With Ohio down 38-24 to Buffalo, the Bobcats had numerous chances to cut the deficit from the charity stripe but couldn’t take advantage. The misses stymied momentum and Ohio lost to Buffalo 56-35.
“In the second half, we were down by 12 and missed six free throws in a row,” Ohio coach Semeka Randall said. “It could’ve changed the game … it could’ve made us feel good about ourselves. The simple fact is that we didn’t make those shots when we needed to.”
Ohio also had its struggles from the floor as freshman guard Kiyanna Black netted one point and senior guard Symone Lyles was scoreless, the two performances made it difficult to contend.
“It starts in practice with (Black), she hasn’t been going at game speed, it’s been spurts here and there,” Randall said. “Coming in you thought she’d be able to weather the storm and grow up, but she’s stuck as a freshman, hitting a wall.”
The Bobcats opened second half down 30-15 to Buffalo (9-17, 7-6 Mid-American Conference). At the 15-minute mark the Bobcats were outscoring the Bulls 9-8. Then the free-throw misses spurred a 5-0 Buffalo run. Senior forward Tina Fisher connected on a layup to end the Bulls’ run.
Buffalo’s Sloane Walton hit a three with 5:08 remaining in the game to give the Bulls a 49-28 and put the game out of reach due to Ohio’s shooting woes.
“I’ll keep this simple,” Randall said. “(We shot) 24 percent from the field, and 41 percent from the free throw line.”
The Bobcats’ shooting struggles did not help matters and the remaining schedule won’t help much either. The remaining three games are against the MAC East’s top-three teams in Akron, Bowling Green and Miami.
jm296009@ohiou.edu
