, but the Zips have lost three of their last five games. However, Akron won its most recent game against Chicago State by 41 points, while its nine wins before beginning MAC play is the most in program history.
Offensively, the Zips are averaging the most points per game in the MAC (76.6), as they have the highest field goal percentage (44 percent) and are tied for the highest free throw percentage (73 percent) with Ohio.
Junior forward Rachel Tecca fuels the Akron offense, as she averages more than 19 points per game, despite averaging just 24 minutes.
Along with Tecca, two other Zips average double-digit scoring totals, as Hanna Luburgh, a junior guard, averages 17 points, and Sina King, a junior forward, averages 14 points.
Ohio averages only 58.1 points per game, but is led by freshman guard Kiyanna Black, who was named this week’s MAC East offensive player of the week. She scored 23 points in the Bobcats’ win against Xavier.
The Bobcats and Zips split the season-series last year, with the home team winning each contest.
Take a look back at Ohio's 68-62 win against Xavier last Saturday, here. Also, follow The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
Starters for Ohio are as follows, junior guard Erin Bailes, freshman guard Kiyanna Black, freshman forward Lexie Baldwin, senior guard Ashley Fowler and senior forward Tina Fisher.
Junior guard Shavon Robinson sat out for the second straight game with a sprained ankle, allowing Baldwin to make her first start of the season, as she averaged 6.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a reserve.
Fisher scored Ohio's first four points, while Black added a three-pointer and a jumper, but four different Akron players scored by the first media timeout.
Bobcats used a lot of ball movement and attacked the basket, as both teams are began with very fast paced offenses. However, Erin Bailes exited the game and headed into the locker room during the timeout.
Ohio took a 14-13 lead with 13 mintutes to play on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Mariah Byard.
Bobcats then traded baskets to enter the second media timeout with a 16-15 lead. Bailes also re-entered the game for Ohio.
Through the first 10 minutes, Ohio shot 50 percent after making 7-of-14 shots. The Bobcats also held the rebound advantage 11-8.
Ohio's scoring slowed, while the Zips took a 28-18 lead with six minutes to play. Ohio had trouble scoring in the paint and the Zips began to shoot from long-range. Akron's Taylor Ruper had nine points on three shots from downtown.
The Zips knoced down three consecutive three-pointers, while the Bobcats did not score. Ohio also gave the ball away more, as they committed 11 turnovers with three minutes still remaining until the half.
Akron went on a 10-0 run in a three minute stretch, which was ended by a layup from Black, who leads all Ohio players with seven points. The Bobcats were outscored 17-4 in just a seven-minute stretch.
Ohio's Samantha Buls also took the court for the first time this season to provide a spark for the 'Cats off the bench. However, Akron continued to play at their own pace and jump out to an 18-point lead, before Black hit another mid-range jumper for Ohio.
The Bobcats did not score at same consitency they began the game with, most shots were not strong enough or were off the mark, while four different Zips already had at least eight points.
Halftime: Akron 46, Ohio 22
Despite leading 16-15 with 10 minutes to play in the half, Ohio was outscored 31-6 the remainder of the half. The Bobcats finished the half shooting just 33 percent, while they also committed 11 turnovers.
Black leads Ohio with nine points, while Fisher and Baldwin both have four points. Tecca, who leads the MAC in scoring, and forward Hanna Luburgh finished with 12 points for the Zips.
The 24-point defecit was the largest Ohio has faced at halftime since its second game of the season at Minnesota, where the Bobcats trailed 60-16 at the break.
Second Half
After missing their first four shots of the half, the Zips scored the first points of the half, before Fisher responded for the Bobcats with a layup of her own.
Akron then knocked down a jumper and a three-pointer, but Ohio once again responded, as Byard and Bailes made a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
The Zips continued to score at ease, leading by 27 points at the first media timeout of the half.
Bailes knocked down another three-pointer, as she scored eight points in the first six minutes of the half, but Akron continued to make shots and extend their lead.
Ohio trailed by 28 points with 10 minutes to play, Bobcats going almost shot-for-shot with the Zips, not allowing Ohio to erase the deficit.
Though Akron began scoring less frequently and slowed the pace down, Ohio still struggled keeping up with the Zips.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, Akron already had four players with at least 12 points, while Ohio had no player in double-digit scoring. The Zips took the majority of their starters out of the game at that point.
Fowler then made her first three-pointer after missing in each of her previous 10 attempts, which was followed by a layup from Fisher.
Akron hit their average points per game of 76 points with 3:43 to play. The Zips had already made 10 three-pointers by that mark, making 40 percent of their shots from downtown.
Ohio played fairly close with Akron in the second half, as the Bobcats were only out-scored by three points, however, after the significant halftime deficit, Ohio failed to win the MAC opener.
FINAL: Akron 81, Ohio 54
Akron played how it had all season Thursday, continuing to score at conference-leading rates. The Bobcats shot 33 percent from the field and turned the ball over 19 times, while the Zips connected on 10 three-pointers and shot 47 percent.
Statistics
Fisher: 10 points, nine rebounds, one assist.
Black: Nine points, three steals, four rebounds.
Baldwin: Eight points, five rebounds, two blocks.
Bailes: Seven points, two rebounds, one assist.
Lyles: Seven points, six rebounds.
Bobcats out-rebounded Akron, 40-37.
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Lumburgh: 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals.
King: 18 points, six rebounds, two assists.
Tecca: 17 points, three steals, three assists.
Ruper: 12 points, three assists, three steals.
Akron made 10 three-pointers and shot 47.7 percent from the field.
Reactions
"We played eight minutes of this game. We started making shots and played complete basketball, but for then we stopped making shots and stopped playing defense. This was the first time we started to play selfish basketball and take quick shots -- I'm very disappointed in our team in terms of our lackluster effort." — Randall, on her instant reaction of the blowout loss.
"We're not the only team playing with a ton of injuries. It's just part of the sport and it sucks, because it kills momentum, but there's nothing we can do about it. I feel sorry being a compassionate person, but we can't postpone games, we have to play through it." — Randall, on her team's injury troubles.
"When you're down on numbers and you know you're not hitting shots like you need to, it's hard to keep up. We tried to get back up and get back into the game, but with Shavon not playing, there wasn't much we could do," — Fisher, on battling through injuries.
"This all goes back to practice, because we aren't playing our kids hard, since we are so limited and we want to go into the game with a lot of energy -- We prepared for a lot of sets to be run against us, but they didn't run them, they played transistion and ran us back to Akron." — Randall, on possible causes to falling behind after a fast start.
"Sitting on the bus for seven hours, practicing one day and then the game the next day, it's a tough place to play, but it's really important for us to get a win under our belt in MAC play," — Fisher, on the upcoming trip to Buffalo.
"This could be a very, very long season if we keep playing with this type of mentality," — Randall, on her team needing to stay in games.
Up Next
Ohio (5-8) will hit the road Sunday as it continues MAC play against Buffalo.
The Bulls (3-11) were victrious against Northern Illinois in their conference opener, 60-53, but had lost nine of their previous 10 games. They are averaging the same number of points per game as Ohio, while allowing more than seven points a contest more.
Ohio split the season series with Buffalo last season, as the home team won each contest.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
